Dairy Exporter June 2020

Learn, grow, excel

June 2020

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10 TRISH RANKIN WANTS TO BOUNCE FORWARD OUT OF LOCKDOWN

CONTENTS MILKING PLATFORM 9

George Moss focuses on the collective good - and enjoys the Covid baking

10 Trish Rankin wants to bounce forward out of lockdown 11 Nic and Kirsty Verhoek deal with moving logistics in lockdown 12 Frances Coles enjoyed their ‘Long Weekend’ Covid

lockdown period 22 BRIDGING THE RURAL URBAN DIVIDE

13 Sam Sherrard muses on life after sharemilking

UPFRONT 14 Labour - New plan for a new workforce 20 Global Dairy: Netherlands - Fears of a European milk

price fall are fading 21 Market View – Volatility name of the game

BUSINESS 22 Ag Proud – bridging the rural urban divide 26 International demand down but improving 27 Farmer’s group profits from futures trading

SYSTEMS 32 Low milk urea breeding values reduce N leaching 34 CO Diary – Farm Gauge tool identifies areas for improvement 14 NEW PLAN FOR A NEW WORKFORCE 4

36 Wintering: Let sleepy cows lie Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

76 TEAM EFFORT REARING 3000 LAMBS

SPECIAL REPORT:

growing great calves 39 Best practice with a great big dollop of compassion 43 Learn tube feeding - it’s a lifesaver 45 Test for the best liquid gold 46 Passing the test 49 Great calves make great heifers 55 Getting the calf rumen up and running 57 What’s in the bag?

60 Calf rearing lessons from Covid-19 62 Speedy reaction to illness 66 Automating daily calf feeding 70 Do your sums before rearing extra calves 72 Is rearing worth the risk?

76 Team effort rearing 3000 lambs 80 Probiotics boost calf growth and milk production

ENVIRONMENT 82 Healthy communities make healthy farms and

farmers, says Conall Buchanan SPECIAL REPORT

growing great calves 39 43 45 46 49 55 57 38

Best practice with a great big dollop of compassion Learn tube feeding - its a lifesaver Test for the best liquid gold Passing the test Great calves make great heifers Getting the calf rumen up and running What’s in the bag?

60 62 66 70 72 76 80

Calf rearing lessons from Covid-19 Speedy reaction to illness Automating daily calf feeding Do your sums before rearing extra calves Is rearing worth the risk?

Team effort to rearing 3000 lambs Probiotics boost calf growth and milk production Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

STOCK 88 Reproductive rewards - Halving the empty rate 90 Physical traits data adds to genetic evaluation 92 Vet Voice – Down cows require special attention

WELLNESS 96

Tools for building resilience

RESEARCH WRAP 98 Mating plan revamp pays off for Owl Farm

DAIRY 101 100 Succession: Keeping the name on the letter box

SOLUTIONS 103 Baby calves get healthy Launchpad 104 The Wrangler celebrates 25 years 105 Prioritising calf welfare during transport 82 HEALTHY COMMUNITIES MAKE HEALTHY FARMS Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

OUR STORY 82

Counting down to NZ Dairy Exporter’s centenary 5

DAIRY DIARY June 11 – A large-scale calf rearing business shares details about achieving consistent good results when it streams live on YouTube and Facebook. Top-Notch Calves rears 2000 calves in autumn and 5000 calves in spring. The Smaller Herds of New Zealand (SMASH) event will be held between 10.30am and 11.15am.

For details go to www.smallerherds.co.nz/smashevents/smash-winter-series-on-line-secrets-of-anexpert-calf-rearer/

June 11 – Redeployment of Kiwis: Making the most of an opportunity is the topic for a DairyNZ evening webinar held between 7pm and 8.30pm.

The webinar is a discussion about how to provide them with good working environments and teach the newcomers the basics. For further information and to register go to www.dairynz.co.nz/events/ waikato/redeployment-of-kiwis-making-the-mostof-an-opportunity/ June 16 – A DairyNZ calving smart webinar on lameness covers the latest research and how your management can affect the changes within the foot to prevent your first calvers from having a lifetime of lameness issues. For more details and to register visit www.dairynz.co.nz/events/waikato/calvingsmart-webinar-lameness/ June 17 – An evening pre-calving refresher session with DairyNZ looks at nutrition for the transitioning cow and all things practical for calving. It is a Q&A session with a guest vet and a DairyNZ senior scientist. Questions can be emailed before the webinar to kirsty.dickins@dairynz.co.nz or brigitte. ravera@dairynz.co.nz. For more details visit www. dairynz.co.nz/events/waikato/pre-calvingrefresher-online-event/

June 12 – Dairy Women’s Network webinar, Energise – sleep and fatigue workshop, looks at how to maximise our energy levels and learn to support our body to rest.

For more information and to register for the webinar which starts at 12.30pm, go to www.dwn.co.nz/espresso_events/ energise-sleep-and-fatigue-webinar/

June 19 – The World needs ‘Dyslexics Now More than Ever’ is a one-hour lunch-time session with Claire Ashmore. She looks at the anatomy of dyslexia and focuses on what people with dyslexia do well. For more visit www.dwn.co.nz/espresso_ events/the-world-needs-dyslexics-nowmore-than-ever/

June 24 – Owl Farm is planning to run its June focus day as a live-streamed event on YouTube. Depending on restrictions closer to the event, an onfarm event may occur.

For more details about the farm visit www.owlfarm.nz

Farm Effluent Equipment Full System Design Installation Service 0800 4 EFFLUENT 6

June 16 – The Lincoln University Dairy Farm hosts a zoom webinar on the third Tuesday of each month due to Covid-19. Webinars cover a different, Canterbury-relevant topic. For more details go to www.siddc.org.nz/ludairy-farm/focus-days-and-events/

June 17 – The drought recovery series webinar 7 focuses on building your team.

Doug Avery and Ken Bartlett discuss the importance of building an efficient, high-performing team. Questions can be emailed before the session to events@ ruralsupport.org.nz. To register for the webinar go to attendee.gotowebinar. com/register/6637810377225670155 June 24 – The drought recovery series webinar 8 focuses on what you need to know about animal movement and sales. It looks at virtual saleyards and your obligations regarding animal records. The webinar is being held between 1pm and 2pm and questions can be emailed beforehand to events@ ruralsupport.org.nz To register go to attendee.gotowebinar.com/ register/4227128934310817805

New Zealand Wide Dealer Network

www.williamsirrigation.com Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Editor’s note

Back to BAU, or bouncing forward?

I Sneak peek

NEXT ISSUE: JULY 2020

• Anna and Ben Gillilespie: How new wintering best practice rules look onfarm • Setting up your fertiliser programme • Metabolics for cows - what they really need

NZ Dairy Exporter

’ve never lived through a worldwide pandemic before, so forgive me if I am unsure of what to do next.

Do we go back to business as usual?

Flying around the country and the world in a ridiculously blase manner, buying fast fashion that lasts a stupidly short amount of time before we dump it in a charity shop, driving everywhere in a fossil-fuel fuelled rage, buying too much food and then wasting 30% because we didn't get around to eating it and locking ourselves in our gated communities to keep out the less-privileged because we are afraid of opening our doors to them.

Seems like a crazy lifestyle when you reflect on it.

I would rather bounce forward - move to a more considered lifestyle, less rushed, less wasteful and less plasticfilled with a smaller carbon footprint.

Our new Milking Platform Taranaki contributor Trish Rankin agrees, saying she is looking forward to a new way - of communicating, of not travelling so much to events and meetings, of online shopping - saving time, saving carbon, cutting waste (pg10).

It's a delicious thought that we could destress, simplify and decarbonise our lives in the same forward bounce?

Farmers are all about looking forward

@YoungDairyED

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

- you are always focused on the next season, and to help refresh on the biggest game in town, calving, we have put together a 40-plus page special report on growing great calves. (pg38) We have talked to vets, farm consultants, nutritionists, top rearers and farmers and the same messages came through - the importance of treating your calves like the valuable babies they are - demanding the best care, best colostrum, best shelter and health plans and processes.

Those great calves will grow into great heifers that are capable of performing at an optimum level in your herd, or into valuable beef animals, so are absolutely worth putting a lot of thought and care into, alongside the animal welfare requirements.

Throughout the special report we have made reference to a series of videos made

by Farmlands at top calf rearing farms - they are packed with best practice tips and tricks, so make sure you check them out. On our electronic version of the magazine, those video links will be live, so easy to just click through.

@DairyExporterNZ

@nzdairyexporter

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NEW ZEALAND

NZ Dairy Exporter is published

by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740, Toll free 0800 224 782, www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND

ONLINE New Zealand Dairy Exporter’s online presence is an added dimension to your magazine. Through digital media, we share a selection of stories and photographs from the magazine. Here we share a selection of just some of what you can enjoy.

Read more at www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

Dairy Exporter Editor Jackie Harrigan P: 06 280 3165, M: 027 359 7781 jackie.harrigan@nzfarmlife.co.nz Deputy editor Sheryl Brown, P: 021 239 1633 sheryl.brown@nzfarmlife.co.nz Lead sub-editor: Andy Maciver, P: 06 280 3166 Reporters Anne Hardie, P: 027 540 3635 verbatim@xtra.co.nz

PODCASTS: For all Dairy Banter Podcasts visit www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/tag/dairy-banter

Anne Lee, P: 021 413 346 anne.lee@nzfarmlife.co.nz Karen Trebilcock, P: 03 489 8083 ak.trebilcock@xtra.co.nz

www.facebook.com/MeatTheNeedNZ

EPISODE 5 - HOW BODY CONDITION INFLUENCES REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE The latest episode in the podcast series with CRV Ambreed is up now.

Sheryl Haitana chatted to the knowledgeable Jane Kay from DairyNZ in the latest CRV podcast about infertility in the NZ dairy herd and how to manage BCS to achieve better results. www.crv4all.co.nz/podcast/episode-5/ EPISODE 4 - ANGUS HASLETT: TAKING THE REINS AT CRV GLOBAL In this episode, Angus joins Sheryl Haitana from his home office to talk about his tenure with CRV Ambreed, the benefits of the Dutch-Kiwi relationship for NZ farmers, and his views on where the industry is heading in the next 10 years.

EPISODE 3 - MAKING GOOD DECISIONS WITH MYHERD Sheryl Haitana talks with CRV IT manager Andrew Singers and the company’s herd testing manager Mark Redgate about the new tool and how herd testing data will be incorporated.

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Andrew Swallow, P: 021 745 183 andrew@falveyfarm.co.nz Dairy Womens Network held a very successful virtual conference in May, check out the saved webinars here www.dwn.co.nz/dwn2020/

Chris Neill, P: 027 249 1186 waipuvian@gmail.com

In June they are hosting online webinars on calf rearing, you can check them out here: www.dwn.co.nz/best-practice-and-vital-newresearch-focus-of-calf-rearing-webinar-series

Design and Production: Jo Hannam jo.hannam@nzfarmlife.co.nz

MILK PAYOUT TRACKER: 2020/2021 Fonterra forecast price Average $6.12/kg MS

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6.50

6.46

6.30

6

$/kg MS

The NZ Dairy Exporter & Country-Wide are proud to support this fantastic initiative to help feed those in need. Dairy Exporter senior journalist Anne Lee talked to the farmers behind Meat the Need, Wayne Langford (Yolo Farmer) and Siobhan O’Malley (PukekoPastures) in our latest podcast - take a listen, visit meattheneed.org and help out if you can. www.soundcloud.com/ user-951516558/meat-the-need

5.75

5.60

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Emily Rees emily.rees@nzfarmlife.co.nz Social Media: Charlie Pearson, P: 06 280 3169 Partnerships Managers: Janine Aish Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty P: 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz Tony Leggett Lower North Island P: 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz David Paterson South Island P: 027 289 2326 david.paterson@nzfarmlife.co.nz

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CONNECT WITH US ONLINE: www

Phil Edmonds E: phil.edmonds@gmail.com

www.nzfarmlife.co.nz NZ Dairy Exporter @DairyExporterNZ

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@nzdairyexporter NZ Dairy Exporter Sign up to our monthly e-newsletter at www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

MILKING PLATFORM SOUTH WAIKATO

The power of unity Adapting to adversity and challenges is a strength of farmers, says George Moss.

W

ow – what a couple of months and what lessons learned! I am thankful that we are farmers.

The farms here are looking great with average covers well up on last season and ground conditions brilliant. Until recently we had enough rain along with mild temperatures to give good growth.

The soil probes are showing that we are still drier than this time last year, and last year was also dry. With the frosts, soils temperatures are now below 10 degrees and this will limit growth. Cows are close to calving condition and the risk now is letting them get too fat.

Inevitably we will continue to have the discussions on the impacts of the increasing numbers of dry spells and how to mitigate them. We will model the options through June when the “wet days” come along with the inevitable Overseer file and its GHG calculations.

The next two years’ cashflows have been done using a $5.70 milk price and will be updated when the new advance and final rates come through.

We are having a reshuffle of staff: the managers who have been with us six years are coming across to the home farm with different roles and responsibilities, and a new couple from the dry lands of Morrinsville is replacing them. All of this is both exciting and scary.

The existing staff are looking to purchase their own house and we are working with them hopefully to make that happen but Covid dropped a huge spanner in that gearbox. Early June will be orientation and settling in for all.

Increasingly, we are working on how

we configure the businesses so that all parties achieve their goals. The farm consultant works with the staff and ourselves as much to help with planning and progression as with advising on cows and grass.

The inevitable Covid-19 observations – much has been written about what has been achieved through our collective actions in this fair southern land.

From in-laws in Wisconsin we get to hear at first hand of the absolute chaos there. Wisconsin has roughly the same population as NZ and has over 12,000 confirmed cases and over 450 deaths at time of writing. My sister-in-law works in a government job interfacing with the public but cannot get hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes and hence feels somewhat vulnerable – all very sad.

Needless to say, we feel very privileged to live here in communities that have worked together so hard to support each other, something the dairy industry has historically done and needs to continue to do. Focusing on the collective good will achieve the best possible outcome; get distracted by individual self interest or arguments about individual rights being greater than the collective and we will dissolve into irrelevance.

At a personal level the lockdown meant the car battery went flat through lack of use and meetings were conducted virtually, which saved both time and travel but did not have any of the pre and post small talk that can be so very therapeutic for some people. Farm staff around the district reported that they never had so much money in their bank accounts. Our farm expenditure fell but in

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

George and Sharon Moss – costs fell during lockdown and baking proliferated.

reality some is just delayed.

My wife reports greater productivity from yours truly because of being home.

We kept a house cow for milking (the rest being dry), baked bread, made cheese, butter and endless rice puddings, and murdered sheep = cost of living kept down. Social distancing worked reasonably well on farm but can be hard to achieve on those urgent tasks requiring a second pair of hands, e.g. tractor tyres.

Had the easiest drive into Auckland I have ever had to pick up a generator under level 4, and quickest installation under level 3 of the same generator from the local sparky. This was the last brick in our risk management plan.

Lastly, because we are a farming community, adversity and challenges are part and parcel of our lives, adaptation is our strength, and I believe we have much experience that we can offer urban people to help them cope in a totally new world.

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MILKING PLATFORM TARANAKI

Left: The Rankin boys rushed through their lockdown schoolwork in favour of motorbike riding on the farm, well you would, wouldn’t you?

meeting then to turn around and travel home for an hour when I can Zoom in and out and gain two hours in the day?

Why travel to do grocery shopping when Countdown now deliver seven days a week to rural folk here in South Taranaki? As a nation, I think we have worked out that productivity hasn’t decreased massively for people able to work during Levels 3 and 4.

As farmers, with no off-farm staff coming to work, we worked harder in some ways but more enjoyably in others.

Of course things were not always rosy.

Doing Year 9 Pythagoras theorem maths activities did not have me in my happy place. Having to remind our four boys to shower and brush their teeth was a daily occurrence and the endless food we had to buy at the supermarket (albeit using online shopping) was mind boggling.

Bouncing forward Bouncing forward from the Covid-19 lockdown is more appealing to Trish Rankin than going back to the rush of a busy life on the Taranaki coast.

T

he kids are back at school, we can once again spend time with small groups of friends and family, and takeaways can offer a night off cooking. Looking back, we dairy farmers were grateful to be essential workers during Covid-19 Levels 3 and 4, with kids able to roam around the farm and help us out!

With glorious Taranaki weather, and the mountain visible from the dining room window most days, our kids were very motivated to get their home learning tasks done by lunch so they could spend the afternoon outside. Riding their motorbikes around the farm improved their riding skills. Going for on-farm runs and bike rides or playing soccer and rugby on the front lawn kept them physically busy.

I took up running and joined the online fitness group ‘Strong Woman’. Now I take time most days to get in a run or a workout. I never felt I had time pre-Covid to focus on my fitness.

The kids were able and even willing to 10

help us tag heifers, do herd testing and milk, which meant Glen and I could each get a sleep in. Our kids learning to cook tea, do baking and find long-lost items when cleaning out bedrooms was even more helpful! Pulling out my childhood version of Cluedo, bought in the 1980s, and teaching the kids how to play brought back some great memories and made plenty of new ones.

I don’t know that I want to ‘bounce back’ to the pre-Covid rush, rush, rush to different sports, events, and meetings involving needless travel. We have been so satisfied just to spend time on the farm. I don’t think I want to bounce back to trying to find time for farm planning, budgets, herd records or cleaning the office.

I think I want to bounce forward.

I’m not alone in this thinking. Many rural-based people I have spoken to have had the same thoughts. Why travel one hour to New Plymouth for a one-hour

‘I think I want to bounce forward. I’m not alone in this thinking. Many rural-based people I have spoken to have had the same thoughts.’

How can I help our farm business and family bounce forward post Covid Levels 3 and 4? I think I’ll focus on resisting the return to rush, rush, rush and look at how I can be present at meetings without the hours and hours of travel. I’ll put time in my week to get farm business planning and admin done without having to feel like I squeeze it in. I’m going to look at our kids’ hobbies and sports and maybe have one or two days a week where no one is allowed to sign up for anything – let it just be a “come home from school and chill out” day.

I’m excited about bouncing forward into the new season here in Taranaki.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

MILKING PLATFORM WAIRARAPA

Left: Enjoying some quality family time before 1st June dairy season gets started.

Below: Looking forward to getting calving season underway.

Logistical nightmare Kirsty and Nic Verhoek found new ways of settling details for their new sharemilking business during lockdown.

I

t is amazing how things can change in the space of a couple of weeks.

We signed off our last Dairy Exporter article with the excitement of a ‘new season, new farm and new home’ only for Covid-19 to turn everything on its head.

No doubt we have not been alone with the Covid-19 chaos and we can only assume there are many others in the dairy industry experiencing similar frustrations.

The last month has been a massive logistical nightmare with our upcoming season preparations of a new 50/50 sharemilking venture in a new region.

It will be a start to remember in years to come!

Covid-19 and lockdown has really tested our ability to be creative in preparation towards June 1, namely around recruitment, livestock and machinery buying /selling, and organisation of moving (stock trucks, movers etc.). With border lockdowns, getting the right staff with suitable experience has also become a

challenge. Many contracts with foreigners are now unlikely to come into fruition if they are not already in the country.

Technology and communication have been our two best friends. Examples are: using social media to advertise for staff, interviewing prospective employees via zoom/skype, and getting them to send through photos of their house, motorbike, workplace etc. This has all helped with getting a feel for the person.

A big highlight has been using the online Federated Farmers contract builder via the Paysauce app to get contracts drafted and signed electronically – so no relying on face-to-face signing or ‘snail mail’ between parties.

The power of the internet has meant a lot can be done from a distance. Trolling ‘For Sale pages’ has allowed us to find most of what we need online. We have also used stock agents to look at stock on our behalf, using photos and videos to get a good idea of the stock condition/temperament etc.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

We have taken a similar approach with buying motorbikes and other pieces of farm equipment.

With Covid-19 and the difficulty to predict one day to the next, communication has been key.

Keeping in contact with movers and having contingency plans in place; communicating with stock movers and getting dates locked in early; keeping in constant contact with the new farm owner so that everyone is on the same page with an evolving situation.

A lot of the above has meant relying on relationships with key people. If there is anything good to come out of Covid-19, these relationships have become stronger and it has been great to have everyone rally together and be understanding of sticky situations.

Much to Nic’s relief, duck shooting season preparation has not gone to waste.

It was looking a bit dicey at one stage and there were thoughts that Nic would have missed duck shooting for the first time in his 35 years. The only problem now is the lack of water in the pond. At the time of printing, the big dry has been continuing over much of the North Island, with many desperate for rain. It almost feels like a sense of foreboding; no doubt once the rain comes it will unlikely stop and present a wet start to the dry-off season.

We are looking forward to getting the months of March to May (and Covid-19) behind us and getting on with some dairy farming with calving season on the way.

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MILKING PLATFORM SOUTH CANTERBURY

Left: The Coles enjoy an onfarm bubble picnic.

Pig in mud on ‘The Long Weekend’ “The Long Weekend” - Frances Coles shares the joys of lockdown on the farm.

T

here’s really only one piece of news that’s been dominating our lives over the past few months – Covid 19 – and I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing about it. So let’s just acknowledge it needs a mention, due to the enormity of its impact on people all over the world, but not spend too long rehashing what’s already been said and written.

In an effort to keep a positive spin on it, I chose to refer to lockdown as “The Long Weekend”, much to the amusement of my Instagram followers who checked in with my daily updates on the lighter side of life at home way more than any of us would ideally like.

However, I think it’s safe to say all of us who are privileged to live on farms were grateful for the extra space to roam, the ability to get outside and do 12

something meaningful, and the chance to work together as a family unit at times.

I know we weren’t the only ones to get all the family members involved with essential jobs like milking or weighing and drenching young stock.

In fact, the youngest member of our family loved the opportunity to be a farmer on a daily basis! The phrase “pig in mud” was used more than once to describe how she felt about “The Long Weekend” in comparison with her older sisters who equated it to something more like being stuck on a deserted island.

Katie has always enjoyed getting out on the farm with Aaron or me, but this pandemic and our country’s response to it gave her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really bed in her passion for all things agricultural.

Once distance learning resumed for

a Term Two unlike any other in New Zealand’s history, the best I could negotiate with her was staying home for the day (or more likely part of it) on Tuesdays and Thursdays when her teacher had organised whole-class Google Meets. Other than that it was workwear and gumboots on and out the door with a packed lunch in one hand and iPod to record the day’s adventures in the other.

This wasn’t just a case of enjoying getting to spend a day with dad on the farm – all the girls appreciate that – Katie was fully bitten by the farming bug much deeper than I had ever witnessed before.

She could rattle off details of which mobs of stock needed moving at each runoff; regaled us with her adventures of getting ever closer to the ‘Big Daddy Bull’ running with our Angus herd (although she still hasn’t actually made it into the same paddock he’s in); single-handedly helped her Dad drench whole mobs of calves; and dazzled even our contract milkers with her in-depth knowledge of the feed requirements of heifers transitioning to fodder beet.

I fully realise I have my proud-parent rose-tinted glasses on here but I would actually take a bet that our youngest daughter will one day become a farmer.

While all rural children seem to go through phases of loving being on the farm for varying periods of time it’s always been top of Katie’s list of chosen professions, with anything else that ever gets a mention only viewed as a side hustle of sorts.

I wonder how many other children around the country had their passion for the outdoors and working with animals fired up in recent months as they enjoyed what felt to them like a second summer holiday break? And I wonder how we can generate that same sense of excitement in the lives of many Kiwis looking once again at our industry as a possibility for a rewarding way to earn a living and contribute to our country’s economic recovery whilst feeding the world? What an opportunity we have ahead of us!

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

MILKING PLATFORM KING COUNTRY

Left: Sam’s dogs will miss these hill climbs.

Sam signs off In his last column as a sharemilker Sam Sherrard ponders the ups and downs of dairying.

I

n these difficult and changing times it is comforting to know that there is one thing we dairy farmers can rely on - the one thing that will outlast the cockroaches - and that is dairy farmers complaining about the DairyNZ levy.

The mouth breathers have told us that DairyNZ can’t teach them anything, a point I concede is often technically correct.

Letters to the editor complaining that information and statistics can be found in other places “for free” forget to mention (or just forget) that the information is available free because DairyNZ, by and large, makes their information freely available for others to use and in some cases take credit for.

I’ll admit we use less of DairyNZ’s services than when we were starting out, but it is fantastic to have them to call on if need be and to provide that knowledge repository for the next generation of farmers.

You may be able to guess which way I voted. This year it will have less

consequence for our business because by the time you read this we will no longer be herd-owning sharemilkers. This means that come July there will be no calves to feed (calf feeders $70 each), no cows to calve (calving jack $400). We won’t escape the temporary fence though, with plenty of reels to wind on the dry stock block.

We made the conscious decision to uncouple from the industry before Christmas, before the drought, and before the pandemic – remember those golden days? Since then everything has changed.

In my last column as a sharemilker I thought I might do something out of character and speak frankly about how I see things. The future for New Zealand dairying as an industry remains bright. In the short term it looks likely that farm-gate prices may dip (farm gates $90 each, eight to choose from) but really who the hell knows?

So if the future is bright why, you might ask, are we leaving? I know many very successful herd owning sharemilkers but

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

the reality is many others are struggling.

Prolonged climate “anomalies”, a reduction in farm intensification, and increasing labour and compliance costs are hitting the industry hard, especially for sharemilkers. Whilst it isn’t an easy environment for any dairy farm owner, they may choose to defer fertiliser or bigger farm maintenance projects when times are tight. There is often less scope for a sharemilker to cut costs from their operation, particularly where the outside labour input is already minimal.

The DairyNZ economic survey of 201718 found for the fifth time in the past decade there were negative returns on equity for 50:50 sharemilkers and a total return on assets of just 1.6%. Not ideal when your asset is a living animal. We, like others in the industry, believe New Zealand has reached peak cow. This means that the significant income from stock sales, which have been a traditional part of a sharemilker’s gains, are more difficult to achieve. Static or falling stock values also represent a risk, especially if the decision of when to sell is taken out of your hands by a farm sale or similar. We took a long hard look at the risk level, our family situation, and the returns and realised it didn’t add up.

In deciding our next move we did flirt with the idea of selling the cows and moving to a contract or lower order job.

Forgetting the complications of the lease block we did the numbers on a few of the advertised jobs and some pretty sad dollars dropped out at the bottom. The income was similar to a manager’s job and, if you were lucky, it might compensate you for having to pay and arrange your own leave.

There didn’t appear to be any fat in the system to reward the risk being taken on.

Cynically one might think that these contract jobs are a ploy by farmers to avoid having employees. It’s been a tough few years for everyone, but if you can’t afford to pay people for the hours worked perhaps consider doing the job yourself.

We have really enjoyed our time in the dairy industry and appreciate what it has helped us achieve. All that is left now is to remind you to wash your hands, be kind, and look after your stock agent.

13

INSIGHT

UPFRONT LABOUR FORCE

Will fallout from Covid-19 change the face of the dairy industry workforce?

New plan for a new workforce Covid-19 is projected to cause considerable strain on the dairy sector and wider primary industries maintaining its labour force. Industry leaders have been vocal in articulating the challenges of operating without the access to overseas labour and have started responding with fresh calls for people to come and work on the land. But there is a danger that a potential wave of available New Zealand workers will continue to overlook farm work if the industry continues to focus on the work that needs to be done rather than the way people want to do it. Phil Edmonds reports.

T

he reliance on migrant labour became one of the most immediate and visible challenges for any industry as Covid-19 kicked in. The quickly implemented travel restrictions meant those operators who depend on the flow of inbound workers faced the need to think again.

DairyNZ quickly ramped up its campaign to attract new workers, as did the most prolific horticulture sectors, already challenged by workforce scarcity.

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Meanwhile industry spokespeople have been actively making impressions on the Government to think carefully about its post-Covid-19 policy response to immigration. In May DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle noted there are about 2500 visas due to expire for migrant staff working on dairy farms. He said DairyNZ estimated that even if all migrant dairy workers in NZ were retained, there could be a shortfall of up to 1000 employees for the coming dairy season.

Of course, there is no prospect of border restrictions being lifted any time soon that would allow migrant workers to come to NZ to fill jobs as they had been accustomed to doing. And even if that was possible, the widely predicted escalation in unemployment means the Government will be very reluctant to allow external workers to come in and fill jobs that could otherwise be taken by New Zealanders freshly out of work.

Immigration NZ signposted this at the

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Tim Mackle, DairyNZ CEO: shortfall of up to 1000 employees for the coming dairy season.

“Because of the likely higher uptake of jobs in the primary sector, we’ll have a large source of people moving into the sector that we can track through, “ Glogau said.

“It will further help us understand the important aspects to have in place.”

BRIDGING COURSE beginning of May: “Any decision made in regard to employing migrant labour in the future will need to take into account the wider impacts of Covid-19, including changes to the labour market.”

The agency’s signal to employers was clear. “In the short term, employers should consider alternative solutions.”

Even if pleas made to the Government

by DairyNZ, Federated Farmers and others to extend visas to ensure migrant staff can continue working while NZ recruits get onboard and up to speed are successful, the fact remains there will still be a marked, and unanticipated deficit of jobs to fill.

So how well-placed is the industry to capitalise on this opportunity where a pool of NZ workers, who may have lost their job, will be sitting up and considering their options?

Primary Industry Capability Alliance (PICA) chief executive Michelle Glogau says the immediate response from GrowingNZ (the public face of PICA) was to work out how it could assist people who’ve been impacted by Covid-19 to find career opportunities in the primary sectors. The most obvious response was to focus on career changers already located in regions close to the potential jobs, rather than a younger, less experienced cohort of potential workers.

This decision was based on research already conducted over the past year that has enabled industries to focus on those most likely to be conducive to farm work, rather than a potential workforce population with high levels of availability.

Growing NZ has recognised career changers as a target audience, and coincidentally had planned to start a piece of work on determining the type of support needed to be in place to make transitions successful prior to the onset of Covid-19.

DairyNZ has already understood the need to prepare candidates for working in the dairy sector via it’s GoDairy campaign, with a short introductory course. This is designed to ensure suitability is confirmed from the outset. The farm-ready training course is proposed to include one week online to introduce people to farming and give them an idea of what is involved in the day-to-day aspects of the job, with subsequent face-to-face training to get work ready with a focus on vehicle and machinery safety and animal welfare.

This ‘bridging’ course is a positive step, said Glogau, which is a response to concerns around wasting both employees

and employers time if candidates aren’t suitable.

“It’s all very well to hypothetically say someone who has been an airline pilot can transition to the primary sector, but the reality is that is quite a big leap.

“You need to give new entrants every chance of success. You can’t throw people into a rural setting and expect it to just work out.”

The move also reflects the acknowledgement that more sophisticated approaches and understanding are needed into what boosts the allure of jobs. Glogau noted that the last piece of significant workforce modelling done by MPI was in 2014, published as ‘People Powered: Building capabilities to keep primary industries internationally competitive’. The research that went into this has driven the strategies to address the need for a lot more people and a lot more skills but Glogau says “we have since realised we are not so clear about what the patterns are. We need to look at each sector’s workforce and better understand their needs now, and that will change over

Kiwifruit industry: the seasonal spike in need, coincided with the initial lockdown enforcement for Covid-19.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

15

Top: Farm ready training: bridging courses will teach dairy skills to new team members, similar to Dan and Paula McAtamney, Canterbury Share farmers of 2018 training staff on pasture covers.

Above: Primary Industry Capability Alliance, CEO, Michelle Glogau: bridging courses a positive step.

16

time. We need to better monitor whether we are succeeding in meeting the skills needed, rather than the roles filled.”

As noted earlier, it isn’t just the dairy industry that is competing for workers due to the projected unavailability of migrant labour. Horticulture’s plight generated at least as many initial headlines, given the seasonal spike in need, coincided with the initial lockdown enforcement.

Like dairy, the sector was quick to try and find solutions to the unanticipated workforce supply gap, and also like dairy, horticulture has realised the need to address the challenge of getting the right fit between worker and employer.

NOT EVERY JOB SUITS EVERYONE In May Horticulture NZ chief executive Mike Chapman was up front about the industry not necessarily taking comfort from a local wave of potential recruits.

He said not every job suits everyone.

Successful and enduring employment is a holistic package that meets the needs of both employees and employers. This means factors with job appeal will include location, types of services that surround the place of work, the number of working

hours, and the hours of the day that work is carried out.

Chapman also noted that beyond an initial assessment as to whether workers are suitable for the industry, the role of vocational training will need to change.

It cannot be an off the shelf pre-Covid programme. “Training needs to be delivered in a time effective way, possibly on the job, and backed up by internetbased resources.” He suggested training needs to be flexible and intermittent depending on the demands of work, but with a goal of getting workers into permanent and enduring careers.”

All this suggests that primary sector leaders have been thinking carefully about more effective, nuanced recruitment strategies and have taken on board recent learnings about more likely sources of candidates.

Notwithstanding the undoubted opportunities that lie ahead to project an attractive work proposition to those NZers in need of a new job, there remains underlying challenges to succeed in that, especially as the primary sector is not the only industry that will be in view to new job seekers.

Prior to the onset of Covid-19, which is only 10 weeks ago, labour force employment data was not the primary sector’s best friend. The quarterly Labour Market Update considers a range in employment indicators that compare industry performances. Some of those indicators reported in the February edition showed agriculture not faring as well as some.

When considering the number of enterprises (firms) in NZ, the survey noted that over the last year most industries had seen strong growth. The fastest increase had been in construction – up 4.7% on the previous year. The notable exceptions to this trend had been agriculture enterprises, which fell about 1%, suggesting that among small business operations, there were fewer opportunities to support employment growth.

In terms of the proportion of the workforce that changes industry each year, stability has been the key finding. In 2018,

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

17

“It shouldn’t be about how we can attract people into the industry, rather than how can we can make ourselves more attractive.”

14% of the total NZ workforce moved to different industries, which has changed little since the global financial crisis – before which job movement was slightly more fluid. This suggests that workers have been no more likely to consider new industries as sources of work than they have for the past 10 or so years.

Perhaps more concerning is that over 2018, agriculture and forestry experienced a net outflow of its workforce to other industries at a level only exceeded by more typically transient type work – accommodation and food services, and retail trade.

In contrast construction stood out for its major net inflow from other industries. Like retail and food services, agriculture relied on filling jobs by employing more people from outside the workforce.

Again, Covid-19 has turned the world upside down, but these longerterm trends illustrate industries where there is a real growth in demand for workers like agriculture are not necessarily coming into this new normal with momentum.

To finish the morbid part of this article, it's also worth reiterating the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) medium to longterm employment outlook to 2028.

It still identifies agriculture, forestry and fishing with the lowest average employment growth for any sector. It projects that agriculture and primary (products) processing will experience the weakest employment growth for the 10 years to 2028 (less than 1%, on average).

If someone is thoughtfully considering a career change and looks at their options strategically, and at what the future for different sectors – at an employment level – look like, then it's not the rosiest picture.

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Opportunity, and capitalising on it Lee Astridge, co-founder of business support and recruitment company No.8 HR, says making the most of the opportunity to boost its workforce appeal in the dairy sector will be maximised if it focuses on re-thinking job structures.

“Right now, there are essentially two potential workforce populations to look at. First, the go-getter, entrepreneur, people who are prepared to work really hard and not sleep not much to realise their goal. There will be some of these types of people displaced by the Covid-19 crisis, and we absolutely need to try and capture those people in that career changing phase, particularly as the opportunity just got bigger.

“For them, some of the traditional ways we have captured people – that is to appeal to the fast-tracked career, opportunity to run your own business etc, will still hold true. But these people will come on their own accord.

“But the bigger opportunity remains with the dairy sector really trying to structure jobs to make them attractive to people who aren’t necessarily in that entrepreneurial category. People for whom family time is more important, or don’t want to work a split shift, which doesn’t suit a lot of people.

“We are working with clients who work in various ways, who are being creative, to allow people to work maybe a five or six-hour day. They are doing things like filling the afternoon milking with a drive-in milker. So the opportunity for the dairy sector is re-crafting and redesigning roles to suit people as opposed to try and capitalise on people available and try and fit them into the roles that they already have. This would again just be a stop gap until people find jobs that are available which they would rather do.”

It is clear that innovative thinking to make primary sector jobs look a better option is a must rather than a possible strategy.

Nuffield Scholar and high country sheep and beef farmer Hamish Murray completed his research last year on Future Farm Workplaces, and says he is wary about talking up the opportunity to attract people to agriculture, because

Lee Astridge: two potential workforce populations to look at.

unless we change the fundamentals of our approach or working environment we are creating, and able to adapt to encourage people into roles, we won’t succeed.

“It shouldn’t be about how we can attract people into the industry, rather than how can we can make ourselves more attractive.” He says part of this means more of a focus on better using the existing skills people come with, rather than feeling a need to completely retrain someone, which can be off putting. “We are far better looking at how we can accommodate people’s skills, and how they can help our business.”

Astridge says the transferable skills that can be developed on onfarm should be more of a focus, which requires thought because some of the most valuable skills aren’t necessarily visible. “There are lots of things people learn about themselves when they work on a dairy farm. For example, you are being challenged to selfmanage a lot of the time to work out how to become productive and efficient. You are learning how to make the working environment work for you.”

Looking at the bigger picture, Astridge cautions that the fresh opportunity could be lost for the dairy industry if we stay in the current mindset. “If we don’t open our eyes to not just capture people because they are desperate but reposition our industry for people to gain experience or thrive in a long term career, then that’s a trick we are going to miss.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

PASTURE June 2020

Looking ahead to summer crops – sowing more could be the answer this year

Local knowledge, global expertise

Last season’s widespread drought means the productive capacity of farms have suffered. Pastures you might expect to grow 5-6 t DM/ ha over the coming summer might only grow 3-4t DM. With reduced pasture supply, and supplement also tight, increased areas of summer crop could provide options for a productive season.

With the severity of the drought for many farms ‘business as usual’ for the coming season won’t give the right result. We’ve got to repair the productive capacity of the farm back, and October is the next chance to do this.”

For example growing extra 501 Chicory could grow you 10-12 t DM/ ha over summer and autumn, much more than drought-affected pastures.

Turnips are another option, or maize to provide silage.

So what should be your plan for spring cropping? There are two things to consider in making this decision.

The first is to do with the state of your existing pastures.

After the drought, it’s very likely more of these than normal will not grow as well as they should because they are thinned out and/or weedy, and their underperformance will be very evident from now through to spring.

These paddocks aren’t suddenly going to take off. Their poor growth

will continue right through the season.

So you need to assess the effect of this on feed supply, and whether more crop is an option - while there is cost in this, it is still much cheaper than anything that arrives on a truck.

In this context, spring-sown 501 Chicory will be a very good option as it provides valuable extra DM/ha, has the high ME to keep cows milking well in summer, as well as providing ideal preparation for new grass and clover in autumn.

Other examples include 501 Chicory mixed with Morrow multi-stemmed red clover; Dynamo turnip; or Interval rape or Robbos fodder beet - with the latter having the flexibility of possibly being feed through autumn to extend lactation.

The second consideration is your supply of supplement, which is also likely to have been whittled down by the drought. Here the main option is maize, because of the large quantity of DM it can produce.

We’re proud to announce we’re changing our name this season to Barenbrug , to better reflect our global connections with the largest privately owned seed company in the world.

This in the second and final part of our name change, following on from the first that saw us become “Barenbrug Agriseeds” in 2018.

The Royal Barenbrug Group of Holland is a key global player in pasture breeding across the globe, and has been involved in our success since our company was founded over 30 years ago.

Being a key part of this highly successful global group has always given us a technical edge, providing unique access to plant genetics, science and knowledge.

You’ll see our new name and branding in the market from 1 July, but everything else remains unchanged. Our people and products are the same, as is our team’s long-standing commitment to providing NZ farmers the best seed they can grow.

The Royal Barenbrug Group was founded in 1904 by Joseph Barenbrug, and is now a fourth generation family business with 29 subsidiaries world-wide, breeding stations on five continents and a presence in 18 countries.

Dairy Exporter | For www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020 further information freephone: 0800 449 955, email: mail@agriseeds.co.nz or visit: www.agriseeds.co.nz

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GLOBAL DAIRY NETHERLANDS

Recovering from Covid Fears of a disastrous fall in European dairy prices are fading - Sjoerd Hofstee comments.

E

uropean milk factories dropped their milk prices by 2 to 4 euro cents/kg milk in March and April.

Despite the fear that the slide would not stop there, there is now cautious optimism that the milk price will stabilise this summer and then rise again.

The rapid spread of the Corona virus from Asia across the world resulted in a shock for European dairy companies.

FrieslandCampina’s CEO Hein Schumacher had already warned of serious problems due to the virus, not so much because people didn’t want to buy dairy products any more but because of the potential problems in delivering products to customers.

In other European countries, the base level was often slightly lower and the price fell even faster. This raised the cry for the EU’s help even more.

He was referring, among other things, to sea containers that usually sail back and forth between China/Asia and Europe but in January and February were all left on the docks of Asian ports. This crisis had a fairly 20

large impact on FrieslandCampina and on the Netherlands as an exporting nation.

Nevertheless, the call for action by the European Union first came mainly from countries in Central Europe. Their dairy industries are generally much less dependent on exports but their market infrastructure is less well organised.

In March, milk prices in the Netherlands at FrieslandCampina fell by 2 euro cents or more. Before that the base level was above 35 cents, which is quite high historically.

This was the price at 4.42% fat and 3.57% protein; for the Netherlands these are approximately the average levels of the milk components.

In other European countries, the base level was often slightly lower and the price fell even faster. This raised the cry for the EU’s help even more.

It usually takes a few months for the EU to take action on such price falls but the Corona virus and fears of a large price drop led to swift action by EU ministers and officials who launched the private storage facility in April. This means that now the EU buys milk powder from dairies and traders for the intervention price; a kind of bottom price. In April it was €1698/t for milk powder, which certainly created plenty of enthusiasm.

The psychological effect was at least as important - the fact that such a product could be sold and not dumped created

peace in the market. This psychological effect is also precisely why others, including many dairy companies, are opposed to this move. All milk powder and butter bought by the EU will have to be returned to the market and sold in coming months and years.

This could have a depressing effect on the recovery of the dairy market. During the 2016 milk price decline the EU also stockpiled milk powder and the last stock was only sold in 2018, putting undue pressure on prices in 2017 and 2018.

Nevertheless, this year the EU was asked to act and did so. At present the effect appears to be positive. After a serious fear that the base level would drop below 30 euro cents, everything now indicates that it will remain at 32 to 33 cents for the coming months.

The stabilisation of the market has come about because of several factors: the catering industry is opening, the Chinese are buying again, the containers have been returned, and the US dairy market has collapsed making the US less competitive globally.

Rabobank analysts have been warning since March that Corona virus could not have come at a worse time. At present they seem wrong. The market was hit hard but demand did not really go down, apparently because it is stronger than previously estimated.

Meanwhile, the prices for powder, butter and cheese are rising again leading to cautious smiles on the faces of dairy industry leaders. Dairy farmers now dare to hope that a really disastrous milk price drop will pass them by.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

UPFRONT MARKET VIEW

INSIGHT

Market volatility: the only constant Volatility in world dairy markets supply and demand are making for a cloudy crystal ball, NZX Agri senior dairy analyst Amy Castleton reports.

V

olatility is the name of the game at the moment. The market is changing quickly and it’s difficult for anyone to know where to place themselves.

Oceania dairy commodity prices were effectively unchanged on month-earlier levels by the end of May. Prices eased 0.8% at the May 5 Global Dairy Trade (GDT) event and then lifted 1% at the May 19 event. This left the GDT Price Index up just one point from where it was on April 21.

Demand is mixed across commodities; however there is some evidence of a recovery in certain regions. China has been buying, though it has been more of a case of being present rather than strengthening demand. South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa all seem to be back in the market, having lifted their buying activity in the May 19 GDT event, as well as off-platform.

than initially flagged, which for the dairy industry has suddenly meant there is a place for all the extra milk it has been producing to go.

European milk supplies meanwhile are The dairy market also seems to have not growing quite as quickly as previously turned around somewhat in the Northern expected, as dry conditions have started Hemisphere. Both the United in several places. Farmgate milk prices States and the European have started to drop – reducing Union have been in a incentive to produce much more state of having too milk than usual. The European much milk to meet government has also opened demand, and in some storage schemes – private cases being unable to storage aid and intervention – even process all the for skim milk powder, cheese available milk. However, and butter which are helping to a combination of stabilise the market. Prices had government measures and been falling quickly in Europe but Amy Castleton. started to flatten out through May as increasingly dry conditions in Europe has meant that supply the government support measures were now seems to be adequate. announced.

The United States government has The volatility is likely to continue as announced several measures to support its countries come out of their lockdowns domestic industry, largely buying finished and enter a new normal. It will take some products for distribution. The USDA time to figure out what products are announced in mid-May that it would buy still in demand and where the buying is a greater amount of food products for occurring. its food parcel distribution programme This makes it difficult to forecast for the season ahead. Fonterra noted exactly this in its Q3 business update in late May, commenting “COVID-19 adds significant uncertainty into the process of forecasting what will happen with global dairy prices over the next 15 months. For that reason, we are setting the opening 202021 forecast Farmgate Milk Price range at $5.40 - $6.90/kg MS. The wider range reflects the increased uncertainty we face in the coming season.” The mid-point of Fonterra’s range - $6.15/kg MS – is close to NZX’s forecast for next season, which sits at $6.20/kg MS.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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BUSINESS AG PROUD NZ

Proud to be farmers – Jon and Birgit Pemberton.

Proud to be farming Bridging the gap between urban and rural is what Ag Proud NZ is about.

Karen Trebilcock explains.

W

hen the Mataura River floodwaters receded in early February, 20ha of Jon and Birgit Pemberton’s 139ha dairy farm at Brydone was covered in gravel and silt.

They knew their Southland farm had flooded in 1999 and in the late 1970s and early 1980s but this was the first flood they had experienced since they bought the property in 2014.

“I was watching it on the regional council website. You can watch the river flows in the headwaters so I knew I had so many hours,” Jon says.

He sent the herd down to eat the river flats but it was raining so hard all they 22

did was stand with their backs into the rain. Then he got them off before access was lost and the land flooded. Forty-eight hours later the uneaten grass was covered in debris.

Since then he’s had diggers in to shift 2000t of silt and more than 10,000t of gravel before regrassing. That set him back close to $50,000, he reckons. Then there was the extra supplement that had to be fed in the dairy – the stocking rate for the 390 cows was close to four per hectare on the milking platform.

But at the end of February the cows were still pumping out 2kg of milk solids each.

They do well over their body weight in production, he says.

“Last year it was 120% of live weight.

And because of all of the rain we’ve been making more balage on our 100ha of leased runoff, so it’s not all bad.”

The day after the flooding Jon and his wife Birgit had the bank manager there looking at the damage left behind.

“He just said ‘it is what it is and get on with it’, which we have.”

Getting on with it is what Jon does. He and three mates – Jason Checketts, John Douglas and Jason Herrick – formed Ag Proud NZ last year after photos of dairy stock wintered in the south were taken by anti-dairy activists and sent around the world.

After a barbecue in Mossburn, near where

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

the photos were taken, another followed in Invercargill and now more than 10 barbecues have been held throughout the country including one in Auckland.

But the barbecues are not just about free food and farmers getting together – Ag Proud NZ is there to talk to people.

“We like to be where there is plenty of foot traffic so people can come up to us and ask us about farming.”

Beef + Lamb NZ, and a number of agricultural suppliers have stumped up with support or cash including a recent grant of $10,000 from Ravensdown.

As well, Alliance, Silver Fern Farms, AFFCO, and ANZCO Foods have supplied the meat for the barbecues.

Jon said it has been a steep learning curve and, with no training in public speaking, he admits to a few nervous

“We’re not protesting. We’re having conversations with people so they understand.”

Jon tells the story of how, in Hamilton, a young man approached him at a barbecue and complained that farmers were spraying poisons on the land.

“So I explained to him that by using herbicides, which break down quickly, we could direct drill new grasses or crops without ploughing because ploughing releases carbon into the air and he went away a lot happier and understanding a bit more about what we do and why we do it.”

And along with the barbecues and stands at the Southern Field Days and several A&P shows, Ag Proud now has a Facebook page, a website, an administrator Sue Miller to help out, has run seminars and done YouTube “tractor talks” – all of it tied up in a charitable trust.

This has needed funding, and DairyNZ,

moments before barbecues.

“We want the local communities to organise their own barbecues but they all want one of us to be there too so it has meant a lot of flights, a lot of travelling.”

Although the barbecues and stands at A&P shows have now stopped due to Covid-19, Ag Proud NZ has still been busy supporting new charity “Meet the Need” and sharing on its Facebook page the posts of other ventures trying to help.

Jon made national headlines at the start of April asking farmers to take it easy on their city cousins after farming was deemed an essential service and allowed to continue when other businesses were shut down by the government.

But trying to bridge the divide between urban and rural is what Jon does best.

He understands why many farmers are uncomfortable explaining what they do on farm but says it is important for people to stand up for what is right.

“We all have to be ambassadors for the rural sector. Every one of us. We all need to be proud of what we do every day.”

He doesn’t think the relationship between city and country is broken.

“It’s just stretched. We’re looking at about three generations now since people were on farms or had family members or friends on farms, and with immigration that is another group of people who have no idea about farming in New Zealand.

“It allows governments to use farmers as scapegoats in political campaigns – to blame things on farmers – and people accept it because they don’t know any different.”

Jon, who grew up in Canterbury, is the fourth generation of his family who have been farmers. His Austrian wife Birgit loves the outdoor life as do their three children, all under 10.

“We are proud of what we do and, as farmers, we have to communicate that so people understand.”

He said most people not connected to farming don’t have time to challenge what extremists say.

“They just accept it. They’re too busy to stop and think ‘Is that right’?

“And on social media everyone has an opinion. We have got to get in there and tell our side and not be afraid to do it.

“We’re all in this together.”

On State Highway One between Mataura and Edendale, the Pemberton dairy farm borders the Mataura River.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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He said Ag Proud NZ was not just about dairy.

“We talk about all types of farming – dairy, sheep, organic, everything. We are proud of what we do and we’re not hiding it.”

So far Ag Proud is taking up about 20 hours of his week and he doesn’t think the workload will lessen this year, especially with the general election coming up.

The trust does not support one political party over another but Jon wants to make sure all of them realise that farmers “will no longer lie down and take it”.

“If we see less farmer bashing by politicians this year then that is a win.”

He urges all farmers to put submissions in on policies, whether they are at local or national government level, to make sure the agricultural sector is heard.

“With the templates that DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb put out it is really easy to put a submission in now. Just tell your story.

That’s all you have to do. It’s not hard and it doesn’t take a lot of time.

“Make sure you do it.”

He said being active and proud of what

24

Jon Pemberton and the cows which do over their bodyweight in production.

was done on farms was part of good mental health.

“It’s not about whining. We all have bad days and you drop your lip a bit about what is happening, whether it’s the weather or what someone has said about farmers.

“It’s about getting out there and talking and realising everyone is in the same boat, that it’s just not you who is

going through a tough time.”

He encourages farmers to allow visitors onto their farms, to make the effort to let city kids pat sheep, feed a calf or watch the cows being milked.

“We’re not protesting. We’re having conversations with people so they understand.”

For more information find Ag Proud NZ on Facebook or at agproud.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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25

BUSINESS DAIRY MARKET

Bruce Turner, central portfolio management director, Fonterra.

Dairy sales to food service slumped 70-75% in the USA with the Covid-19 lockdown but there was a surge in demand for consumer products at supermarkets for a population forced to cook at home.

Prices bottomed but on the up Substantial reduction in food service demand has been offset by increased retail purchases, processor action to limit supply and government stimulus packages. Anne Lee reports.

W

hile life on the farm maintained some sense of normality during New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown period, the sharp sting of market disruption the virus injected globally is likely to leave a swathe of lingering side effects – not the least of which is the dreaded market uncertainty.

It’s sent Kiwi dairy farmers, already bruised by the not so gentle prods from bankers earlier this year, flocking towards risk management tools such as Fonterra’s Fixed Milk price (oversubscribed at every monthly offering since March) and has seen an uptick in interest in NZX’s 26

Milk Price Futures.

Fonterra’s gapingly-wide opening forecast milk price range for the 2020-2021 season of $5.40 - $6.90/kg milk solids (MS) is a stark indicator of just how uncertain market conditions are for the coming year.

NZX has been running a series of webinars aimed at giving farmers more insight into the global market issues that could affect their milk price returns and the effects Covid-19 has had on banking sector outlooks for credit.

Later this month a panel of advisors will discuss how to formulate a hedging policy during a time of crisis.

In late May senior management

representatives from three major global processors shared their views on the virus’s effects on supply chains and markets.

The panel participants were Fonterra central portfolio management director Bruce Turner, Arla senior vice president Thomas Carstensen, and Dairy Farmers of America president of risk management Ed Gallagher.

For the most part dairy processors hadn’t been significantly affected by social distancing requirements although some plants in some regions had faced reduction in staff availability due to illness, albeit on a temporary basis.

Turner said Fonterra’s management teams were taking notice of the virus in January and February, trying to make sense of what its effect could be and putting together plans for “what if” scenarios.

Fonterra has a range of plants from modern, lights-out powder plants where there’s limited need for close quarter contact by people to processing lines in other plants where people are standing side by side.

“Manufacturing had to be pretty nimble and figure out on the fly how to keep people safe but there was no significant effect on (the processing side of ) the business,” he said.

Gallagher said there had been an estimated 70-75% drop in food service sales in the US over the initial lockdown period with an increase in retail consumer products as people bought from supermarkets and prepared for staying at home.

Normally about half of dairy sales go to retail and half to food service.

There were bottlenecks initially as supermarkets and processors weren’t quite ready for the surge in demand for consumer products, he said.

“We had these goofy goings-on that

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Already the opening of restaurants in some countries such as Denmark in mid-May had seen a sharp reversal of the decline in products such as mozzarella.

would put a dagger in the heart of any (milk used for cheese manufacture) prices dairyman where people could only buy had returned to pre-Covid levels. one, two or three gallons of milk at a time He said direct payments for producers - there was rationing of products.” timed for the end of June would help By the end of May retail sales were still farmers’ situations and he expected there up substantially and food service had would be less inventory and “more begun to increase again so that it was rational milk production than there would about 40% down on normal trade. otherwise have been.”

“Net dairy demand is still down in He predicted almost all of the 1.4% yeartotal.” on-year growth in milk production for US market stimulus packages with April would have been dumped. government and private purchases of Overall, he believed US actions would dairy products for food aid, have been supportive of global along with processor incentives milk prices in the long run. to farmers to reduce supply, Carstensen said in Europe had reduced excess supply over there was little to no demand. likelihood of intervention Covid-19 had hit just as the stocks of skim milk powder US was coming into the flush of (SMP) or butter building up to milk production. significant levels.

There had been some milk By late May there were just dumping but, as co-operative’s 115t of SMP in intervention Ed Gallagher, President of risk management, own milk price disincentives on stocks even though total production came into play, dairy Dairy Farmers of availability allowed for as America (DFA). farmers cut feed rations back, much as 100,000t. reduced milking frequency and The 115t had come from carried out culling so that milk excesses the Czech Republic and he doubted any reduced and dumping stopped. product would go into intervention from At the same time dairy products were other European countries. being bought with donations and put into There were about 100,000t of butter food pantries (foodbanks) adding a little to in stock but that was typically needed demand. anyway to meet Christmas demand.

Then the United States Department of Agriculture put up US$360m to CHANGES IN DEMAND PATTERN purchase dairy products for food pantries, Turner said the obvious change was the stimulating demand. drop in food service dairy products such as Gallagher noted that June Class III milk UHT cream, particularly in China, but this Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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“There were bottlenecks initially as supermarkets and processors weren’t quite ready for the surge in demand for consumer products”

Top: I turn often: and so do milk prices - to mitigate milk price volatility Fonterra’s Fixed Milk price scheme has been oversubscribed at every monthly offering since March.

Above: Thomas Carstensen, senior vice president, Arla.

had coincided with a spike in demand for consumer butter and cheese.

The least risk option for many companies was to convert milk destined for products where demand had dropped into more storable products such as SMP and whole milk powder, and the market did see companies do that, he said.

Some of the big players in China were forced to dry more milk to powder and, while inventories had grown, he expected they would be worked through quickly.

He said Fonterra’s team had done a great job at staying close to customers, understanding their challenges and feeding that information back so management could plan and evolve solutions quickly.

Carstensen said there were unlikely to be any permanent changes to product mixes coming out of Europe although, as in other regions, dairy that would

have been destined for food service was diverted to consumer products such as butter.

Already the opening of restaurants in some countries such as Denmark in mid-May had seen a sharp reversal of the decline in products such as mozzarella.

Gallagher said while there had been a sharp drop in food service demand from March to the beginning of May, demand was rising just as sharply as lockdown restrictions began easing.

There hadn’t been any challenges for US exports of SMP apart from Mexico where lower oil prices, the effects of Covid-19 on the population, and the low value of the Peso had caused a drop in demand.

He’d been pleasantly surprised with Chinese demand and GDT auction prices.

“I’m a lot more optimistic than a month ago.”

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

BUSINESS MILK FUTURES

A cooperative futures trading company is mitigating milk price risk for Dutch and Belgian farmers.

Farmers’ group profits from futures trading More and more dairy farmers in the Netherlands and Belgium are discovering the benefits of participating in the milk futures market. Jelle Feenstra reports.

C

ontracts for 77 million kilograms of milk in 2020 were concluded by the Milk Trading Company (MTC), the co-operative that covers milk price risks on the futures market on behalf of livestock farmers in Belgium and the Netherlands.

That is double last year’s figure. The monthly price of 95% of this year’s milk has already been fixed at between 37 and 38.5 cents per kilo - about 38 cents on average. For the 220 participating dairy farmers - 141 from Flanders (Belgium) and 79 from the Netherlands - this appears to have been a very good move because milk prices are currently falling sharply as a result of the Corona virus crisis. In January, when MTC locked in prices on most of the milk, the expectation was that milk prices would rise this year.

NO INTEREST IN LOW PHYSICAL MILK PRICE

“I am afraid that MTC will make a lot of profit this year,” says consultant Niek Groot Wassink of initiator DLV Advies.

A board member of MTC, Groot Wassink explains being “afraid” to make a profit.

“Look, it is of course nice that dairy farmers have been able to fix part of their milk price at an annual level of 38 cents.

It seems that the physical (actual market) milk price will probably not reach this level this year.

“But let it be clear that we prefer a high physical milk price for the entire sector, with a fixed price that is just a bit higher.

That is better for the total dairy sector. And it ultimately also yields more benefits for the participants in the MTC because that

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

price applies to only a portion of their milk.

“To clarify: in their first year of participation, dairy farmers can fix a maximum of 30% of their total milk volume on price; in the second year, that is 50%.”

DLV Belgium took the initiative to enter the European Energy Exchange (EEX) in Leipzig in 2017 under the name Milk Trading Company (MTC) with 47 dairy farmers. The EEX, a futures market for various products, began trading in dairy products in 2010.

Dirk Coucke, founder and general director of DLV Belgium, is the initiator of MTC. “Offering prices in the future is interesting for big companies because it allows them to fix their purchase prices for 29

milk and feed for a longer period of time and thus provide early assurance about their margins,” Coucke said.

Fluctuating milk prices and increasing price differences between milk processors gave DLV the idea to find way for dairy farmers to achieve more stable margins.

Success has meant the dairy farmers realised a profit of 1.78 cents/kg of milk in 2018; in 2019 a profit of 1.68 cents/kg was achieved. Both were net amounts adjusted for all costs incurred.

CARTE BLANCHE Farmer and Milk Trading Company director Niek Groot Wassink: “we prefer a high physical milk price for the entire sector, with a fixed price that is just a bit higher.”

Soon after the start in Flanders, DLV Belgium looked to expand into the Netherlands, collaborating with directors Herrold Lammertink and Niek Groot Wassink at DLV Advies. Groot Wassink is not only a DLV advisor specialising in financial management but also a dairy farmer, running a farm with his parents and brother.

He says that the MTC is a separate and fully independently operating body with a co-operative structure and members in both Belgium and the Netherlands.

Every two weeks, a delegation from

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both boards - five dairy farmers from the Netherlands and ten from Belgium discuss the current market situation with dairy and feed analysts. In other words, two market experts in the fields of dairy and feed come with ready-made advice, and the delegated dairy farmers from both countries decide on whether to fix a price or not.

The board receives carte blanche from the members for decision making, not needing to seek feedback for every decision. The members will be kept informed of the fixed milk price, the current market situation and future expectations via a private website. The prices are always fixed between three and fifteen months in advance, called hedging in professional jargon.

A dairy farmer who wants to participate pays 5 euros/1000litres of milk in the first year of participation. From the second year this is 3 euros/1000litres of milk. A dairy farmer with a production of 1 million litres, who participates with 30% of his production, therefore pays €1,500 in the first year and €900 in the second year.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

“BETTER MISSED TOP THAN KISSED BOTTOM”

Dutch and Belgian farmers are using the Liepzig milk futures to smooth milk price volatility.

are paid from this money. A broker is a professional, who has the time and knowledge to monitor and estimate the market for the farmer as closely as possible and who concludes contracts on behalf of the farmers.

In addition, each participant must deposit a buffer of 8,000euros/100,000kg milk. For the example company mentioned above, that would be 24,000 euros. This is the working capital with which brokers trade.

Any profit is credited to the farmer member but a loss means that he would have to make additional payments because the buffer of 8,000 euros per 100,000 kilos of milk must be continuously maintained.

This amount will remain in the member’s name and will be refunded when he leaves the futures market. For the buffer amount, the dairy farmer receives shares in the cooperative in proportion to his contributed milk.

PLUS OF €18,000 ON PHYSICAL MILK PRICE

MTC enters the futures market with this money. How does this work out in practice? In an example, in January 2020 MTC sold a future for butter and milk powder at a converted milk price of 38 cents in November 2020. If the actual milk price is then 32 cents, MTC will repurchase this future in November 2020 for 32 cents. The profit of 6 cents per kilo of milk goes to the joint kitty and is distributed to the 220 participating dairy farmers in proportion to the milk that

has been brought in. The profit or loss sharing is determined monthly and is paid quarterly to each dairy farmer. Meanwhile, the participating dairy farmer continues to receive his regular milk money through his own milk factory. All his milk will also continue to go there – there is never physical delivery of even one litre of milk on the futures market.

Translating the 6 cents profit/kg milk in the above example across the whole of 2020 – not unthinkable based on the contracts concluded and the development of the dairy market – then the dairy farmer with 1 million litres of milk who fixed 300,000kg of milk on the futures market earns €18,000 annually from the futures trade – money that he would not have had without participation.

DOUBLING THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

The futures market does not suit every dairy farmer, said Groot Wassink.

“Trading on futures markets is the art of being satisfied with a certain price at a certain time. If you want to grab the top price on the physical market, you should not participate.”

Still, participation has several advantages. “Flattening the drops will improve the liquidity position. And experience shows that by fixing prices on the futures market on average a net profit gain of 1.50 to 2 cents/kg of milk is achieved. “ This year the result appears to be very positive as a result of the Coronavirus

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Harold Overmars is one of the 79 dairy farmers participating in MTC. Together with his parents, he runs a dairy farm producing 2 million kilos of milk in the Netherlands. In 2019 he participated in 10% of the milk pool, in 2020 it is 20%.

Overmars is very pleased with the DLV initiative. Last year, he earned an extra 1.68cents on 10% of the milk.

For 2020, the milk price for 20% of their milk is hedged at price levels between 37 and 38.5 cents that were fixed in January when the milk price forecast was still rosy.

The conquering of the world by the Coronavirus changed the expectation and the milk price is now falling sharply.

“These kinds of unexpected events are also an important reason why I am with MTC. A milk price set until December gives peace of mind,” he says.

Overmars plans to transfer half of his milk pool to MTC eventually.

“The first few years have been a bit of an exploration, seeing how it goes.

But I am very pleased with how it has gone so far. “ There may be times when he misses a top milk price of 43 cents and has to settle for 39 cents but he sees that as “part of the game”.

“Because if the milk price is 25 cents and there is a fixed price of 32 cents, we will be winning again. That’s why I say I’d rather have missed the top than kissed the bottom.”

crisis. In fact, a “peak year” for the 220 participating dairy farmers “threatens” with perhaps 6 or 7 cents profit. Groot Wassink thinks the term “threatens” is correct.

“Again, because we as dairy farmers prefer to receive a high physical milk price and a fixed price that is a tad above that.”

Dairy farmers who apply this year will participate from 2021.

Stepping in during the current futures trading is not possible. Groot Wassink expects further growth, envisaging a possible doubling of the number of dairy farmers over the next two years.

• Jelle Feenstra is a journalist from Pressagency Langs de Melkweg in the Netherlands.

31

SYSTEMS LOW NITROGEN

Cameron Marshall, PHD student Lincoln University (right) and Pablo Gregorini, Professor Livestock Production at Lincoln University.

Breeding values for low nitrogen Cows with low milk urea nitrogen breeding values could reduce nitrate leaching and have higher milk protein levels, as Anne Lee explains.

L

atest research from Lincoln University and the Pastural Livestock Production Lab offers new hope to farmers in the search for tools to slash nitrate leaching, with cows themselves looking like a big part of the solution.

New findings are showing a significant 28% reduction in urinary urea nitrogen in urine patches of cows with low milk urea nitrogen breeding values (MUNBV) compared with cows with higher MUNBVs. The work by Lincoln University PhD student Cameron Marshall measuring urine nitrogen concentrations shows cows with lower MUNBVs excrete less urea in their urine, reducing the potency of the urine patch as a potential driver of nitrate leaching.

The work backs up what models from CRV Ambreed predicted when it launched its LowN Sires.

However, both Cameron and his supervisor, Lincoln University professor 32

Pablo Gregorini, emphasise that this experiment is fully independent of the breeding company and funded solely by the university.

The reductions in urinary nitrogen are significant but the good news doesn’t stop there; Cameron’s work also showed an increase in milk protein percentage for the low MUNBV cows.

“Cameron’s studies are very significant for farmers,” says Pablo.

“The results show cows themselves could be an important tool in helping to cut nitrate leaching potential and in helping farmers meet regulatory reductions.

“To be able to do this and increase milk protein is a huge win:win.”

Cameron’s research was carried out at the university’s Ashley Dene Research and Development Station and involved 48 cows with MUNBVs ranging from -2 to +3.

He measured a comprehensive range of factors throughout the experiment that ran through the 2018-19 season.

Urine measurements were taken from

the animals using Lincoln University designed PEETER sensors fitted to the back end of the cows to measure frequency and volume of urination.

Urine was also collected directly from the animals in early and late lactation as were dung samples.

Results show that a one-unit decrease in MUNBV saw a 0.67g/litre drop in urinary urea nitrogen concentration.

That amounts to a 163g per day difference in the urinary urea nitrogen excretion between the animals with the highest MUNBV and those with the lowest BV for milk urea nitrogen.

“If you look at that from a per hectare basis and at a stocking rate of 4 cows/ha that’s 241.3kg/ha/year difference in the amount of urinary urea nitrogen going onto pasture,” Cameron says.

Using a model calculation developed

by Lincoln University professors Keith Cameron and Hong Di, Cameron was able to determine the likely impact of that difference.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Stage of Lactation Early lactation

Urine N from Urea, g/L

Late lactation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 1: The change in the N component of urinary urea as affected by milk urea N breeding value (MUNBV). Cows with low MUNBV breeding values have lower MUN concentrations (mg/dL). Across both stages of lactation, for every 1-unit increase in MUNBV, there was a subsequent 0.67 g urine N from urea increase per L of urine (P = 0.01). Stage of lactation affected (P < 0.01) the intercept of the regression line, so that the intercept was 7.91 and 13.16 g urine N from urea per L of urine, in early and late lactation, respectively.

The regression model adjusted R2 = 0.46 (P< 0.05). Shaded area about the regression line is the 95% confidence interval.

KEY FINDINGS FOR LOW MUN BREEDING VALUE STUDY

• A 28% reduction in urinary urea nitrogen/urine patch.

• 165.3g difference in urinary urea nitrogen excretion per day between highest milk urea nitrogen BV (MUNBV) and lowest MUNBV animals in this study. (-2 to MUNBV +3 MUNBV).

• At 4 cows/ha the difference Figure 1. The change in the N component of urinary urea as affected by milk urea N equates to 231kg/ha/year less N excreted onto pasture in urine.

“It equated to a 40.73kg reduction in energy (ME), neutral and acid detergent • 231kg/ha/year less N excreted in breeding value (MUNBV). Cows with low MUNBV breeding values have lower MUN nitrate nitrogen leached per hectare,” he fibre (NDF and ADF), and water soluble urine equates to 41kg less nitrate says. carbohydrates (WSC). concentrations (mg/dL). Across both stages of lactation, for every 1-unit increase in nitrogen per hectare leached The proportion of nitrogen partitioned At the same level of DM and nitrogen (Based on Cameron and Di model).

into dung increased through late lactation intake the milk protein percentage was MUNBV, there was a subsequent 0.67 gconsistently urine N from urea increase per L of urine (P = 0.01).

- also good news for farmers because higher in the lower MUNBV nitrogen in cow faeces is broken down animals, so the grazing diet offered during that is a precursor for milk protein.

Stage of lactation affected (P < 0.01) thethe intercept of the regression line, so that the“We intercept and released more slowly and so is less of a experiment was not behind the need to look at whether some of the nitrate leaching hazard. difference in milk protein levels. processes there are being upregulated,” he was and 13.16 urine L of urine, in early andthat latethe lactation,says.

That7.91 is crucial towardsg the endNoffrom urea per Cameron’s analysis showed lactation in autumn when the leaching cows’ diet wasn’t behind the differences in He is also looking into cow behavioural 2 respectively. model 0.46 (P< 0.05).

Shaded the he noted during the study. risk of nitrates inThe the regression soil is greatest due toadjusted milk R urea=nitrogen levels or in urinary area urea about differences slower uptake by plants and greater chance nitrogen concentration either.

The cows had been split into two groups regression linethat is the 95% confidence interval. of rainfall events lead to drainage The PEETER urine measurement data with one group grazing a ryegrass/white down through the soil profile. showed no differences in frequency or clover pasture and the other a ryegrass/ Milk test data for cows at selected times volume of urinations, so that too could white clover and plantain pasture. through lactation showed that with every be ruled out as causing changes in urinary “There was only about 21% plantain in unit increase in MUNBV there was a 0.1% urea nitrogen concentrations. the more diverse pasture and we didn’t decrease in milk protein percentage.

His experiment also included sampling find any pasture effect on MUN or urinary “So cows with lower BVs for MUN had rumen fluids so that investigations could urea nitrogen levels. a greater percentage of milk protein,” be carried out into what might be going on “But previous research has shown that Cameron says. during digestion and whether differences plantain needs to be at 30% or more to get Milk fat levels were not significantly there could be behind lower MUN and an effect,” he says. affected but total milk solids did increase urinary urea nitrogen levels.

“These are exciting results for farmers as the MUNBV dropped and that’s what There were no differences in the and Cameron is continuing to look into farmers are paid for so that’s an important concentrations of rumen volatile fatty the data and identify where further benefit, Pablo says. acids or rumen ammonia but Cameron research should be directed, but at this His study measured pasture yields and says more work needs to be done on how point we’re confident in saying the composition and analysed pasture quality nitrogen is metabolised once it leaves MUNBV is looking like an important for numerous factors including crude the rumen, particularly when it comes to potential tool in lowering nitrate protein, dry matter (DM) metabolisable synthesis of glutamine – an amino acid leaching,” Pablo says.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

33

SYSTEMS CO DIARY

Farm Gauge: where to focus for improvement.

Online tool boosts skills to see how it can benefit their business.

Farm Gauge looks at eight areas of t’s been a challenging season for farm operation: strategy, feed, finance, many farms, but our farmers health safety and wellbeing, herd can be proud they are management, people, environment still producing food and infrastructure. There are for New Zealand through a few questions to answer in drought and flooding, each area and it can often be and significant disruption completed within an hour. from Covid-19.

You don’t have to complete At this time, many all sections – but can focus on farmers will be thinking a couple of areas that matter to about how they improve you. farm performance over the Once you’ve completed the short Nicole next year and make their business self-assessment, Farm Gauge will Hammond more resilient. produce a report highlighting your When it’s busy, it’s not easy to performance. This comes with links find time to look at where you can make to resources to improve your knowledge, changes. Fortunately, DairyNZ has a quick, and suggestions for further training. free online tool that can help identify what Farmers at a Southland Biz Grow event you can focus on to improve your farm I organised last season found Farm Gauge operation. It’s called Farm Gauge. a useful tool to help identify where they Already 1400 Kiwi dairy farmers and could focus to improve how they farm. We rural professionals have accessed Farm shared the results in the group. It allowed Gauge. DairyNZ is encouraging more farms those who were experts in different topics

Words by: Nicole Hammond

I

“making milking easier and faster”

to share their knowledge with others who wanted to develop their understanding.

Farm Gauge can be used by farm owners, farm managers, sharemilkers, contract milkers and farm staff. You can share results across a farm team to see what strengths everyone brings to the operation and then share knowledge among staff or plan additional training.

If Farm Gauge is completed each year you can also track how your skills develop over time. Improve your farm and win!

DairyNZ is encouraging you to try out Farm Gauge. If you use it by June 30 you’ll go into a draw to win a $500 farm store voucher (your choice of a Farmlands or Farm Source voucher). Two vouchers will be awarded per region.

To be eligible, just complete three or more of the eight Farm Gauge sections.

Visit dairynz.co.nz/farm-gauge for information.

• Nicole Hammond is DairyNZ consulting officer, Southland.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

TOW AND Fert

by Tow and farm

35

SYSTEMS WINTERING

Let sleepy cows lie Your cows need enough dry space to lie down - Karen Trebilcock explains why.

I

f cows were allowed to sit around the become wet and cold, cows choose not to management table and plan their lie down even when their bodies need it own wintering they would tell the the most. farm team that they need to be able to “Farmers need to make sure they lie down, says DairyNZ animal care team give their cows adequate, comfortable leader Helen Thoday. opportunities to lie down.

It can often be hard to pick up from the “Cows have small feet and large bodies stoic animals that they need space and, and their growing foetus in winter weighs although farmers understand that good more than 15kg plus the fluids around it. quality feed, clean water and the right “By calving time there is an extra 30 plus minerals are essential, DairyNZ is now kilos being supported by the cow’s feet.” focusing on spreading this message, she But however much a cow needs to lie says. down, if it’s in wet mud she can refuse to “Cows can sleep and ruminate standing do it for days until she becomes exhausted. up but prefer to do it lying down. Every When she is finally given access to a dry animal needs to lie down to rest and that lying area she will choose lying down over includes cows. In fact, I can’t think of a eating. mammal that doesn’t lie down.”

“We know cows are highly motivated to New Zealand’s Dairy Cattle Code of lie down from several studies carried out Welfare states that dairy cattle should have around the world,” says Helen. at least eight hours of lying time every day.

A 2018 study by the University of Helen says that in New Zealand’s pastureCalifornia and Aarhus University in based systems cows have Denmark showed cows the best opportunity would push a gate that IF YOUR COWS ARE: to express their natural weighed up to 40% of their • Sitting with their legs behaviors, and one of own body weight to access tucked under them these was to lie when an area with deep bedding • Have a ‘tide’ mark on they want, where they rather than lie down on their coats want, and with the herd concrete slats.

• Or are not lying down mates they want.

When the gate was a couple of hours after Most of the year this weighted more and was eating their break is not a problem but impossible for them to ACT STRAIGHT AWAY when ground conditions push open, some of the 36

DairyNZ animal care team leader Helen Thoday.

cows still tried to open it up to 39 times.

One cow eventually lay down on the slats with its head in the weighted gate.

After a day of not being able to get through the gate the cows were allowed free access again to the bedding and instead of lying on it for the usual eight hours they lay on it for 18 hours and reduced their time eating by a third.

Other studies here and overseas show that cows in wet conditions and exposed to bad weather used body fat to meet energy requirements and were less likely to eat their daily break. White blood cell counts were also reduced making them more susceptible to infections such as mastitis and lameness.

However, the daily signs that cows weren’t lying down were subtle and could be hard to see.

“A cow will move its weight from leg to leg if it has been standing for a while but

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Wetness of lying surface

Wetness of lying surface 80

70

Percentage (%)

Moisture content (%)

75

65

60

55

50

0

1

2

3

4

5

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Percentage of the herd achieving minimum lying times

Percentage of the herd achieving lying times 100

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Percentage (%)

usually when someone is there the cows are walking around, excitedPercentage about getting fed,” Helen says.lying times of the herd achieving minimum If you see cows lying down, make sure they are stretched out on the ground as they do in summer.

100 Studies have shown cows lie differently in cold mud – they will tuck their legs under themselves, 80 limiting the amount of their bodies touching the ground.

Calving in mud is equally bad for cow health and 60 the health of the calf.

Calves quickly get cold on wet surfaces and can fail to stand and 40 feed for the first time.

As well, cows calving in mud can’t easily stand and lie down repeatedly as is normal during labour.

“Cows that20are afraid of slipping over won’t get up so they will spend what can be hours calving lying down.

0 “Because of this their1 legs get cold 2in the wet mud 3 and after the calf is born they sometimes can’t getWeek up again because their legs are so cold.

“Using an infrared camera Dairy Australia found the temperature of the cow’s hamstrings after calving in wet mud was down at 11 degrees C when they should have been at body temperature.

“If the cow can’t get up after calving then the calf won’t be able to feed and get the colostrum it requires.”

Helen says farmers need to assess winter paddocks daily as they are eaten and make sure cows have dry ground to go to.

“When the paddocks get sloppy wet and there is a storm coming, or more rain is forecast, you have to act because you know it’s not going to get any better.

“Look for what we call the tide mark – the line of mud on its coat that shows the cow has been trying to lie down in the mud. We don’t want to see any of those.

“If your cows have a tide mark then act straight away. Give them somewhere drier to lie down.”

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SPECIAL REPORT

growing great calves 39 43 45 46 49 55 57 38

Best practice with a great big dollop of compassion Learn tube feeding - its a lifesaver Test for the best liquid gold Passing the test Great calves make great heifers Getting the calf rumen up and running Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the bag?

60 62 66 70 72 76 80

Calf rearing lessons from Covid-19 Speedy reaction to illness Automating daily calf feeding Do your sums before rearing extra calves Is rearing worth the risk?

Team effort rearing 3000 lambs Probiotics boost calf growth and milk production Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT

Amy Christie – so much satisfaction seeing her young charges thrive.

Best practice with a great big dollop of compassion Words by: Anne Lee

T

here’s no luck factored into Amy Christie’s plan for calf rearing on a grand scale – just absolute attention to best practice detail with a great big dollop of compassion and heartfelt caring for her young charges.

Amy is calf rearing division manager at Rakaia Island Dairies and over the coming calving period she will be responsible for more than 6000 newborn animals. They include 1700 replacement heifer calves; 950 Speckle Park sale calves that are contracted to go at 4 days old; Hereford cross calves sold at 100kg; and sale dairy heifers and Jersey cross bulls.

They’re reared in a central, large dedicated calf rearing shed where up to 300 calves can be housed at a time.

Three of the four dairy units on the 2000ha Island also have calf sheds that are used as numbers build.

Getting the details right matters, Amy says.

“When you’re working with the numbers we have here you only need to have one slip up and things could go downhill very fast in a big way.

“The key to success is attention to detail and instilling that in the whole team so we can prevent problems rather than react to them – prevention is better than cure every time.”

Based on last season’s results – Amy’s

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

first season at the helm – the great training, systems and absolute dedication to the details works.

They had no cases of infectious scours and the only treatments needed were for navel infections and two cases of pneumonia.

“There’s so much satisfaction in seeing them really thrive but that’s never down to luck.

“Colostrum, recording, monitoring, treating the calf as an individual, hygiene, and housing all come together – it sets them up for success.

“It’s about putting good systems in place and sticking to them so you don’t get complacent, so those systems become habits.”

39

Amy gets all eight to 12 members (some part-time) of her team together before calving for a full training day.

She’ll also get the farm teams from the four dairy units on the Island together to explain how to handle the newborns, her expectations, and how they’ll manage the colostrum and milk supply from the farm dairies.

NEWBORNS Calves are picked up twice-a-day to ensure they get enough high-quality gold colostrum within the vital first 12 hours.

That pickup is the first encounter with humans for the infant animals and Amy emphasises the need to be gentle and calm with them.

“Picking up a newborn calf should be like giving them a firm hug – supporting them with one arm under the chest and the other around their back legs and backside.

“For the safety of calves and staff it’s important not to rush and risk slipping.”

Navels are sprayed with iodine and calves are placed in trailers adapted so they can be placed directly in rather than lifted over. They’re placed on their feet onto non-slip rubber matting.

“Some, born on a wet cold day, may want to lie down so it’s important not to overcrowd the trailer and then take it slowly coming back to the shed.”

Calves are taken to the drop-off pen, which is clearly marked, and met by a member of the rearing team.

They’re checked over, have their navels sprayed again, have their sex checked and then carefully placed in the pen they’ll spend the next two or more weeks in.

• Colostrum – quickly, quality, quantity • Hygiene – clean, clean, clean • Housing – warm, dry, clean, ventilation but no drafts • Attention to detail – do it well, plan, monitor • Every calf is an individual – observe • Avoid stresses – all of the above

“The guys at the shed know what we need and they milk into test buckets for us, test it and have it ready for us to collect.

“We test it again and the highest quality will go to those newborn calves coming in.”

Amy prefers the glass Colostrometer for its ease of use but says being glass means extra care has to be taken not to break them. (see page 45 & 46 for more on colostrum testing) “We make sure the colostrum we’re testing is at room temperature so we get an accurate reading.”

Gold colostrum is fed to all calves up until 24 hours old. Transition milk from milkings two to four is fed to calves over a day old.

“Transition milk is still high-quality

milk for our young calves, concentrated in the nutrients they need in those early few days.”

They have 500l modified pods at each calf shed with metal lids to enable colostrum to be poured in and for ease of daily cleaning.

A tap at the bottom means no need for buckets to be dipped into them.

Amy says they use partitioned feeders for all pens in the shed so they know exactly how much each calf is drinking at each feed.

The aim is to teach newborns to use the feeders but if they’re not up to it they’ll be tube fed to ensure they’re getting the full two litres within the six hour window since birth the team are targeting.

Another feed of high quality colostrum five hours later ensures the right intake within 12 hours.

At the height of calving there can be 90100 calves arriving daily but that doesn’t mean any shortcuts can be taken.

Slow drinkers are identified early so they can be managed together, especially when they go outside onto calfeterias.

Having the same people stay with specific pens and sheds means they know their calves and quickly pick up if a calf is behaving differently.

Calves are anaesthetised by the vet at a week old for disbudding.

COLOSTRUM – THE 3 QS New calves are fed two litres of warm gold colostrum as soon as they arrive in the sheds.

“We’re trying to get a good quantity of the highest quality gold colostrum into them within six to eight hours of being born – the three Qs – quickly, quality and quantity.

“Within 12 hours of birth they’ve lost 50% of their ability to absorb the immunoglobulins (IgG) which are so, so important for their immunity and growth.

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Pellet feeders are cleaned and refreshed daily.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

They’re ear tagged and EIDd and the ear notch is taken for DNA parentage testing at the same time. During the peak of calving that happens twice a week.

“I ear tagged every calf last year – which was a bit tough on my wrists but we didn’t have any infections at all.

“We dip each tag in disinfectant before it’s put in and make sure the tag goes into the ear between the two veins, so you don’t get a lot of bleeding where infection can get in.”

Calves are fed twice-a-day with two litres per feed for five days and then once-a-day with four litres.

“We start hand feeding them the small pellets when they’re two days old, just slipping a couple of pellets into their mouths as they come off the milk feeder.

“It gets them used to the taste and texture. We’ll have a few pellets in the pellet feeder from then and we’ll see them start disappearing in the next couple of days.

Straw available ad lib.

“We never leave pellets that haven’t been eaten in there for more than a day – it’s important they’re fresh and the calves eat plenty of them to help develop the rumen and to ensure they get the coccidiostat needed to prevent coccidiosis.”

SHEDS

They have straw available too although it’s important calves don’t fill up on that rather than getting enough pellets.

Fresh, clean water is available ad lib and piped to each pen.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

41

Part 1 - Picking up and handling calves www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DBaUyCkDy0s

More than 4000 calves go through the sheds at Rakaia Island but every one is an individual and some even get a name.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE Keeping calves warm and dry is imperative and the sheds have good drainage to stone filled soak holes ensuring the ground underneath bedding is always dry.

Bedding is totally removed annually, the ground sprayed with Virkon and a layer of hydrated lime spread to restore the pH balance before wood chips are laid as bedding and another Virkon spray.

Pens are sprayed weekly and when calves move outside pens are rested for a couple of days, sprayed, dusted with hydrated lime and topped up with new wood chips.

The sheds are well ventilated but there are no drafts down at calf level.

The team cleans pellet feeders and water troughs twice-a-day.

“Hygiene is absolutely key – if it’s not clean enough for you to drink out of it’s not clean enough for a calf.”

The main shed has a reticulated milk line and pump so milk can be pumped under pressure directly to each pen.

It’s hooked up to an 8000l tank on a trailer, filled at the farm dairies, and then positioned at the shed.

It’s cleaned with an alkali wash and all

42

pods are scrubbed and cleaned with hot water daily.

“We also have 2000l pods to take milk to the sheds at the other dairy units but those sheds don’t have a milk line built in.”

Last season was the first time Amy used milk powder for calves from four weeks old.

To avoid any stress through the change from vat milk to milk from powder, Amy says they make the change gradually and will go from a 25:75 ratio of milk powder to vat milk to 50:50 and then 75:25.

“We make sure we’re not making the change while anything else is going on because we don’t want to load them with stresses.”

They move out of the sheds from about two weeks old although that can be weather dependent.

The first stage junior calf paddocks have purpose-built calf shelters with wood chip bedding that’s topped up to keep it dry and clean at all times.

“We’ll be watching the weather too over that transition to powdered milk, especially this year as we need to make the change a little earlier because we have more calves to feed with more sale animals.”

Details for any treatments are recorded in folders and transferred to MINDA for replacement animals.

Whiteboards around the sheds note details for each pen and are updated daily with calves’ ages and treatments.

They get a 7-in-1 vaccine for leptospirosis and clostridial diseases at four weeks with booster at eight weeks, a salmonella vaccination at six weeks and booster at 10 weeks.

They start on a monthly drenching regime from October using an albendazole and levamisole oral combination with monthly selenium and vitamin B12 injections too.

Once they’ve graduated out of the junior calf paddocks but prior to weaning Amy starts training them to graze as their mums do, up to a wire.

“While they’re drinking their milk, we’ll run pellets along in the fresh break to entice them.”

In May, Amy had 820 remaining rising one-year-olds on the Island with 450 to winter there.

“It’s time to start thinking about the next group now. It’s so rewarding, I do love it.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT

Learn tube feeding – it’s a lifesaver Words by: Anne Lee

T

ube feeding done the right way can be lifesaving; done the wrong way and it can be the opposite.

Vet and dairy farmer Nicola Neal from The Aspiring Calf Company says that while it can be daunting for someone new to calf rearing, every calf rearer must be able to carry out the technique.

There are two situations where it’s vital: when a newborn calf is unlikely to get enough high-quality colostrum in the first six to 12 hours, and when a calf is unwell and can’t or won’t drink enough of its own accord.

“We know in New Zealand about a third of calves, under normal circumstances, won’t have had enough colostrum from their mothers – it’s possibly more than that but not less.

“Most often the person picking up the calves won’t be the person feeding them so it’s unlikely anyone is going to know for sure if the calf has had a good drink from mum.”

Nicola says New Zealand research has found a calf’s willingness or unwillingness to drink from a feeder or suckle on a finger is a poor indicator of whether it’s

been fed by its mother. A 40kg calf will need 4-6 litres of high-quality colostrum in the first 12 hours. It’s preferable to spend a little time trying to get a reluctant newborn to feed from a feeder because the suckling action activates the closure of the oesophageal groove and ensures the colostrum and antibodies go directly to the abomasum (the last of a bovine’s four stomachs) where there is greatest absorption of the antibodies.

A calf’s willingness or unwillingness to drink from a feeder or suckle on a finger is a poor indicator of whether it’s been fed by its mother.

However, studies have shown that tube feeding the newborn and delivering the colostrum directly to the fore-stomachs will result in the colostrum flowing through to the abomasum, albeit at a slightly slower rate.

“When people are designing their calf rearing systems and thinking about

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

staffing, allowing enough resources for spending time on training new calves should be a factor.

“Some people don’t want to tube feed at all because they say it makes it harder to get the calf to feed off the feeder in the next few feeds.

“But if you’re running out of time it’s more important to get the colostrum into them.

“We know the outcomes for calves that don’t get enough colostrum quickly enough are very, very poor in terms of illness and survival.”

“Once you know you’ve delivered that dose of antibodies and it’s had 4-6l in 12 hours since birth you can leave it a little longer at the other end to drive the motivation to learn.

“You can’t do that at the start because they may not have had anything to eat at all.

“When you’re training them onto the feeder make sure it’s a pleasant experience for them, stay calm and take five if you find you’re fighting each other.”

The same advice goes for those tube feeding – it’s imperative the rearer is calm and the animal is calm and well restrained.

43

EQUIPMENT A purpose-made calf stomach tube feeder will have a bottle or bag at one end for the colostrum or liquid.

A rigid tube feeding system will have a rubber section on it allowing the tubing to be bent over so it’s clamped shut.

At the end of the tubing, which is about 50-60cm long, there will be a small smooth bulb with an opening for the colostrum or liquid to flow through to the calf.

All of this equipment must be pristinely clean and the tubing must be smooth and undamaged so it won’t scratch the soft inside of the calf’s oesophagus.

“For a weak calf, try and get it into a sitting dog type position.

“When things go wrong it’s often because the calf isn’t well restrained and suddenly kicks out or moves backwards and the rearer panics and pulls the tube out while the liquid is still going in.”

INSERTING THE TUBE RESTRAINING THE CALF “This is a critical thing to get right – for both calf and operator safety.

“If the calf kicks you, or you’re fighting each other, step away, take five, and have another go when you are both calmed down.”

Back the calf in so its bottom is into the corner of the pen.

Straddle it so your knees are on either side of its head and gently but firmly hold it there with your legs.

“This means it can breathe freely and you have two hands to carry out the tubing.

“Some calves may be weak and not want to stand but you must make sure the calf’s head is above its stomach or you will risk the liquid running into the windpipe and drowning the calf.

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“You must make sure the tube is clamped off before Nicola Neal – feel for the tube and if in you begin inserting the tube. any doubt start again.

“That’s vital because any liquid coming out as the tube goes down could end up going down the windpipe and drown the calf.

“Use one hand to support the calf’s jaw and the other to hold the tube.”

Make sure the calf’s nose is below its ears – you don’t want its nose pointing up to the sky because this makes it harder to insert the tube.

“Introduce the tube into the calf’s mouth and gently move it into the back of the mouth over the tongue and you’ll feel a little resistance and then it should start swallowing and taking the tube down into the oesophagus.

“Make sure the tubing is clamped off still and slide your left hand down onto the left-hand side of the neck to feel for the bulb at the end of the tube passing down the oesophagus to the stomach.

“Like humans the windpipe is hard, like alkathene, and the oesophagus is soft - more like a sock.

“If the tube is in the oesophagus you will feel it, if it’s in the windpipe you won’t be able to feel it.

“If you’re unsure, slide the tube up a little and if you still can’t feel it, or are in any doubt at all, carefully take it out and start again – making sure the tube is still clamped off the whole time.”

Once you are sure you can feel it on the left side of the calf’s neck and the tube is inserted well in you can release the clamp and let the liquid – colostrum or electrolyte – flow quickly in.

“The calf might make some weird noises. That’s normal, but make sure they’re still well restrained and you don’t have your hand near their nose so they can breathe freely.”

Once all of the fluid has gone out of the bottle clamp off the tube and gently withdraw the tube.

“It’s always a good feeling to know they’ve definitely had those antibodies and in the case of sick calves to know you’ve got what they need into them.”

Tube feeding calves https://youtu.be/ 3D9R3CEp7Lw

E: info@nzmpta.co.nz Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT

Test for the best liquid gold Words by: Katherine DeWitt

I

’ve been obsessed with a little tool called a Brix refractometer for a few years now.

Squirt some colostrum on the tool, look through the eyepiece, read the scale and you can determine the quality of colostrum in seconds. It’s a useful option to add to your calving toolbox to help make informed decisions so your calves get the best quality colostrum.

When talking to farmers who use Brix refractometers the same learnings come up again and again.

Colostrum quality varies and unfortunately you can’t tell how good the colostrum is unless you test it.

Otago farm manager James Matheson is one farmer who started using a Brix refractometer four years ago – a move that’s vastly improved the health of his calves.

As part of the WelFarm programme run by XL vets, calves at Chris Lawlor’s Waipahi farm, managed by James, were given antibody blood tests. These tests establish whether calves have received enough protective antibodies to help them develop immunity.

“Back then, we were rearing 250 calves and thought we were doing a good job but it turned out half the calves weren’t getting enough of the right colostrum, so we had to make changes,” says James.

“Our vet introduced us to the Brix refractometer and since we’ve been using it to test colostrum we haven’t looked back.”

Once his team started using the Brix they followed up with antibody blood tests and had pretty much perfect results, whereas before it had been “a bit hit and miss.”

“We would strip the cow into a test bucket and everyone would be saying ‘look at this – it’s good stuff’. But when we tested it, it was terrible so we were failing to identify the best colostrum and the calves were missing out.

“There’s an old tale out there about heifers having terrible colostrum but, in

JAMES & REUBEN’S TOP TIPS • Test with a Brix refractometer to ensure calves get enough goodquality colostrum.

• Make sure you have good hygiene practices in place.

• Have a good calf-rearing system – it’s more important than having loads of experience in your team.

• No matter what the system it’s vital to keep it simple and ensure everyone follows it consistently.

reality, we’ve found that quite often they have better quality colostrum than the cows, albeit less volume. If we didn’t have the Brix to measure it we’d be none the wiser.”

James says the best colostrum goes to newborns, the next best colostrum goes to first and second feeders, and it peters off from there until the calves are four days old.

“It’s made us realise how important it is to test colostrum quality. This is reflected in the health of the calves too because since we started using a Brix refractometer we haven’t lost a calf through illness.”

CALF REARING BY TRAFFIC LIGHT These days James and his team rear 500 calves. It’s a big operation and needs a finely tuned system.

In charge of calf rearing is Reuben Earl, who joined the team fresh from Telford Agricultural College two seasons ago.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

James says at the time they didn’t have a dedicated calf rearer, which most farmers would consider essential.

“This was Reuben’s first job, so it was vital that we had good systems in place from the start. Reuben and I collected all the information we could lay our hands on, including from DairyNZ’s website, and developed a plan that followed best practice. We call it our ‘traffic light’ system.”

Under the system, new calves are sprayed with a blue dot, tubed with gold colostrum, given a probiotic and a mineral jab. They get a red dot while they’re learning to drink, an orange dot when they’ve got the hang of it, and a green dot when they feed on schedule.

James says the system works a treat.

“Reuben gets great results. I think it comes down to his attention to detail. He’s really particular and follows the system to a ‘T’, and everyone that helps has worked out that if they follow the system exactly, it works perfectly.”

LEVEL UP YOUR CALF CARE To help farmers take their calf care to the next level, DairyNZ developed the Calf Care Toolkit last season. So far, it’s been used by more than 2000 farmers.

It’s easy to use: simply answer 12 easy questions online and get instant tailored feedback and farmer advice on ways to make your calf care even better.

Once you’ve decided which areas to focus on, follow the web links for more advice and support. You can also share the results with your team, vet or consultant.

Give it a go at dairynz.co.nz/calf-caretoolkit.

• Katherine DeWitt is a Developer, Animal Care Team, DairyNZ.

Part 2 - Colostrum www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MKhXsVx05A

45

SPECIAL REPORT

Colostrum has to be measured to gauge the quality - the colour in the bucket does not indicate if its gold or not.

Passing the Test Words by: Anne Lee

L

iquid gold all too often doesn’t live up to expectations because of poor handling or simply collecting the wrong thing.

NRM calf rearing expert Karen Fraser says that first-milking colostrum is aptly named gold colostrum because its value to the calf and the farm business makes it almost worth its weight in the precious metal.

“There are so many studies that show what a huge difference it makes to the health and longevity of animals that go into the herd.

“Any time spent making sure you’re feeding the best quality to calves quickly enough will pay for itself over and over again.”

All care might be taken in the calf sheds but getting first-milking colostrum packed full of immunoglobulins (IgG) must be top-of-mind right from just prior to cows calving.

The more frequent the calf pick-ups the faster cows are milked and calves fed. She advises two to three pick-ups a day.

At the first milking it’s imperative that good hygiene and best practice colostrum handling are carried out.

Karen says one of the mistakes often made when milking a number of first-

46

Karen Fraser measures some colostrum with her colostrometer.

milking cows into a vat or larger tank is that the milk line isn’t purged well enough.

“That milk from second, third and fourth milkings might be thought of as colostrum but it’s actually transition milk that’s going to dilute gold colostrum, even if it’s just what’s left in the line.

“It may still have a level of antibodies good for young calves but it’s not good enough for newborn animals.”

The other issue is bacteria and keeping

them out of gold colostrum. Make sure the udder is clean, the lines and the vessel the colostrum is collected into are clean, and that it’s then stored so bugs can’t get into it, she says.

“Don’t leave it sitting around. If you’re not going to use it as soon as possible after collecting it - within that day’s feeding – refrigerate it, use a colostrum keeper, or freeze it.”

Pasteurisation is also becoming more popular.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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47

Karen Fraser with calf explaining the suck reflex.

COLOSTROMETER AND REFRACTOMETER BRIX TEST There are two common ways of measuring gold colostrum quality and neither involves simply looking at the colour.

“Just because one bucket is a much deeper gold than the next doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better quality – there’s no definite relationship with antibody levels.”

Instead, a Colostrometer or refractometer should be used.

Both are backed by scientific research and numerous peer reviewed papers, calibrating levels of IgG with the measurements they take.

A Colostrometer essentially measures the thickness of the liquid using specific gravity.

The more IgG, the denser the colostrum.

The Colostrometer is a glass tube with a bulb at the end. When it is placed vertically into the colostrum and let go, it will float – the higher it floats the more IgG and the better the quality.

A coloured, calibrated scale on the Colostrometer indicates the quality. The lower on the green section the surface line of the colostrum sits, the higher the quality.

However, the temperature of the colostrum will affect the reading – the warmer it is the lower down the Colostrometer will float in the colostrum, which may give a falsely low reading .

48

Likewise the colder it is, the thicker it becomes, which may give an inaccurately high reading.

If it’s freshly collected it may be frothy, with air bubbles that will also give a falsely low reading. Leave it for 20 minutes to get any air out.

Because it’s glass, care also has to be taken not to break it.

“That milk from second, third and fourth milkings might be thought of as colostrum but it’s actually transition milk that’s going to dilute gold colostrum.”

Refractometers are more robust and require only a drop of colostrum.

They are calibrated to various scales, and for colostrum it’s the Brix scale with units as a percentage.

They use light and measure how much a light beam passing through the substance is bent, or refracted.

Past research has found a strong correlation between this light refraction measure and the amount of protein in colostrum, which in turn has a strong correlation with the amount IgG.

Pasteurising colostrum Pasteurising colostrum can not only kill bacteria picked up after first milking it can also help reduce infection loads from diseases such as Johne’s and M.bovis.

But it needs to be done slowly at a low heat to avoid killing off valuable antibodies.

Cambridge vet Ursula Hayward and husband Mark have, through their Antahi Innovations company, developed a new pasteurising system that also doubles as a colostrum warmer.

Ursula says it works essentially as a water bath with a water heater and pump that gently warms the valuable colostrum with a constant-flow moving around specially designed “thin skinned” bags that the colostrum can be stored in and fed from.

Called the Trusti Pasteur, Ursula says, it can accurately get the colostrum to the 60 degrees Celsius temperature and hold it there for an hour to effectively but gently pasteurise it.

It can also warm the colostrum to 42 degrees Celsius from frozen in 20 minutes for feeding to young calves.

Ursula says studies have shown reducing bacterial loading can significantly help young calves absorb the antibodies in the colostrum because bacteria can both interfere with the antibodies and damage calf gut cells the antibodies pass through.

As a way to simply warm the colostrum it’s also a more practical and safer system so that young calves have a more pleasant feeding experience.

Ursula says she’s already had international interest in the system, which is a lot more affordable than many European-based designs.

The aim is to have a Brix score of 22% (equivalent to 50mg/ml concentration) or more for good quality colostrum.

Colostrum measuring less than 22% will mean you will have to use a larger volume of that colostrum to get enough IgG into newborn calves within the 12 hour time period.

The face of the refractometer must be clean or it will distort the reading.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT

great calves make great heifers Words by: Sue Macky

T

he true success of rearing dairy replacement calves is in achieving a fully grown, trouble free, inmilk heifer that gets back in calf on time without intervention. She will be socially adapted, skeletally fully grown, weigh 90% of the liveweight of the fully grown mature in-milk cows of the same genetic mix all at body condition score 4.5 and capable of performing at optimum for the specific farm system for many years.

Achieving great heifers means rearing great calves, which begins prebirth.

IT STARTS WITH THE COWS How we feed our pregnant cows especially in the weeks before calving, the circumstances under which cows calve, and even the length of the dry period can all affect the future survivability and productivity of our replacement heifer calves. Cows should be fed and managed prior to calving to achieve a rapid, troublefree calving delivering a strong healthy, well-nourished calf, and to be able to produce high-quality colostrum.

CALF REMOVAL The debate about calf separation from the dam will be ongoing because of the emotion, anthropomorphism and lack of

knowledge associated with it. The science is much clearer.

The sooner the calf is separated post birth the greater the survival rate of the calves and the healthier the cows. Bonding between cow and calf is not immediate for most – it takes some hours to develop strongly. (Some never want their calf, others want all calves!)

The stronger the bond, the greater the stress when it is broken. For the cow, this results in too much downtime without eating, which she cannot afford.

For the calf rearer, calves that have never suckled a cow are much easier to teach to suckle an artificial teat and can be fed a known quantity of quality colostrum on time.

Leaving calves with their dam does not increase the chances of the calf getting enough best quality, much needed colostrum quickly enough.

This has been a consistent finding in numerous studies worldwide over past decades, yet the optimum intake of best quality high immunoglobulin-containing colostrum as quickly as possible post birth is highly correlated with best calf health and survival.

Not all cows produce great immunoglobulin levels in their colostrum; hot weather pre-calving tends to reduce the quality, and the levels decline from

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

the point of calving onwards. The closer to calving that the cow is milked out, the better the colostrum and the lower the mastitis risk for the cow.

Sue Macky, Dairy First-milking Production Systems. colostrum from cows that have been calved for more than 12-15 hours should not be regarded as “Gold” – it is not suitable for the first two calf feeds.

Colostrum has two benefits for the young calf. First, it has immunoglobulin or antibodies that protect against diseases and need to get into the calf quickly while its gut will still allow these large protein molecules to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Second, it has a high nutritive value that delivers more energy and proteins to the susceptible newborn – colostrum contains more per litre than whole milk.

The nutritive advantages remain after the “time limit” on colostral antibody absorption, i.e. it is the ideal growing feed for calves. A simple rule for giving colostrum is at least 10% of bodyweight within 10 hours of birth.

More is better but not if given at such large quantities as to overwhelm the capacity of the small newborn gut.

49

SPECIAL REPORT

UK’s top-selling milk formula now available in New Zealand It has long been established that colostrum is key for survival and nourishment, but colostrum also has unique ingredients involved in the programming and development of the young animal.

Colostrum consists of a complex mixture of proteins, lipids, simple carbohydrates (primarily lactose), complex carbohydrates (e.g. oligosaccharides), vitamins and minerals. The proteins which make up colostrum comprise both casein and whey; whey protein represents 65% of the protein content, with only 35% casein (Figure 1). It is the whey fraction in colostrum that contains the beneficial ingredients (such as immunoglobulins and lactoferrin) that help to support the immune system, and influence the growth and development of the calf.

INSIDE

to be captured, for use in milk replacers, as a concentrated whey protein and phospholipid base known as ‘Imunopro’. Imunopro is packed with proteins, fats and sugars containing the vital bioactive components found in the whey fraction of colostrum, that are known to be essential for good calf health, growth and development.

The

process LIQUID WHEY

Protein = 0.9% Fat = 0.1%

Intake

Sugar = 5% Water = 93% Ash = 1%

Protein = 11% Fat = 3%

Food industry Baking and confectionery ingredients

NANO

ULTRA

*

*

MICRO

*

Sugar = 2% Water = 83% Ash = 1%

NANO

Whey protein – fundamental for calf programming

% of protein

Food industry Sports nutrition

35% 80%

Casein protein

Figure 2. Volac’s whey processing facility (Source: Volac)

Supplying Protein for Growth: Amino Acids

20%

Whey protein

65% Colostrum

Whole milk

COLOSTRUM: CONTAINS 3x MORE WHEY PROTEIN CONTENT vs WHOLE MILK.

WHEY - CONTAINS THE BIOACTIVE CONTENT FOR CALF SUCCESS.

Figure 1. Protein composition of colostrum and whole milk (Source: Volac)

Calves have a requirement for protein, but they also require specific amino acids which are the building blocks of protein. It is the total quantity and balance of the amino acids, not the crude protein %, that is key to driving muscle development and growth. Lysine and leucine are two key amino acids, with leucine influencing the speed of muscle synthesis. Imunopro has a high level of both lysine and leucine (Table 1).

It is estimated that for the calf, between 14 and 17g of lysine per day is

Volac’s whey processing facility in Wales is unique – it produces whey proteins for the food industry (sports nutrition, and baking and confectionary ingredients), as well as for young animal feeds (milk replacers) (Figure 2). The process enables more of the ‘magic of milk’ 50

needed to drive growth rates of 750 to 900 g per day, respectively. By using Imunopro as a base for all Volac milk replacers, all products will supply the young calf with enough of the key amino acids to fulfil their daily requirement.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Supplying Protein for Health: Immunoglobulins Immunoglobulins are proteins that are key for fighting infections – yet the calf is born with virtually none. Colostrum is rich in immunoglobulins – and is therefore essential for establishing immunity over the first 24 hours.

The ability of the calf to absorb immunoglobulins progressively declines as the gut closes, and completely ceases by about 24 hours after birth.

But immunoglobulins also have a part to play even after the gut has closed – feeding colostrum and/or transition milk throughout the first two weeks of life has been associated with reduced diarrhoea.

All the immunoglobulins in colostrum are found in the whey fraction.

Thus, Volac’s concentrated whey protein base, Imunopro, has a high level of immunoglobulins. Furthermore, due to Volac’s low temperature processing (which is key to ensuring the immunoglobulins remain intact) to process the liquid whey fraction, Imunopro has a high level of IgG, a vital immunoglobulin for early life immune development (Table 1).

Supplying Protein for Health: Lactoferrin Lactoferrrin is a protein which is naturally found in high levels in colostrum and milk. It is important for the development of the immune system and has anti-bacterial properties in the gut. Research has shown that the supplementation of calves with lactoferrin during the milk feeding period can reduce calf diarrhoea and improve long-term health; lactoferrin significantly reduced mortality and culling when given to pre-weaned calves with the first diagnosis of diarrhoea (Habing et al., 2017). Lactoferrin has been identified in Imunopro at elevated levels. % of crude protein

Milk

Skim Milk Powder

Whey Powder

Imunopro

Lysine %

8.1

7.5

7.8

9.4

Leucine %

9.7

9.6

8.6

Research continues to establish the important role these sugars play in steering the development of a healthy population of bacteria in the new-born gut of the young animal. For example, oligosaccharides are used in human milk formula since they are a special source of energy for ‘good’ bacteria in the gut, allowing these ‘friendly’ bacteria to thrive. These oligosaccharides are enriched in whey.

Imunopro, packed with these vital amino acids and functional proteins, fats and sugars, forms the basis of all Volac milk replacers, complemented by other high-quality ingredients to result in milk replacers that will give calves the best possible start in life.

When you need high performance

NZ • • • • •

The considered solution for large herds Developed for growth, for the business producer Very high content Nutry-Lyst health package Very high leucine level DESIGNED TO DRIVE 900G GROWTH PER DAY*

4.5% 7.5%

<1.8

<0.5

<1.5

Fat

11.0

Sugar

46%

IgG %

Protei 25%

17%

>4.5

Table 1. Amount of key amino acids and immunoglobulins in milk, skim milk powder, whey powder and Imunopro (Source: Amino Acids, Evonik; Immunoglobulins, Volac)

4.5% 7.5%

25%

at feed rate17%

Fatty acids are a direct fuel source for the calf – but they also carry out an important anti-microbial role. Milk fat exists in droplets of oil surrounded by a membrane containing other fats called phospholipids and sphingolipids.

These phospholipids and sphingolipids support calf gut maturation and they have anti-bacterial properties, helping to fight off damaging bacteria. Imunopro concentrates 16 times the amount of overall milk fats in comparison with whey or skim powders. health of young animals.

Protein

Energy 17.6 Mj ME 46%

Supplying Fat for Gut Maturation and Health

Miner Other

of 900g/d

Fat Sugar Minerals Other**

*Based on recommended feeding rates with access to ad lib starter feed and water **‘Other’ includes moisture, vitamins, residual carbohydrates and feed additives

Available exclusively through Nutrinza

Supplying Sugars for a Healthy Gut

To place your order TODAY

Milk contains a rich mixture of complex sugars, called oligosaccharides, many of which are bound to proteins and fats.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

768 723

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1

Five goals of calf rearing from birth to weaning:

1. Supply the calf with enough nutrients to ensure that daily growth rates meet the target, and ensure appropriate size at weaning. This is a factor of both skeletal growth and liveweight gain. The calf must receive adequate quality proteins, fats, carbohydrates and minerals for muscle and bone growth.

2

2. For most of its life, the calf will depend on the functionality and health of its rumen and rumen microbes for its nutritional needs. The pre-weaning diet must encourage desirable gut microbial populations to multiply and thrive; must encourage optimum development of the surface area of the rumen, in particular the number and size of rumen papillae; and must develop the proper absorptive and protective functions of the rumen mucosa.

3

3. For much if not all of post-weaning life, NZ cattle must be able to consume and process large quantities of wet forage, mostly grazed pasture. To this end they need a muscular rumen that is physically fit and capacious, and the jaw muscle to do the grazing and cud chewing.

4

4. For best lifetime productivity, growing calves should be free of disease. Pre-weaning problems not attended to and fixed quickly can affect future production for at least three lactations if they make it that far.

5. Cattle are herd animals with defined mob social structure. Domestic cattle must also cope with humans.

It is important that young calves are socially adjusted to both life in a group and to handling by people. These must be positive relationships, and they should be learnt young.

5 FEEDING REGIMES: OAD VS. TAD VS. ADLIB Increasingly, research is showing that the more you mimic what should happen naturally, the better off the calf is, i.e. smaller feeds more frequently. 2.5 litres given 4-6 hours apart is better than 5 litres all at once.

There is research that shows feeding newborn calves smaller feeds four times a day for the first 48 hours, then three times daily for the first weeks, allows more total milk to be delivered with less risk.

The result is a stronger, healthier calf and consequently a better heifer.

From our work with clients of Dairy Production Systems Limited over the past 25 years, and from numerous longitudinal studies worldwide (birth to death studies of productivity, disease and longevity), calves that got more milk in total and for more weeks produced better heifers and cows, which is the real target – not the fastest, cheapest animal to weaning.

Note that more milk does not mean only milk.

52

TEMPERATURE WARS: COLD VS. HOT Milk should be fed warm – at calf body temperature ideally, just as for a human baby. The calf will have to use its own energy to “heat” its milk feed, energy not available for growth. Well-fed cows are very cold tolerant; young calves are not.

Feeding cold milk is a hazard for young calves. There is a noticeable difference in behavior and demeanour between those fed warm versus cold milk. In a worst-case scenario calves can starve to death when fed cold milk in a cold environment. The reserve of body energy they use heating milk (shivering) exceeds the energy they get from the milk. Cold milk is also associated with a higher disease incidence than warm milk.

Calves should be fed milk (or milk replacer powder) twice a day until at least 4-5 weeks of age. Don’t lose sight of the true end result, which is not the quickest, least input calf rearing programme. Little calves are newborns – they need more than OAD. It is no coincidence that our best performing herds tend to feed milk for at

least 10 weeks (maybe at very low volume OAD for the last couple of weeks but this ensures good skeletal growth) and until target weaning weight is achieved – calves must meet both age and size targets.

AFTER WEANING Most weaned NZ dairy heifers are grown predominantly on grazed pasture and do not receive the nutrient-dense low volume dry supplement feeds of many other countries. Our pastures are often lower in calcium and/or copper than that needed for proper bone growth. Too often phosphate is also below target intake.

These deficiencies do not impede daily gain in liveweight provided that the animals are fed enough but skeletal growth and bone density can be reduced – not an issue if you have a short life; (e.g. beef) but a potential problem for a lactating dairy cow.

Good bone begins pre-weaning. Feeding more milk, supplying all of the nutrients for the growth of the calf has a trade-off in that less complex, simpler solid feeds or meals are needed. NZ has some of the most

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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they for have recovered, as required Directions use: Check regularly for excessive and remove • • Place the appropriate sized coatsweating on the animal the coat periodically, if so • Adjust and secure chest and rear strap, • asHand wash and out to dryfit (Machine washing appropriate forhang a comfortable may damage protective material) 53 • Leave on the animal during cold conditions or until they have recovered, as required

THE RIGHT REARER

The RIGHT person Rearing calves successfully to weaning is a demanding job. It takes: • Patience • Skill • Attention to hygiene • Empathy with young animals • Careful observation combined with a “feel” for when things are not right • Knowledge calf development, feeds, diseases etc • The ability to be systematic and accurate.

• It is well worth investing in a suitable person, allowing them the time, resources, professional support and whatever training they need, and paying them well for their efforts and abilities.

complex meals in the world, which in itself has a cost but is necessary to make up for deficiencies in milk feeding. Less meal or fermentable carbohydrates fed also reduces the potential for acid damage to the rumen wall, and/or the development of liver problems or abscesses.

The best development of the rumen, needed for the future best performance of our dairy heifers, requires solid feed that supplies the nutrients needed by the rumen microbes to grow, multiply and ferment feed and to develop the functionality of the rumen mucosa and papillae. These nutrients are mostly specific amino acids and carbohydrates.

At the most basic level some sugar, starch, and quality protein are required – a solid, dry, calf meal of some sort. How much, and what, depend on personal preference, experience and how much milk is being fed. If milk feeding is reduced, then more calf meal is needed and it must be more nutritionally complete as it will need to supply the milk nutrients no longer being fed.

If milk feeding is adequate, then less meal of lower complexity is needed. There is no one ideal product that suits every situation. Similarly there is no “correct” quantity. Small amounts should be

54

Spend time and handle the calves: they need to learn to trust people.

available from the beginning when calves are exploring their environment. Keep it fresh and don’t expect very young calves to consume more than a few grams initially. I have always fed 20% protein meals as long as that protein comes from quality feeds such as soybean meal, canola, lupins, and milk powder, and products with a mixed source of fermentable carbohydrates.

Don’t confuse high crude protein high NPN pasture with true protein needed for growth. As well as a rumen capable of fermenting feed and absorbing the resultant volatile fatty acids cows need a physically fit, muscular rumen and associated muscles such as the jaw. To this end, calves should always have physically effective fibre to chew and consume, like hay and straw, from the beginning. Calves have small mouths and a small gut – chop length should be appropriate.

For the very young calf, unprocessed oats is an option. This fibre contributes little to the growth of the pre-weaned calf; it is there to ensure that post weaning the calf has the physical ability to consume and process enough bulky wet forage to both sustain itself and maintain daily liveweight gain. Using straw bales as pen dividers is an easy way to both provide fibre and to maintain biosecurity between pens.

Clean, fresh, easily accessible drinking water should be available to all calves at all times from day one. This also means ensuring that when calves are outside they can actually reach the water in the troughs!

Good calf rearers never ignore dull calves, those that drink erratically, those that appear not hungry or those that show any signs of illness; nor do they just reach for the antibiotics. TLC, persistence and anti-inflammatories are usually all that are needed if addressed promptly. Never underestimate the pain of inflammation or bruising associated with birth, transport or rough handling. Energy is the prime driver of immune function. Healthy calves need feed.

Housing should provide excellent ventilation above the calf, dry soft bedding, and adequate space. Compromise any of these and the risk of disease and/ or lowered growth rate increases. Do not allow bedding to get wet.

Young calves need to develop social skills and the ability to relate to each other. Initially, dominance is determined mostly by age and size but this does not necessarily remain the case. Calves need to learn to trust people. Gentle handling, being present, and patting calves especially around the head are all parts of this process.

Cows that trust people, and are rewarded appropriately, give more milk! Never undervalue the people rearing your calves – they are determining your farm’s future profitability. There is no one right way or miracle product to rear great calves and heifers, but the principles are the same regardless of the system.

• Sue Macky is a veterinarian and cow nutritionist specialist, and a principal consultant at Dairy Production Systems Ltd.

Part 3 - New arrivals www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zbpylvzq7mU

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT

getting the calf rumen up and running Words by: Sheryl Haitana

C

alves should be offered meal and have free access to clean water from their first day in the pens, says Natalie Hughes, SealesWinslow’s nutrition and quality manager.

Natalie hosted four webinars on calf rearing for the Dairy Women’s Network in June. The webinars topics were milk and colostrum; housing and pen design; feeding and meal; and heifers reaching liveweight targets. Water can often get overlooked in the first few weeks but it’s necessary for aiding the breakdown of feed within the rumen and supporting rumen bug growth, Natalie says.

“The longer we restrict calves from water the greater the negative impact on calves’ ability to digest feed.”

Calves are born with almost no immune system or bacteria in the rumen. They need to develop their rumen and those bugs to digest pasture and meal.

“We need water to create an environment for bugs and bacteria to grow in the rumen.”

Offering a small amount of meal from day one will also increase calves’ intake faster, she says.

“Calves are like kids, you’ve got to introduce it so they think it’s normal.”

She says calves are so inquisitive they will lick, smell and play with it. If it’s got molasses in it, it will get stuck on their nose and they’ll lick it off and start getting a taste for it.

Introducing meal early helps to develop the rumen so calves have the capacity to digest pasture earlier.

On a whole milk system there is little rumen development. On a milk and hay diet the muscle integrity in the rumen changes because it’s got to build more muscle to move that hay around.

On a diet that includes starches and sugars the rumen gets more blood supply and it develops the rumen capillaries, which increases the surface area of the rumen to absorb nutrients better.

“If we can get the rumen up and running, once they’re outside eating grass their rumen is at the capacity to start

breaking down grass effectively.

“You get less of a growth check.”

There are many different types of meal and feed on the market. A lot of the decision drivers can come down to price/ tonne but Natalie says there are other considerations farmers need to factor in: PALATABILITY If they’re not going to eat it, what’s the point? We are going to spend a lot of money and the calves are not going to grow if they’re not going to eat it.

To preserve palatability, farmers need to store calf meal well and remove plastic shrink wrap from around bagged calf meal – it’s not waterproof and it makes the meal sweat.

You want the last bag to be as palatable and fresh as the first.

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www.ezicalve.co.nz 55

SPECIAL REPORT

ENERGY A calf’s rumen is so small that the amount they do eat needs to have the maximum amount of impact. The National Research Council (NRC) recommends for a new calf diet the feed should be 13ME. The energy should be coming from good quality grains.

Watch out for high fat fillers. We want it to be high energy and energy dense.

HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN When it comes to calf feed, a good vegetable protein is important to give calves the right amino acids.

Proteins such as soybean, sunflower, peas, canola etc can be broken down and rebuilt by the bugs in the rumen into the right structures that help a calf grow.

NO LOW-QUALITY FILLERS A calf’s stomach is small so the feed shouldn’t be bulked out with a cheap, low-quality filler if it’s adding no value. To develop rumen papillae calves need starches and sugars. NRC recommends a 35-40% starch concentration.

Palm kernel only has about 4% starch, so while it can be feed to animals, aim for over 100kg liveweight before it is added into the diet. It is not beneficial to use in a calf feed for younger calves to develop their rumens.

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Advantages here start with high quality LUC 1 & 2 versatile soil types that allow for supplementary feed or cash crops to be grown on farm. A focus on soil fertility and pasture renewal has ensured this place grows a lot of pasture.

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56

Natalie Hughes, SealesWinslow Nutrition and Quality Manager.

LOW IN FAT Calves struggle with fat from a palatability point of view.

The fat can also coat the feed in the rumen and the bugs can’t break it down. Aim for less than 4% fat.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS Calves cannot generate their own B vitamins until their rumen is fully up and running. Ensure that the calf meal contains these essential components.

COCCIDIOSIS Make sure to feed the right amount for the size of the calf.

You can still get coccidiosis if you’re not feeding enough.

For example, a 65kg calf should be eating 1kg of meal to be getting the right volume of coccidiostats in their diet.

This can vary from one calf feed to another so best ask your supplier what volumes you should be aiming for.

CRUDE PROTEIN 16% VS 20% When making the decision between feeds with 20% and 16% crude protein, work out how much a calf has to eat to achieve the weight gain you want, thus working out the true cost. A trial on AgResearch’s Pukawa Station looked at weaning calves off milk at 65kg within six weeks. One mob was fed 20% crude protein pellets and the other mob 16%.

Of the mob fed 20%, 47% got to 65kg in six weeks; only 21% of the calves fed 16% got to 65kg in that time.

• To sign up to hear more from Natalie in her DWN webinars visit www.dwn.org.nz

Part 7 - Encouraging Hard Feed Intake www.youtube.com/ watch?v=mLhmQKU4MpA

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT

What’s in the bag?

Words by: Paul Muir

C

olostrum and whole milk are always the best feeds to offer young calves. However, if milk feeding is not possible there is a large array of substitute powders available to the rearer. They are not dried milk powders, so using “milk powder” as a name would likely contravene the Fair Trading Act. Instead they are called calf milk replacers (CMRs) and are made up of a range of products blended to meet minimum protein and fat specifications. They can contain a wide range of ingredients, and the lack of clear specifications on the bag means it is almost impossible for rearers to make an informed decision.

In calves up to three weeks of age the digestive system is poorly developed and the calf can digest only a limited range of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Curding appears to be necessary to enable full utilisation of complex proteins. When calves are fed whole milk, its casein proteins curd in the abomasum where they break down gradually (over eight hours) and the products of digestion are released slowly into the small intestine where absorption occurs.

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The abomasum has a low pH that is not conducive to bacterial growth, but in the small intestine pH is neutral and bacteria can grow. If a milk replacer doesn’t curd in the abomasum then the undigested material is released much faster into the small intestine (1.5 hours). This excess substrate can cause potential issues in young calves if bacteria such as E. coli or salmonella are present.

Generally (but not always) calf milk replacers will curd if they contain casein proteins. If CMRs don’t curd it is often because the casein in whole milk or skim milk has been excessively heat treated and the casein proteins denatured. Another reason is that the whole milk and skim milk powders make up only a small proportion of the ingredients.

In the last 20 years we have seen the advent of cheaper whey-based powders, principally from Europe. They are mainly used in the vealer industry where calves are typically fed 350-380kg of CMR to 120kg CW at 28 weeks. Production of whey powders in Europe is on a huge scale – the Netherlands has 1.2 million vealer calves and produces around 700,000 tonnes of CMR annually. By comparison, New Zealand uses less than 20,000 tonnes of CMR annually.

Paul Muir, Managing Director of On-Farm Research

There are some fundamental differences between the rearing systems in Europe and New Zealand. In Europe, calves are a minimum of 7-10 days old (and often much older) before they are transferred from the dairy farm to a vealer operation.

Contrast that with the four days of age that is the New Zealand requirement. Even though European calves are older and more robust when they are on-sold into vealer operations they are initially fed on a curding-casein based CMR. In New Zealand CMRs are expensive, yet the labelling on bags is poor – often there is a minimum fat and minimum protein content and a long list of ingredients that may or may not be

DANISH MILK REPLACER LABEL Composition: 24% Protein 19% Fat 6.8% Minerals 0.01% Crude fibre 1.8% Lysine 0.60% Methionine 0.25% Cystine 1.12% Threonine Ingredients: 60.25% Skim milk powder 17.95% Cheese whey powder 17.5% Vegetable fat 3.0% Wheat starch 1.3% Premix vitamins and minerals

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Curd test: Make up 500ml of milk replacer as per the instructions on the bag.

Keep it at 39º C (set the oven and use a thermometer) and add 5ml of rennet. A good curd should be formed within 20 minutes. Do exactly the same with some blue top milk so you can see what a really good curd looks like, although even a good quality milk replacer is likely to have a poorer curd than blue top milk.

Unfortunately, most people do not do a curd test until concerns over calf health become apparent in the shed. It is very hard to argue your case after you have paid for the milk replacer and used half the product. It is much easier to do the curd test before you start using the milk replacer. present in the bag. The labelling is such that it is almost impossible for purchasers to make an informed decision.

It is interesting to contrast what is available in NZ with what occurs overseas.

In some European countries where the labeling requirements are stricter, more detailed information is required on the amount of and type of ingredients in the product.

One of the arguments used by New Zealand manufacturers is that their bags are pre-printed and ingredients change.

However, in Europe, labels are sewn onto the bags prior to dispatch meaning bags do not have to have pre-printed ingredient lists.

Our recommendation has always been that products fed to young calves should curd. The time to feed non-curding milk replacers is when calves are older than 3 weeks. Unfortunately, New Zealand calf milk replacers have neither a curd test result nor a detailed ingredient list so it is down to the individual rearer to do a curd test. This can be done simply at home.

• Dr Paul Muir is Managing Director of OnFarm Research in Hawkes Bay. He has been involved in calf rearing research, principally focusing on systems for rearers of bull calves, since 1996.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SPONSORED CONTENT

Protecting Peake fertility

One shot does the trick

T

rying to solve the complex trace element demands in her dairy herd has meant moving to an easy one-shot injection for cows and calves for Manawatu dairy farmer Aimee Fargher.

Aimee rears 190 spring-born replacement heifers and Friesian bulls and beef cross calves from her parents’ Rongotea farm, using a two-shed system for younger and then older calves.

Low copper has always been an issue in the herd, and wishing to address that plus any selenium deficiency was going to mean two injections for each cow – one dose a copper product and the other a selenium/B12 combo.

“The vet suggested we try the MULTIMIN® product and we love the fact that it’s just one shot. The cows tend to get wary if we try to inject them with too many products so the fewer the better.”

MULTIMIN® contains the trace elements copper and selenium, along with manganese and zinc – all of which are important for different aspects of immunity, fertility and growth and development in different classes of animals.

“The cows certainly seem to be healthier – we had a period of no cows in the penicillin mob which is always a good thing,” Aimee said.

“Blood tests also came back with good mineral levels this year,” she added.

Thinking that the cows needed these minerals, the family decided to use MULTIMIN® in the calves as well, and Aimee said their calves did very well last season, the first year they had used the product.

“The injection seems to really give them a boost – they seemed healthier and brighter and seemed to be eating and growing faster than in previous years.”

Aimee is the calf-rearer and has two sheds one for the beginners and then for the older calves. She weighs all the calves weekly and puts them outside when they reach 55kg, with access to the sheds for when the weather is unfavourable.

Recent research1 in dairy calves on New Zealand farms has shown the potential immune effects of treating with MULTIMIN® at birth, as the highest levels of disease occur in the first few weeks of life. Disease was reduced by 52%, and death rates dropped by 58% in calves treated with MULTIMIN®.

Using a shot of trace elements prior to mating has helped Ben and Heather Peake from Southern Peake Dairies maintain a consistent high reproduction performance for the past three years.

As sharemilkers, Ben said it was important for them to protect their cows, their biggest asset, and after researching other mineral delivery systems he decided an injection of MULTIMIN® was the best way to make sure his cows were actually getting the trace elements.

“We were keen to make sure the cows were getting the optimum range of minerals for mating. We use quite a few CIDRs in our 800-cow Canterbury herd as we build our herd index and we wanted to make sure we were getting the best return on our investment.”

MULTIMIN® provides the cows with a lift in copper, zinc, manganese and selenium when demand is peaking and through a period of feed constraint when the trace elements may be lacking.

The elements have recently been found to support reproductive success – with manganese protecting the developing eggs within the ovaries, zinc building the health of the uterine lining where the fertilised egg embeds and grows, and selenium helping to protect the growing embryo.

A New Zealand study2 in adult dairy cows has shown the benefit of supplementing with MULTIMIN® prior to calving and mating, even where blood and liver testing has not identified a deficiency. Treated cows had a 3.3% higher final in-calf rate and got in calf 3.4 days earlier on average.

The trace element shot four weeks before mating provides 40 days coverage and has kept six-week in-calf rates in the high 70s, Ben said. He also makes sure all replacement calves are dosed with MULTIMIN® within 24 hours of birth to increase their immunity.

MULTIMIN® is a unique multiple trace element injection, that contains copper, selenium, zinc and manganese.

It is designed to be administered to stock prior to periods of high demand, is rapidly absorbed, and has been scientifically proven in NZ.

To learn more about MULTIMIN®, visit www.performanceready.co.nz and speak to your vet.

1. Hawkins (2007). 2. Bates et al. (2018). Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No. A9374.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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SPECIAL REPORT

Avoiding problems with heifer reproductive performance starts with rearing great calves.

Calf-rearing lessons from Covid-19 Words by: Sheryl Haitana

O

ne lesson farmers can take from Covid-19 is the importance of self isolation and hygiene when it comes to calf rearing this season, says Fonterra senior veterinary manager Mike Shallcrass.

Coronavirus strains are common in calves and can cause deadly scours. As with many of the infectious diseases in calves, isolating sick calves from the rest of the calves is vital, he says.

“Put them in the hospital pen away from the other calves and keep them there until they go out on pasture. Don’t put them back with the other calves when you think they look better.”

The other important task is cleaning

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calf equipment thoroughly with hot soapy water to kill any bacteria.

“Feed your sick mob last and clean the equipment to get the milk fat layer off because the bugs can live in it.”

Mike presented a webinar for Dairy Women’s Network Calf Rearing series in June on calf diseases.

His key take home messages are for farmers to make the time to prioritise the best start for their calves because it will save them time and money long term.

“The most limited resource on farm is time. There are some simple rules around calf rearing and most people know them, but when you are pushed for time the temptation is to cut corners.”

Mike is passionate about the growth of NZ’s young stock from birth to heifers calving in the herd.

“As a country, we do have problems with heifer reproductive performance. An empty heifer is a cost in terms of time, money, and GreenHouse Gas emissions and reduces the efficiency of the farming system.”

Taking the job in Fonterra’s On-farm Excellence - Animals Team was an opportunity for the dairy vet to advise Fonterra farmers and help cows throughout NZ. “What was exciting about this job was the opportunity to help millions of cows. For a vet, part of the satisfaction of your job is helping animals. That’s why we do it.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

FREQUENCY QUESTIONS

“In NZ we deal with a flood of colostrum and deal with bulk storage.

Bacterial contamination anywhere along that chain will affect the quality of all of that colostrum.”

COLOSTRUM COMPULSORY The health of the national herd starts on day one – getting enough quality colostrum into a newborn calf, he says.

“Calves who receive enough good quality colostrum early enough can be bomb proof.”

Calves are born without any immunity to disease and must acquire it through colostrum. If they don’t get enough colostrum within the first 24 hours their immune system can be compromised.

This is called Failure of Passive Transfer of immunity (FPT).

An Australian study has shown calves that don’t get enough colostrum are twice as likely to die before weaning than calves who get enough. They are 1.5 times more likely to get scours and 1.7 times more likely to get a respiratory disease.

NZ research into calves left on their mothers for the first 24 hours shows only half of the calves are getting enough colostrum, Mike says.

“It’s common to collect cows and calves once a day (OAD) but for some calves it’s too late.

“Ideally you would be picking up your calves at least twice a day (TAD), milking your freshly calved cows twice a day, and making sure that only the best colostrum goes to those newborn calves.”

The practicality of picking up calves twice a day comes down to time pressure again and is not practical on all farms. If farmers can’t collect calves then bottle feeding colostrum in the paddock is a compromise solution, he says.

Mike Shallcrass – Covid 19 has taught us about self isolation and hygiene, which are essential to successful calf rearing.

Other research has shown Kiwi farmers are reasonably good at feeding calves colostrum early and feeding them the right volume. The biggest issue on NZ farms, however, is colostrum storage because of the sheer volume farmers are dealing with.

“In NZ we deal with a flood of colostrum and deal with bulk storage. Bacterial contamination anywhere along that chain will affect the quality of all of that colostrum milk.”

The importance of hygiene through this process is vital. Storing colostrum in plastic containers, for example, is not ideal because micro scratches are hard to clean and bacteria can hide in them.

The quality of colostrum drops significantly after the first milking so a good solution is to separate that gold colostrum milk, store it well, and keep it aside for newborn calves.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Decisions around calf feeding frequency and whether to use milk replacer must take into consideration both financial costs and time restraints.

Farmers who feed calves on a high milk volume will need to be feeding calves TAD. These calves will experience fast growth, but the calves’ rumen will develop more slowly and they may have a growth check when they are weaned, Mike says.

Calves reared on a low milk volume system can be fed OAD, as long as they have access to enough other feed all day to meet their nutritional needs. These calves may have slower growth rates but their rumens will develop faster and they will have a smaller growth check when weaned off milk.

When it comes to calf milk replacer, farmers need to consider the ingredients closely, he says.

From an animal health point of view, calves should be fed whole milk for the first four weeks.

“For a younger calf the closer their feed is to whole milk the better – that’s all they’re designed to digest.”

If farmers want to use a milk replacement then they should opt for a whole milk based one in those first four weeks.

“Milk replacement should be a whole milk replacement. Once a calf is four weeks old you can be more relaxed with what they can eat.”

Whey-based milk replacement is missing the fats and proteins that form a curd in a calf’s stomach and in the first four weeks there will be a real risk of nutritional scours.

• To find out more watch Mike’s webinar at www.dwn.org.nz • Key resources can be found at www. nzcalfrearing.com and in the DairyNZ Calf Tool Kit.

Part 6 - Hygiene and Housing www.youtube.com/ watch?v=5EmxgKTBDJI

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SPECIAL REPORT

Speedy reaction to illness Words and photos by: Karen Trebilcock

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ust like us, young calves need social distancing in their bubble too.

Balclutha-based vet Olivia Hickman of Clutha Vets says that to stop the spread of diseases in calf sheds, groups of young calves should not be in contact with other groups.

Having an “all in all out” policy helps reduce the risk of spreading disease through the different age groups. That means using solid barriers such as plywood instead of the usual netting, especially the sick-calf pen.

The list of symptoms calves display when they are ill is short and easy to spot.

Unwell calves will at first not want to feed, or will feed less than normal.

“They may also have a cold nose and can look a bit mopey.

“Scours (diarrhoea), which can be white or yellow or watery and may contain blood, usually follows.”

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Dehydration was the main concern following scours.

“Scours will progress to unwillingness to stand and then they will eventually lie flat.

“You don’t want them to get to that stage, so acting fast is best.

“From not wanting to drink to lying flat and unresponsive can occur in a few hours. That’s how fast it happens.”

Olivia says calves that aren’t feeding and are scouring should be isolated from others and given electrolytes as soon as possible.

“Sometimes you will see a calf that’s off its feed in the morning and fine in the afternoon, but if it’s still not feeding in the afternoon and isn’t looking right you should act.”

Having the same person feeding the calves every day makes it more likely these unwell calves will be spotted.

It is easy to tell if a calf is dehydrated.

“The eyes look sunken and if you pinch the skin on its body it doesn’t go back

down. Over the neck tends to be the easiest place to assess this.

“The more dehydrated it is, the higher the peak. If you’re not sure, do the same on a well calf and you will see the difference.

“Also if you put your finger in its mouth the gums will be dry and the salvia will feel tacky.

“If a calf won’t suck, give the electrolytes through a tube, and make sure you know how to do this before you have to.

“You should have the electrolyte mixes and the equipment to tube feed a calf on hand ready at the start of calving.

“If you can, give it electrolytes morning and night and a milk feed in the middle of the day so it’s getting some nourishment.”

The reasons calves get sick are more complicated than the symptoms.

It could be from a virus such as a rotavirus or a coronavirus or from bugs such as cryptosporidia and coccidia.

The only treatment for the viruses is

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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isolation to stop the spread of the disease, and rehydration.

Cryptosporidiosis and coccidiosis have treatments, so if your calves are affected by either bug talk to your vet.

“With viruses, prevention is always best. So if you know you have a problem make sure your cows are vaccinated and ensure your calves are getting two to four litres of gold quality colostrum in their first 12 hours.”

Gold colostrum comes from the first milking.

“Also keep everything clean – milk feeders, water and hard feed containers and the bedding in your calf pens.”

If it is not a virus it is most likely bacteria such as E.coli or salmonella. Antibiotics will be needed in these cases.

“It can be difficult to tell whether it’s a bacterial infection or a virus by looking at the calf, so if your animals aren’t responding to electrolytes then it is time to call the vet.

“We can test faecal samples quickly and find out what’s wrong.”

The second symptom is an inflamed navel.

“Navel ill is when a calf gets a bacterial infection through the navel so it’s important to spray the navel with an iodine and alcohol mix when it’s born and for the next few days until the navel is dry.

“If the navel is infected, the infection can pass up into the body and get into the liver. Sometimes the calf will keep drinking until it is quite ill so you have to keep an eye on the Balclutha-based vet Olivia Hickman of Clutha Vets.

GOOD SIGNS: • Clean noses: clear of discharges, moist and cool • Alert and responsive ears • Shiny, supple coats • Waggling tail when feeding: a sign of health and enthusiasm.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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EARLY WARNING SIGNS - anything out of the ordinary.

• Poor appetite: a sure sign that something is wrong.

• Panting: a higher breathing rate than normal can indicate a high temperature caused by an infection.

What is “normal” varies with age; at 4 days normal is 56 breaths/minute; 14 days – 50 b/m; 35 days – 37 b/m.

• Raised rectal temperature check: above 39.7ºC indicates an infection.

• Coughing: could be a sign of high ammonia levels in bedding, which predispose housed calves to pneumonia.

Easily fixed by improving ventilation and adding fresh layers of bedding material every 3-4 days from week 3 onwards.

• Wet tails and dirty hocks: an indicator of scours • Unusual posture or behaviour: indicates discomfort, possibly navel infection, gut problems, physical damage.

• Calves which are ‘surviving, not thriving’ - likely grouped as ‘slow feeders’, ‘fussy feeders’, ‘lazy’, slow to walk to feeder.

• If a calf’s pinched skin is slow to return to normal it may be dehydrated and need electrolytes • Run your hands over calves as they feed to detect any thin calves early and be proactive in trying to determine what is wrong - mild infections, mouth ulcers, or lameness which could easily go undetected.

12/5/20 2:05 pm

Iodine spray for calf navels.

navel to make sure everything is as it should be.

“An infected navel will feel thickened. It can look like a hernia and will feel hot.

“It will need to be lanced and flushed to clear the infection and the calf will need a course of antibiotics, so again you may need to call your vet.”

Calves overseas kept in confined sheds were more likely to get pneumonia than calves here but Olivia says it is still something to watch for.

Pneumonia is a bacterial infection in the lungs, which can be treated with antibiotics. In young calves it is caused by dampness and poor ventilation.

Symptoms are nasal discharge, coughing, difficulty breathing, a high temperature (a warm, dry nose) and not wanting to feed.

Olivia says most farmers get through calving with no deaths or very few.

“If you are getting a high number of deaths you need to look at your systems – check calves are getting colostrum, pens are disinfected regularly, and the milk they are getting is clean.

“Also make sure calves are born in a sheltered, dry area. The best start you can give them helps them to stay healthy.”

Ill calves should be assessed and euthanised if they are not responding to treatment.

She says when things go wrong it can happen very quickly.

“One day there is just a few not feeding and then the next day there could be a lot very sick. It can become a nightmare very easily.

“Ask for help.”

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SPECIAL REPORT

Automating daily calf feeding Words by: Tim McVeagh

A

utomation of livestock feeding, while requiring considerable capital investment, should need less labour and be a more efficient and more productive means of getting tucker down the throats of animals. But does automatic feeding stack up for calves?

They can be fickle with slow drinkers and crookies.

Rearing young calves requires patience and empathy - attributes that women are often regarded as having more of than men but that machines are not renowned for.

If automatic calf feeding is a goer, what does a good system consist of? What will it do, and how well? And what’s available to dairy farmers and calf rearers?

Automatic calf feeders range from the basic to quite complex systems. The basic models provide mixed calf milk replacer (CMR) or milk on an ad-lib basis to a pen full of calves.

The most sophisticated systems have individual calf feed mix and ration

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programs, and monitor feeding and weight gain. And of course cost varies significantly, even between installations of the same system under different conditions.

WHY AUTOMATIC CALF FEEDING? A successful automated calf feeder will: • Save on labour by freeing up staff at a busy time and possibly avoid the need to employ casual staff.

• Rear a more even line of better, quieter calves; and quicker. These are claims made by advocates including users, though may draw on comparisons with a manual system that was inefficient and problematic. Better means heavier and healthier; quieter because there is less bullying and speed drinking; and “quicker” means reaching weaning weights earlier. The key to this is that an allocated ration of milk is fed little and often so every calf has the chance to get its daily allocation. The quick drinkers do not get more than their fair share at the expense of the slow ones. It also reduces scouring.

• Provide a safer and easier workplace with

less heavy lifting, hot water handling, and vehicles.

• Allow ration size, blend recipe, and feeding frequency to be programmed and changed with age, even on an individual calf basis.

And it can also monitor consumption, drinking rate, liveweight, and absenteeism with alerts to any problems, which often go undetected in a manual system until calves are really sick.

David Reid of Reid Systems said that the company had two calf sheds connected by WiFi to one controller.

“Fifteen single feeders in one shed, six in the other, with approximately 35 calves per feeder. Some pens had three feeders in them. The second shed had a viewing computer with a 24" monitor to show the status of the calves.

“At the peak of the season they would have had around 700 calves in the sheds. They were our early single stalls, which we have redesigned and made them a double unit. Both teats have their own pump so both can feed at the same time”.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

A 14 to 1 return on investment.

“The mixing and dispensing unit, set on concrete and well drained.

It delivers milk, CMR, or a blend of both to four feeding stalls, each in their own pen. The distance from the main unit to the stalls is minimal. (Photo supplied by Lely).

WHAT’S STOPPING YOU? • Cost. Automatic calf feeders on the New Zealand market start at around $8500. Costs have not been documented in this article. Comparisons would be irrelevant as systems’ capabilities vary so much as do installation details.

• Maintenance costs include a scheduled annual check for some models.

• Breakdowns. Machinery or power failures mean that a manual feeding system may need to be redeployed until the fault is found and fixed.

MECHANICS AND OPTIONS: A typical automated calf feeder will consist of five parts: • Storage. Milk and colostrum will typically be drawn from the farm calf milk and colostrum vats. CMR will be dumped into a hopper. Other liquid and powder additives may be drawn from containers in the main mixing/dispensing unit.

• Mixing/dispensing unit. This allows the feeding regime to be programmed - feeds per day, litres per feed - on a mass, group, or individual basis. It carries out the mixing of CMR and blending with milk, colostrum, or any additives, and dispenses it. It can record individual calf feed consumption, drinking speed, absenteeism, and weight. It controls the cleaning system. Programming, and viewing calf records, may be done either at the unit and/or remotely.

• Delivery system: This is essentially tubing from the mixing/dispensing unit to the feeding stalls. While some systems have their feeding stalls as part of the main unit, most have remote feeding stalls allowing them to be sited in separate pens adjacent to the main unit. There are often limitations on the distance between the main unit and the feeding stalls.

• Feeding stalls: These may be single units or pairs fixed side by side. Most systems allow four stalls to be served by the mixing/dispensing unit and most allow the four

It comes with our culture.

In 2012 MPI funded a four and a half year study* to test the effectiveness of BioBrew’s CalfBrew® probiotic supplement on calves.

Early results showed that the use of the fresh, intact probiotic increased the rate of calf growth by up to 10%. As adults, the treated calves produced significantly more milk solids and were also less likely to die and more likely to remain in the herd.

Ultimately, the benefits associated with CalfBrew® equated to a 14 to 1 return on investment, showing that use of a fresh probiotic on calves has both short-term and long-term benefits for both stock and farmers.

BioBrew’s CalfBrew® is a fresh, live and active probiotic and the finest microbial tool available. It is designed to bring your calves, lambs, and kids through their first year in optimum condition at a truly affordable price.

Visit biobrew.net.nz to view our wide range of live probiotic products.

*296 calves on three farms were included in the study

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

funded by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund and DairyNZ and undertaken by the Clutha Agriculture Development Board.

Funding was for two projects, the trial in 2012 and the follow-up in 2016.

67

Table 1: Specifications for calf feeders on the New Zealand market, as provided by their suppliers.

MODEL

De Laval CF 150 X

De Laval CF1000S

rEID Feeder

Made In

Norway

Germany

Timaru

Supplied By

De Laval

De Laval

Reid Systems Ltd

Max Stalls per unit

4

4

Up to 21, at least.

Max calves per stall

25

25

Suggested 35

Max recommended calves per unit

100 – 120

100 – 120

Have had over 700.

Teat Withdrawal

No

Optional

No

Number of calves fed simultaneously

4

4

1 per teat.

Max distance from unit to stall

Unit and stall are combined

6m

Clear line of sight wifi connection. Have used 5 single feeders 500m away from controller with another 15 in the shed with the controller.

Whole milk, CMR, Milk/CMR blend

Yes, and concentrated CMR

Yes, and concentrated CMR

Whole Milk, CMR

Supply

Whole milk and CMR are added to a tank for mixing.

Milk from the farm’s calf milk vat. CMR from a 30kg or 50kg hopper.

Milk from the farm’s calf milk vat.

Mixing

Manually added to a separate tank and mixed.

Weighed and mixed on demand. Auto calibration of milk and powder.

Manual.

CONFIGURATION, CAPACITY

FEEDS

PROGRAMMABLE PARAMETERS Type

99 feed plans.

Litres per feed

Yes

Yes

Yes

Feeds per day

Yes

Yes

Yes

Calf Individualised

No

Same mix for synchronised feeding. Individual through priority feeding.

Yes

Reduced consumption

Yes

Yes

Yes

Slow Drinking

No

Yes

Yes

Absenteeism

Through use of exception port.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Checking and maintaining milk supply. Monitoring calves via the processor.

Checking milk supply, adding powder. Monitoring calves by handheld or App

Power Requirement

Single Phase

Single or three phase

Single Phase

Water Requirement

Cold water

Cold water

Cold. Hot for a hot wash.

Concrete Pad with Drainage

Yes

Yes

Preferable

Manual, estimated 10 minutes.

Additional cleaning of milk tank.

Automatic, 3 times per day.

Weekly circulation clean.

Additional cleaning of milk tank and delivery lines.

Manual

Low; replace milk pump hose.

General maintenance, (tubing). Annual service available.

Considering a yearly fee.

Combination meal / pellet / muesli and milk feeding system.

Teat sliders to withdraw teats.

Liquid or powder additive dispensers. Calf Manager Programme. Calf Cloud App (suppliers app)

www.delaval.com/en-nz/

www.delaval.com/en-nz/

CALF ALERTS

CALF MONITORING Weight LABOUR Labour Requirement per day; (hrs)

SERVICES

CLEANING

MAINTENANCE

EXTRAS AVAILABLE

See

68

David Reid; 027 2218 516 djreid@outlook.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

H & L 100, (Holm and Laue)

Lely Calm

PPP Urban U40

Robot Auto Calf Feeder

Germany

Germany

Germany

New Zealand

Bell Booth

Lely

PPP Industries

Technipharm

4

4

4

8

38

35

30

20 – 25

150

100 – 140

120

125 – 150

“Anti-pirate” milk valve.

Optional

As a cleaning option.

No

2

4

4

6m

6m

2m

Milk. CMR, colostrum; and liquid and powder additives.

Yes, and concentrated CMR

Yes, and concentrated CMR

Milk Powder and whole milk.

Milk from the farm’s calf milk vat.

CMR into a 50kg hopper.

Milk from the farm’s calf milk vat. CMR from a 30kg or 50kg hopper.

Whole milk or colostrum from the farm calf milk vat.

CMR from a 35kg hopper.

CMR mixed on demand.

Weighed and mixed on demand. Auto calibration of milk and powder.

Automated mixing and heating. Heated mixing bowl to reduce heat loss.

On demand

Ad Lib Touchscreen

Not Applicable

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Same mix for synchronised feeding. Individual through priority feeding.

Group feeding.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Forefoot weigh scale, (extra).

Not available in NZ

No

No

Checking milk supply, adding powder. Monitoring calves by handheld or App

1 to 1.5

20 – 30 mins; cleaning, checking and checking calves.

Single or three phase

Single or three phase

2kW

Cold water

Cold water

10 litres / minute

Yes

Yes

Milk line & teat cleaned after each feed. Twice daily wash and sanitise.

Automatic, 3 times per day.

Weekly circulation clean.

Additional cleaning of milk tank and delivery lines.

Automatic alkaline and acid wash twice per day.

Weekly circulation clean.

Routine calibration by farmer. Annual service.

General maintenance, (tubing). Annual service managed by Lely. Manual exterior clean

Weigh calibration by farmer 4 monthly. Annual service, approx $250

Forefoot Weighing. Calf Guide App. Extra feed Hopper.

Teat sliders to withdraw teats. Liquid or powder additive dispensers. Calf Manager Programme. Calf Cloud App (suppliers app)

Smart phone app. Dosing unit for liquid or powder.

Automatic teat cleaning.

www.holm-laue.de Facebook Robotic Feeders

www.lely.com/nz

www.pppindustries.co.nz

Single or three phase.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Part auto, part manual.

www.technipharm.co.nz

Feeding stalls are either single or doubles like this rEID feeder. (Photo supplied by Reid Systems Ltd).

stalls to feed concurrently. They may include a device like a slide to exclude access to the teat once the calf has consumed its ration.

They may also incorporate forefoot scales to record live weight and alert any issues.

• Cleaning system: This may be manual, fully automatic, or partially automatic.

The services needed for an automated system are usually single or three phase power, cold water, and drainage.

WHAT'S ON THE NEW ZEALAND MARKET? Seven systems were found during research for this article. In addition, Calf Smart feeders made by Zeddy in Palmerston North are undergoing a review and will be back in the market at some time in the future.

Details of the feeding systems currently available, as provided by their suppliers, are presented in Table 1. As usual, best practice for any prospective purchasers is to ask the reps to arrange for you to visit a farm during feeding. Other considerations that should be made, apart from cost, include on farm modifications needed to accommodate an automated system, technical back-up, and emphasis placed on New Zealand made.

69

SPECIAL REPORT

Do your sums before rearing extra calves Words by: Chris Lewis, BakerAg

T

here are several reasons motivating farmers to rear a few extra calves this spring: the milk price is down, dairy beef calves might be in demand, the live export of heifers is generating some good coin, and it would be nice to reduce the bobby calf kill.

For those not experienced in calf rearing, caution is urged. There are a few golden rules: • Put your toes in the water first.

Developing an efficient and profitable calf rearing system requires time and experience.

• Verify your market. Don’t rear calves without an end game.

• Value your time. Very dangerous to think all the staff are already paid, or family can work for free.

• Know the true total cost of calf rearing.

• Make sure you have NAIT obligations sorted. Any doubt on the source of the calves in this M. bovis sensitive world is a problem.

These golden rules are best appreciated by those who have been burnt in the calf rearing business.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE DAIRY BEEF MARKET? Farmers will be looking to re-stock after the drought but places like the Hawkes Bay may be slower and more circumspect. The high value prime beef and premium lamb markets might struggle. Lamb supply could come under pressure making dairy beef options more attractive.

BakerAg does not have a crystal ball with regard to sale prices, so the numbers used in this article are for example purposes.

70

Table: Sensitivity of milk price and labour cost on calf rearing cost

Cost to rear a calf

Milk price - cents per litre

Cost of Labour / calf

44 ($5.40/kgMS)

50 ($6.15 / kgMS)

56 ($6.90 / kgMS)

$20

$279

$302

$325

$30

$289

$312

$335

$50

$309

$332

$355

ASSUMPTIONS:

A 20kg bag of calf milk replacer (CMR), mixed at 125g costing $85/bag = 53 cents per litre of calf milk replacer. If you use wholemilk at $6.15kg MS and 8.16% milksolids test = 50 cents per litre Guideline for labour is 0.75 of an hour per calf reared, BakerAg used 1.0 hours per calf.

SELL AT FOUR DAYS OF AGE: For this market having pre-arranged buyers is very helpful and both parties have responsibilities. The calves must get colostrum within the first 24 hours and be trained to drink. The buyer must be uplifting regularly. Pushing the pickup a few days later is not a fair deal. Typically, the four-day market will pay 100% of the manufacturing beef price, so an early born 30kg calf at the $5.50 schedule price will generate $165 per head.

SELL AS WEANERS: A prior arrangement with buyers is again very helpful. Don’t get caught with animals the market doesn’t want or get pushed into the tail of the market where profit is lost.

Rear early, sell early.

Again, the market tends towards 100% of schedule pricing, so a 100kg calf and a $5.50 schedule = $550 per weaner.

in autumn. The cost of grazing is rarely retrieved. This market typically delivers at 65% of schedule price, so a 200kg yearling at $5.50 x 0.65 = $715 per head - $165 above the weaner price but the holding cost will be around $200.

Know your cost of production: this table shows that the difference between controlling and not controlling key variables can be $75 per calf reared.

If you were selling weaned calves then you would add the four-day-old sale value.

That’s $150 from above, making the total cost of a weaner $462.

Sell it for $550 and you make $88 per head. If you miss the peak of the market with some of your extra calves and they sell for $480, you make $18/head.

Your cost of production only needs to rise $20/head and you are losing money!

• References: www.ezicalve.co.nz/calf-rearing-calculator

REARING AND SELLING SPRING BORN R1YR IN AUTUMN: This is the “be careful” market. Often farmers caught with beef cross weaners that they are unable to sell will look to hold onto them with a view to selling them

Use the Calf Milk Replacer calculator www.nzagbiz.co.nz/cmrcalculator to work out the cost of using whole milk out of the vat versus buying milk calf powder.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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71

SPECIAL REPORT

Is rearing worth the risk?

Words by: Kerry Dwyer

W

e have been rearing calves in North Otago since the mid 1990’s. Results have fluctuated over that time, with the past season being one of the tougher years. After taking a pasting on last year’s production many calf rearers are contemplating not continuing this coming spring. It has been possible to buy weaned dairy-sourced calves at below rearing cost for much of the past six months, due to the combination of drought and the downstream effects of killing space shortage, then being compounded by Covid-19.

At the May 21 Temuka store sale, the first after restrictions eased, Friesian bull calves reached $400 for 175kg animals. They bottomed out at $240 for 140kg calves. Beef cross steers weren’t much better at $2/kg liveweight while the beef cross heifers were maybe $1.50/kg liveweight.

The average rearing cost to professional calf rearers this past spring was about $350/head, so there hasn’t been much profit in those calves sold at Temuka. Rearing costs will vary a bit depending on calf price and whether you are using whole milk or milk replacer (powder). The costs for the coming spring are looking similar to last year (see table below).

There were some contracts available last spring for 100kg calves at about $450/head. After that the market dropped away sharply and plenty of rearers were left carrying too many calves with no home to go to. After losing money this last season calf rearers have to consider whether they want the risk of losing more in the coming season.

72

Table 1: Potential costs and profit for calf rearing Calf rearing costs

Per calf

Calf price

$100

Cartage

$20

Calf milk replacer

$84

1 bag @ 20kg

Meal – 20% protein

$22.50

25kg @ $900/t

Meal – 16% protein

$37.50

50kg @ $750/t

Animal health

$10.00

Dehorning

$6.00

Bedding

$6.00

Housing

$6.00

Straw – feed

$8.00

Grazing

$25.00

Power & fuel & machinery

$10.00

Interest

$4.50

Overdraft of $200/calf for 120 days

Losses @ 3%

$15.00

3% of $450 calf

Total

$354.50

Contract sale price

$427.50

Net profit

$78.20

100kgDM @ 25c/kgDM

$450/calf contract less 5% commission

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

LEFT: Farm consultant and farmer Kerry Dwyer will be rearing calves again but is wary of the market and spring grass growth.

WHAT DOES THE MARKET WANT? The market is farmers who buy calves at over 100kg liveweight and take them through to slaughter or for store sale at a heavier liveweight.

Pure beef calves consistently sell at a premium to dairy-cross calves, of at least 50c/kg liveweight. But calf rearers source calves out of the dairy industry so that cuts that premium option. It would be great if dairy farmers could implant pure beef calves into surplus dairy cows, but that isn’t likely given the costs involved. So, we are stuck with either 50% or 100% dairy genetics in the calves we rear.

Friesian bull calves are the staple for calf rearing, ending up in the manufacturing beef trade at slaughter. Jersey-Friesian bulls grow and finish well, but the store market discounts them considerably. Contracts for 100kg Friesian bull calves discount

later spring delivery. The buyers want the early calves that can get to the best weight before next winter. By December there are few contracts available, because the “best” calves are gone and the market is flooded with uncontracted bull calves. We find we need bull calves born in August to get them to November delivery at 100kg, after that it gets tough even in a good year. Rearing bull calves without a contract has been a loser more times than a winner.

Beef-dairy cross calves are easier to sell, since they can head towards prime export beef, local trade or manufacturing markets. I would love to get all Charolais cross calves, but dairy farmers are wary of the calving problems involved so I struggle to get any interested. The staple cross is Hereford bulls used as chasers after AI is finished. The white-faced black bull progeny are well sought after at all stages of their lives. Unfortunately, we get a lot of red calves coming out of crossbred dairy cows. They are heavily discounted in-store market because of the risk of “yellow fat” and slower growth rates. My experience is

that the red Hereford cross calves grow at least as well as the black ones and finish the same or better, but I don’t set the market. Putting the red ones to auction normally hurts.

Dairy farmers like the Hereford cross calves because it is a no brainer deciding who the father was. I prefer buying Angus cross calves, because they are all black regardless of the mother’s genetics and they grow better.

Beef cross heifers are worth 50c/kg liveweight less than their brothers. I have buyers who do very well taking beef-cross heifers to slaughter, but I warn them that selling on the store market will hurt, so avoid that if at all possible.

Maybe buyers just want the cheapest.

That does not fit with a calf rearing business; it could be an expensive hobby.

THE FOUR-DAY-OLD CALF PRICE? Last spring we paid just over $100 for fourday-old beef cross calves, with Friesian bull calves being below $100. That is in North Otago, which may be one of the cheaper

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73

priced areas in NZ. Some North Island rearers pay twice that or more for beef cross calves, it doesn’t work for us here.

The four-day-old price was once set at about twice the bobby slaughter value, nowadays that doesn’t seem to be the case.

We work on the basis that we want good calves, well-fed and nurtured before we get them. We certainly don’t want MPI chasing us for Mycoplasma bovis. We have been dealing with our dairy farm suppliers for a number of years and that is all worth a premium to us.

Over the past season some calves would have been too expensive to rear even if they were priced at zero. Without buying the calf, it takes about $250/hd to get them to 100kg liveweight. There have been a huge number of calves sold for that or less in the past six months.

We pay a steady price throughout spring for the calves we get, but early calves are generally traded at a premium and later calves struggle to find a home. We don’t get all the calves to hit target weight at the same time, and the profit is not in the first calves sold.

I am hearing that a lot of dairy farmers reared additional calves last spring, rather than bobby them.

The logic being that the calf didn’t cost them anything and what sale price they got was an extra. Most of them were poorly paid for their time and effort, and seeing calves flood the auction market doesn’t help my marketplace.

74

the food chain, and the possible risk of M bovis transmitting into the calf herd.

These may not be such a risk for dairy farmers but certainly are for professional calf rearers. We use milk powder because we get consistent warm milk each day without waste, and I don’t want to own a milk tanker.

It is possible to rear a lot of calves in a small area, until they need grass. Every year I hear of someone who has reared 100 calves on two hectares, and then has to meet the market because they are out of feed. Or the dairy farmers (and staff) who rear a few extra calves which is great until they start eating milking feed. If you can’t get the calves gone on time then the holding cost can become a business killer.

We know we need enough slack to cover delays in delivery and holding the last calves longer. If you don’t have that scope you will experience some pain.

WHOLE MILK VS CALF MILK REPLACER I have used the price, $84/20kg bag of milk powder in the calculations. Using some lower spec powders will lower this a bit, maybe saving up to $15/calf. I mix my calf milk at about 12.5% strength, so getting 160 litres of final mix per bag of powder, priced at 52.5c/litre.

Using whole milk will require at least the same litres per calf, maybe slightly more because it will have less solids per litre. At a milk solids price of $6/kgMS, whole milk works out to be about 55c/litre which is not much different to the milk powder value. Dairy farmers will typically say they have surplus milk at calving, being colostrum and “red milk”, so they value this at less than whole milk that could be sold from the vat. That is well and good until they run out of the surplus and have to take from the vat. The other downsides of whole milk are the antibiotics entering

Part 8. Feeding milk in the paddocks www.youtube.com/ watch?v=QFxf-ZcO1OE

THOUGHTS FOR THE COMING CALF REARING Most businesses are about relationships.

Our calf rearing is based on dealing with the same people over many years, at all stages of the process. Marketing is more a 12-month process while selling is taking the calves to an auction and hoping. We can not make a living from selling at the lowest price.

Over the past 25 years there have been some spectacular disasters in calf rearing.

The punt is whether the spring grass grows well enough.

If it doesn’t then the store markets will not recover sufficiently to make calf rearing profitable.

• Kerry Dwyer is a North Otago farm consultant and farmer.

Part 10. Feeding nuts and grass in the paddock www.youtube.com/ watch?v=w3n0JXP2a94

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

“ANCALF IS OUR NATURAL CHOICE.” ANDREW GRANT BELFIELD DAIRIES, GERALDINE.

Closest to mother’s milk, high degree of faith.

It’s Ancalf’s ability to curd, just as nature intended, that gives calves such a good start. They can digest the milk more efficiently and their young stomachs can absorb all the nutrients – leading to better weight gains and healthier calves all round.

For Andrew, transporting milk is an expensive and cumbersome option. So having a supply of Ancalf on hand is definitely beneficial. It suits his multifarm system, his team and of course, his calves.

At the end of the day, the decision to use Ancalf is always an economic one and Andrew makes no bones about that.

“Roughly, our feed cost is budgeted at around $200 per calf, but it’s definitely not an area we want to scrimp on... which is why we never use any other CMR.”

For more information talk to your local rural retailer or call us on 0800 809 011 Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

ANCALF

“We’re looking for a protein that’s at least 26% and Ancalf always delivers on that. I know a lot of other cheaper products don’t achieve the same sort of numbers that Ancalf does.”

“We find that there’s less variability in what we’re feeding them, so there’s no chance of them having some slightly dodgy milk.”

™

Andrew Grant knows calving is a very difficult time for a lot of farmers. Anything that makes life easier, has got to be good news. His team at Belfield Dairies are feeding up to 1200 calves a day, so he wants a calf milk replacer that delivers.

ANCALF™ THE WORD ON THE FARM

75

SPECIAL REPORT

Aerial views of part of Mahoney’s operation.

Team effort rearing 3000 lambs Becs Mahoney, former Black Fern, now international rugby referee, rears up to 3000 lambs each year for Spring Sheep Milk Co as part of her farming duties.

Sheryl Haitana reports. Photos by Brad Hanson.

R

earing young stock is a key part of any successful farming business and a task that requires dedication and skill, says Becs Mahoney.

“I think rearing young stock is a specialty, it’s very time consuming and you have to maintain strong attention to detail.”

Rearing up to 3000 lambs/year for Spring Sheep Milk Co sees Becs and husband Luke working from 5am to 10pm most nights for a significant part of spring.

In a normal rugby season she spends

76

30 hours a week fitness training as well as reviewing/pre-viewing games, and development - which is often done at all hours of the night.

Becs typically will start the morning in the lamb sheds, drive or fly to referee a game, and be back in the sheds later that night. However, the hard work and long hours are palatable when it’s something you enjoy, she says.

“I absolutely love rearing lambs and the rugby is just fun. For me rugby is good head medicine, a chance to get off farm

and out of the business for a few hours, to be able to mix with different people and be challenged at a different level.”

The former Black Fern, who refereed a Ranfurly Shield match last year, was the first woman to referee in the Mitre 10 Cup, the first female assistant referee in Super Rugby early this year and was going to referee two Women’s Six Nations’ test matches this year.

However, with Covid-19 she has currently lost her contract with NZ Rugby and will wait to see if there are

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

FARM FACTS • Farm owners: Luke and Becs Mahoney • Location: Pahiatua • Area: 55ha owned, purchased from Luke’s parents Peter and Judy Mahoney, 550ha leased • Stock units: 650 Friesian bulls; 250 beef cattle; 70 beef heifers; 1500 Romney ewes, 1000 Spring Sheep ewes; 25003000 Spring Sheep lambs

opportunities later this year with Mitre 10 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup next year.

She feels fortunate to have farming as her main business and income.

“Farming is forefront of our lives anyway.

Rugby has always been a cool way to see the world and get a bit of enjoyment. But farming is my business, my background and is where we can help other people.”

Raised on a sheep and beef farm at Eketahuna, Becs went to work on the family farm straight after high school. She got into calf rearing on a large scale with her parents, rearing up to 2000 calves, predominantly Friesian bulls.

She was fortunate enough to meet a local farming boy, Luke, and the couple have slowly grown their farming business over the last 15 years. Luke has his own business dagging 500,000 sheep a year, and the couple have their own contracting business on the side.

They were approached by Spring Sheep Milk Co a few years ago to rear lambs because of their experience rearing large numbers of young stock. The company has four farms currently and another three new suppliers have signed up this season.

“They’re an innovative and collaborative business to work with,” Becs says.

“It works for us and works for them. Their farmers work hard to get milk out of their sheep and we work hard to grow the best young stock for them to work with.”

The four-day old lambs are picked up or delivered from the farms in Taupo. The lambs travel really well in a purpose-built trailer they curl up in their boxes and go to sleep, Becs says.

When they arrive the lambs are given Biostart to settle their stomachs and put in pens of 40 to be trained on the auto DeLaval feeders. A coloured chalk marking system is used to identify lambs once they are drinking off the feeder. Most achieve that within the first 24 hours, says Becs.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Left: Luke and Becs Mahoney.

Below: Becs enjoys working with the sheep: “Sheep are really intelligent and follow each other.”

Bottom: Luke and Becs Mahoney with Staff members Paige Walker and Tatiana McAndrew.

77

SPECIAL REPORT

FOR BEST RESULTS, CHOOSE A QUALITY MILK REPLACER

At AgriVantage, we believe that good rearing practice with the best nutrition is crucial for growing a highly productive dairy cow.

The key factors in selecting a quality milk replacer are: Solubility

Digestibility (making use of nutrients)

Ease of mixing

Consistency of ingredients

Acknowledging that farming operations are unique, we offer a choice of quality Sprayfo curding and whey calf milk replacers, each one offering different benefits for calf growth and development.

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Sprayfo Blue Premium Premium quality whey CMR for optimal rearing Can be fed from 4 days’ old Whey protein and hydrolysed wheat protein aids digestibility (no soya) Dissolves easily, won’t drop out of solution Can be used to fortify liquid whole milk

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Based on the composition of whole milk Similar osmolality to cow’s milk makes it >95% digestible, reducing risk of scours

Good quality whey CMR for economical rearing

Higher plane of quality nutrition (energy) leads to higher rate of growth

Can be fed to calves from 14 days’ old

Optimises organ development, including the mammary gland parenchymal tissue Moisture 3%

Whey protein and hydrolysed wheat protein aids digestibility Contains soya protein (lower cost) Dissolves easily and won’t drop out of solution

Vitamins and minerals 7%

Protein 21.5 %

Lactose 39% Fat 24 %

“I recommend Sprayfo Red Finisher as a quality and cost-effective milk replacer. It was less labour intensive with the ease of mixing and the calves did well on it.

They were in great condition come weaning and there was no evidence of any growth check.”

- Aaron Taylor, Dairy Farmer, Sanson

ENERG

I

CALF M SED ILK 0800 64 55 76 www.agrivantage.co.nz 78

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

“Sheep are really intelligent and follow each other. Having them in small pens, it’s not hard for the lambs to find the teats and teach themselves.”

The feeders can supply up to 200 lambs.

Each pen of 40 lambs has four teats.

Compared with calves, lambs can be easier to rear because they don’t suffer from the same diseases and their survivability rate is around 90%, higher than the traditional hill country farm system.

“We don’t get the nasty crypto or salmonellas etc. But lambs sometimes get pneumonia. We have a couple of pens in each shed with heat lamps for any smaller lambs to curl up under.”

Becs and Luke have two sheds, 2000m2 and 1000m2. The pens have 30cm of sawdust covered by a geotec felt that is used in roading and lets moisture through but not back up. They put fresh shavings on top of the bedding every day along with stellosan, which helps minimise ammonia and any “bugs”.

“We rake out every pen daily and put fresh shavings down. That will sound really intensive, but we get into every pen and handle every lamb every day. When you’re working with big numbers it’s that attention to detail you need to have.”

All lambs have access to fresh water with troughs cleaned out daily, a high protein grain mixture and unlimited milk on the feeders. Each lamb will go through 14-16kg of milk powder.

All lambs are weighed when they arrive and subsequently every 14 days for the first 12 weeks with the aim of getting them to 17-19kg by weaning at six weeks of age.

After weaning, lambs are offered cut and carry grass along with their meal, and at nine weeks they have external access to paddocks.

“We’ve set our new shed up as a miniature farm with little paddocks that function well with the shed. As the lambs get bigger they expand into bigger paddocks onto red clover and chicory mixes.

“Lambs come back into the shed for their meal. They love being inside, on cold days or on hot days. They have the best of both worlds.”

The lambs are grown out and managed through until they are scanned and ready to go back to the Spring Sheep farms for lambing.

The lamb rearing team includes Becs

Left: Becs Mahoney with some of last years lambs reared for Spring Sheep.

Below: The lambs are grown out and managed through until they are scanned and ready to go back to the Spring Sheep farms for lambing.

and Luke, four full-time women, and Becs’ parents, Neal and Shirley Hull.

“Our staff are the glue to the success of our business, we challenge them to have a go at everything. We have a strong team culture with a range of skills, my rugby mates Paige Walker, Sam Tipene, Tutz and Aunty Carol have embraced the processes that make the rearing a success.”

Becs and Luke have two daughters, Amber, 12, and Harper, 7.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without Mum and Dad. Dad and I have the same vision for working with young stock and Mum has always looked after the girls and makes sure the team is always happy and things are running smoothly.”

As farmers, Becs and Luke think it’s a good move to have diversity in their business, which is why they’ve enjoyed

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

working with Spring Sheep.

“We have always believed in having our eggs in lots of baskets. You can’t just do one thing, you’re too vulnerable. We are always looking for opportunities and listening for opportunities.”

They also lamb down 1000 ewes who have been retired from milking on Spring Sheep Milk Co farms.

“We like to be thought of as the retirement village. The older girls who have had enough of milking come here and get to live out their days on the hills.”

Any empty lambs are also kept on-farm to go into a traditional grazing system before they go back to Spring Sheep as twotooths. Spring Sheep Milk Co is continuing to build supplier numbers, so having stock in front of them is another goal Becs and Luke are helping them to achieve.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Probiotics boost calf growth and milk production

N

ew Zealand farm trials of feeding a live probiotic to calves have shown a 14:1 return on investment (ROI). Calf growth and subsequent milk production improved significantly, cows were retained longer in the milking herd, and fewer died compared with control groups.

An independently managed MPI Sustainable Farming Fund study used CalfBrew to determine the short- and longterm effects of using a probiotic on calves.

Calfbrew is a fresh, intact probiotic product from BioBrew Ltd, which was developed through Callaghan Innovation-funded research at Lincoln University.

The results showed that the use of CalfBrew increased calf growth rate by up to 10%. As adults the treated calves produced significantly more milk solids in the 2015-16 season. These cows were also less likely to die and were more likely to remain longer in the production herd.

The conclusion was that the use of a fresh probiotic for calves had both short and longer-term benefits and the longerterm ROI was greater than 14:1.

The 2012 study was funded by SSF and DairyNZ and undertaken by the Clutha Agriculture Development Board. The study followed 296 calves on three farms. In 2016, a further SFF and industry funded project looked at the long-term advantages in giving probiotic supplements to neonatal calves.

Table 4 Cost of treating 100 calves with CalfBrew

Table 1 The Effect of Probiotic Supplementation on Calf growth rate for the first 100 days (kg/day) Probiotic

Control

Difference

Statistical Significance

Farm 1

0.665

0.658

+7g/day

NS

Farm 2

0.602

0.548

+54g/day

P < 0.01

Farm 3

0.574

0.527

+47g/day

P < 0.02

*There was a lot of “noise” in the data from Farm 1 due to bull and steer calves being haphazardly included in the pens.

Table 2 Effect of Calf Probiotic Supplementation on Milk Solid (MS) production as adults (kg MS/cow/year)

Probiotic

Control

Difference

Statistical Significance

2015-16

342

328

14

P < 0.03

2016-17*

302

294

7

NS

Table 3 Effect of Calf Probiotic Supplementation on mortality rates and the likelihood of remaining in the herd after 4.5 years (numbers are expressed per 100 calves treated at the start of the experiment) Numbers/100

CalfBrew

Control

Sold in calf

10.2

8.3

Sold beef

13.0

14.7

Milking

68.5

56.0

Dead

8.3

21.1

Total

100

100

Table 5 Economic Returns Net Returns per 100 Cows

Net Number

Value/Unit

Total Value

Volume/day (L/calf)

0.02

Sold in calf

1.9

$1,700

$3,278

Number of days

50

Sold in beef

-1.7

$800

$(1,373)

Number of calves

100

Milking

12.6

$1,800

$22,599

Cost/L*

$18.26

Extra milk (kgMS/cow)

21

$6.12

$1,614

Total

$1,826

Total

*based on $105/5L from BioBrew Webstore, excluding GST

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$26,118

ROI (return on investment ratio): $26,118/$1,826 or over 14:1

• Sold in Calf value based on $1750 as maximum agreed value for TB reactors • Sold in beef value based on approximately 286kg at $2.80/kg • Milking value based on $1800 as maximum agreed value for TB reactors • Extra value based on 2016-17 milk price

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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81

ENVIRONMENT SOCIAL LICENCE

Healthy community, healthy farms Conall and Rowena Buchanan believe farmers benefit from becoming more engaged with their industry structures, their environment and their communities; they told Elaine Fisher why.

W

hen Paeroa dairy farmers Conall and Rowena Buchanan were considering where to buy their first farm the strength and vibrancy of the local community was almost as important as the property itself.

“The health of our communities has an impact on our economic as well as personal wellbeing,” said Conall Buchanan in early April.

A few days later, on Thursday April 30, an accident in the Karangahake Gorge near Paeroa served to illustrate dramatically the truth in that belief.

A stock truck bringing some of the Buchanan’s rising two-year olds home from grazing crashed on State Highway 2 in the 82

Karangahake Gorge with its trailer ending up partly in the Ohinemuri River. Twentyone of the 35 heifers on the trailer did not survive. They were high BW and well grown. A lot of supplement had been fed to them over the summer drought to keep them close to target liveweights.

“The accident occurred in a very tight part of the Karangahake Gorge. This made extracting the survivors from the trailer, swimming them across the river and then walking them out of the gorge on the Hauraki Rail Trail a significant challenge,” says Conall.

The event highlighted the value of a strong community, he says. “I knew the vets and many of the firemen who helped.

A group acted as a hauling team to extricate

A stock truck carrying some of the Buchanan’s rising two-year old heifers crashed on State Highway 2 in the Karangahake Gorge on April 30 with its trailer ending up partly in the Ohinemuri River.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

FARM FACTS

Owners: Rowena and Conall Buchanan Location: Hauraki Plains near Paeroa Farm size: 275ha effective Cows: 840 jersey and cross bred Production: 900 to 950kg MS/ha (most seasons) Farm name: Awaiti Farm

the heifers from the trailer in a very tricky situation.”

Since Conall was known to the emergency responders they were happy for him to go down into the river to assist the vets, but that experience was tough. “The vets were making decisions about which animals to euthanise and I was glad it was them and not me. It’s never easy to make those kind of decisions when they are your animals.”

Conall is also grateful to two local landowners who helped look after survivors until they could be transported home. “The transport company dealt with the situation very well and fortunately the truck driver was OK. “Their carrier insurance is expected to cover the loss of the cows. We will use that money to purchase replacements.

“While it was a terrible event, the way people and community responded meant the outcome was much better than it could have been.”

This summer’s drought on the Buchanan’s 275ha Awaiti Farm near Paeroa led to parts of the herd dried off from February and the last group in late April.

“We are down on production, but the important thing now is to concentrate on the season ahead.”

Paddocks planted in chicory have helped Awaiti Farm’s cows come through the season in reasonable condition. “At one stage they were pretty much the only green paddocks on the farm.”

Farming as a System 1 or 2 with no (or very little) brought in feed, the aim is to produce 900 to 950kg MS/ha with the 840 Jersey and crossbred cows. “We haven’t achieved that this season because of drought.”

The land is virtually flat with a mix of sandy loam and clay soils. “The only hills

ABOVE: In 2018 a new 54-bale rotary dairy was built to replace two of the Awaiti Farm’s aging sheds.

RIGHT: Conall Buchanan, dairy farmer of Awaiti near Paeroa, is a strong believer in investing in and being involved with his local community.

(Photos supplied)

are stop banks that are five to six metres high, and you have to be aware of how steep they are compared with driving over the rest of the farm.”

Those stop banks plus floodgates and pumps keep the farm free of floods but drainage is still important for the clay soils.

Jason and Kim Fox are Awaiti Farm’s contract milkers and employ three staff. Conall is now seldom involved in milking, concentrating instead on farm management, development and his roles in the wider community.

In 2018 a new 54-bale rotary dairy and 2.5 million litre pond were built to replace two of the farm’s aging sheds and effluent systems. Conall describes the dairy as reasonably standard with Protrack to help with drafting. The new effluent system includes the ability to irrigate effluent over a wider area.

While Conall is now undisputedly a farmer it wasn’t a given that he would follow that career path. When he left

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

school he completed a Bachelor of Agriculture at Massey University and as part of the degree spent a summer in Australia working on a cropping farm.

Back in New Zealand he decided dairy farming offered opportunities to grow a business of his own with multiple pathways to farm ownership.

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ABOVE: Awaiti Farm’s new (in 2018) 2.5 million litre effluent pond, filled with only fresh water, provided an irresistible swimming opportunity for the Buchanan children. RIGHT: The Buchanan family, Grier, Duncan, Rowena and Hamish, in a fodder beet paddock in Chile, with production manager Jan Prutzmann.

He started in 1987 when farming was considered a “sunset industry” but Conall says it was a good time to buy cows. “I mortgaged my shot gun and car, got a Rural Intermediate Credit Association loan, used a meagre farm ownership bank account and got a small short-term loan from my parents.”

Farm management experience led to 50/50 sharemilking. After five years doing a lot of development work on that first job, he and his wife Rowena contracted out their sharemilking role and headed overseas to travel and work for a year.

“During that time we decided our next goal was to buy a farm.” On returning they took on multiple sharemilking jobs and in 1999 bought and operated their first 63ha

farm while still sharemilking. In 2004 they bought Conall’s parents’ farm and, through a number of acquisitions and an adjacent lease, have built the amalgamated operation to 275ha.

“We could have gone to the South Island, which would have made more economic sense, but for us it was about more than that.”

Conall grew up in the area and knows it well. “Paeroa is a good place to live. People pull together and we wanted our children to grow up in a community where people are actively involved and connected.

“People who live in communities that are connected, where people feel they belong, have a higher sense of wellbeing,” he says.

Cows grazing on one of the Chilean farms for which Conall Buchanan was CEO. “New Zealand farming systems transfer well to Southern Chile with its temperate climate and good soils”.

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“During the Covid-19 lockdown we recognised it was even more essential to carry on and do our bit for the economy but also for our community. Rowena has been shopping for several neighbours, family and older acquaintances. We keep in regular contact with those around us.”

Lockdown had its challenges and minor frustrations but Conall considers himself lucky to be in an industry that could largely continue to operate. Their children certainly appreciated the ability to be outdoors with room to roam.

Rowena and Conall gained a fresh perspective on farming when in 2005 they moved with their young family to Chile where Conall became the first CEO of a New Zealand-led dairy farming initiative.

Jason Fox is Awaiti Farm’s contract milker.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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Water quality work ongoing

The Buchanan children chipping thistles on Awaiti Farm’s new lease block BELOW: Conall and Rowena Buchanan’s Awaiti Farm at its picturesque best.

“We grew the operation from scratch to 100+ staff, then bought and integrated another operation.”

With 40,000 cows the company is now Chile’s largest milk supplier.

“It is heartening to see the growth of the investment there. New Zealand farming systems transfer well to Southern Chile with its temperate climate and good soils.

Not too many places exist where you can replicate our pastoral systems and where land is not prohibitively expensive because of population pressures.”

“Farmers and anyone in business should have at least one connection outside their business that is not necessarily about earning dollars. If we all contribute to our communities they are better places to live.”

The youngest of the couple’s three children was born in Chile. After three years, the family returned to New Zealand when the oldest was ready to start school.

“The children were all fluent in Spanish, but they’ve lost most of the language now.”

The Buchanan’s farm business plan includes investing in the community

86

through serving on school and community committees, financial sponsorship and making their property available for community environmental projects. Stands of kahikatea trees have been fenced off and underplanted with natives.

Conall has also encouraged nearby Netherton School to become part of the Enviro Schools initiative. The school grows native seedlings and, in partnership with local farmers, underplants kahikatea stands that the farmers have fenced off.

Waikato Regional Council often assists with materials on farm.

“Farmers and anyone in business should have at least one connection outside their business that is not necessarily about earning dollars. If we all contribute to our communities they are better places to live.”

For Conall it is also about leadership and ensuring the dairy industry is recognised for the right reasons and has a voice. He is a past national chair of Federated Farmers Sharemilking Section and a founding member of the Fonterra Shareholders Council. Still a committed Fonterra farmer, Conall is concerned many shareholders are not as engaged as they could be in their co-operative. “It’s the same with Livestock Improvement, which is another valuable co-op. It worries me because I’ve seen what happens when co-ops are lost overseas.

They may not be perfect but they are a better model for suppliers. Shareholders need to be involved.”

To ensure farming’s voice was heard Conall became part of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Spatial Plan.

Known as the Sea Change process, it showed that the biggest issue facing water quality in the gulf is sediment that dates back to land clearance and gold mining in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

However, the health of the gulf is still declining and the dairy sector, alongside other land users, is playing its part to halt that.

“Good practice is widely used already but getting all landowners on board will make even more difference. Getting the basics right across all farmers and land use types will take us a long way towards where we need to go.

“Nationally we still have plenty of work to do. Our waterways can, and should, be better than they are. But let’s be clear, we are not in a terrible place.”

While Conall supports some of the proposals in the current government’s Essential Freshwater package, he says others ignore work completed and programmes already in place, “with heavy-handed, counterproductive, one-size-fits-all, ineffective and disproportionately expensive regulation”.

“We have plenty to do in New Zealand, but cutting production here and replacing it with product from elsewhere that has a greater negative footprint is like cutting off our nose to spite our face.”

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87

Jessica spent the past four seasons increasing production and improving the genetic make-up of the herd.

Reproductive rewards A focus on cow condition helped Jessica Willis almost halve the empty rate on a dairy farm she managed for four years. Brad Markham reports.

M

aking changes to cow management and feeding levels in winter and early spring helped Bay of Plenty farm manager Jessica Willis make huge strides in herd production and reproduction.

The 31-year-old ran a 48ha farm, milking 150 Holstein Friesians at Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty until May 2020. The flat property is below sea level and gets extremely wet during the winter and spring.

“It was a constant juggling act to ensure the cows didn’t pug paddocks and damage the pasture when it was wet,” says Jessica.

“Fortunately, the farm doesn’t flood. It has pumps to remove excess water but full drains keep the water table high.”

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Jessica moved to the farm in June 2016 when it was bought by Alan Baird and Sandie Redpath-Baird.

Alan and Sandie, who own Wai-Moa Holstein Friesians, live in Rotorua where they milk 380 cows on a 120-hectare property.

“I had worked for Alan and Sandie on and off since I was at high school. It was an amazing opportunity to run my own farm,” says Jessica.

She spent the past four seasons increasing production and improving the genetic make-up of the herd.

“The herd came from a farm where they were milked only once a day. They were producing 280-300 kilograms of milksolids (kgMS) per cow.”

Jessica milked the herd twice a day from the start of calving in mid-July until dry off in May. Production climbed to 60,000kg MS in the 2018-19 season, or 410kg MS per cow.

The farm’s target last season was 64,000kg MS. A focus on feeding and ensuring cows hit body condition score targets overhauled the herd’s reproductive performance.

The herd’s empty (not in calf) rate in the 2019-20 season was 11%. It usually sat between 18% and 20%.

“It was my best result ever. I was stoked.

It was a great feeling to see tweaks in the cows’ feeding start to pay off.”

The herd’s important six-week in-calf rate, which is the percentage of cows

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Production climbed to 60,000kg MS in the 2018-19 season, or 410kg MS per cow. The farm’s target last season was 64,000kg MS. pregnant in the first six weeks of mating, was 76%. The result was just 2% shy of the sector target of 78% but well above the industry average of 65%.

“Our six-week in-calf rate usually sat at around 60%,” says Jessica.

She attributes the good result to changes in cow management and feeding during the winter and spring months.

“Last winter was the first time we split the dry cows based on their body condition. We had a mob of fats and a mob of lighter cows.

“The heifers calved in better condition than previous years and held that condition longer into the spring.”

The farm bought in 100t of maize silage and 175t of a palm kernel expeller (PKE) blend annually. Jessica usually fed the maize from March to May to help put condition on cows ahead of dry off and the winter.

But in 2019 she kept feeding the maize right up until the start of mating at the beginning of October.

“Continuing to feed the maize through the spring helped the cows keep condition on their backs after calving and gave them an energy boost,” she says.

Jessica milked the herd through a 16-a-side herringbone shed.

Cows were tail painted when they left the colostrum mob, which enabled her to monitor pre-mating heats.

The farm plays a crucial role in helping to evaluate the performance of young breeding bulls.

It is a sire proving herd with CRV Ambreed, something Alan has always been passionate about.

Each spring the farm is provided with 100 straws of semen from about 10 new, young unproven bulls.

“We could use the straws to inseminate any cow,” says Jessica, who is also a trained artificial insemination technician.

“I enjoyed being part of the programme because it helps highlight the best bulls for the industry.”

The 2019-20 season was Jessica’s first

A focus on feeding and ensuring cows hit body condition score targets overhauled the herd’s reproductive performance.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

FARM FACTS

Owner: Alan Baird and Sandie Redpath-Baird. Managed by Jessica Willis Location: Opotiki, Bay of Plenty Farm size: 48 hectares Cows: 150 Holstein Friesians Production: 60,000kg MS 2018-19 Stud name: Wai-Moa

year milking the first progeny-testing daughters born on the farm.

“There were some really good heifers in the group.”

She preferred the heifers born as the result of nominated matings. The business started using overseas genetics from World Wide Sires two years ago.

It also sources semen from other bulls through CRV Ambreed.

Jessica and Alan had a goal of breeding capacious cows with strong udders and high milk production.

The sires they have used in the past include Waihou Thadius Murphy S3F, Lornlace Rupert Dunstan, Maire Mint Geronimo, HSS Mint Rivington, Oakura Oman Overdrive and HSS Format PascalET. “They produced beautiful daughters with good, well-attached udders,” says Jessica.

Being a sire-proving herd meant all twoyear-olds were scored for traits other than production (TOP) each spring.

About 50 replacement heifer calves were reared each year. Any surplus heifers eventually ended up at Alan and Sandie’s Rotorua dairy farm.

It has been six months of change for Jessica.

In mid-December last year she married Andrew Willis, an agri-business banker with ANZ. A month earlier they bought a house in Rotorua where Andrew lives.

Jessica moved to the geyser city in late May, leaving behind the farm she had called home for the past four years.

“We’re keen to start a family and that’s hard to do if we both lived in different parts of the Bay of Plenty,” she says.

Jessica is still undecided about her next career move but aspires to own her own herd of Holstein Friesians one day.

89

STOCK GENETIC RECORDING

New breeding data recording system by November Words by: Bob Edlin

W

hile Ministry for Primary Industries policy officials press on with their review of the Dairy Herd Improvement Regulatory Regime, its programme investment staff are contributing much of the cost of establishing a $1 million system to record and collate vital breeding data on dairy cows.

The development is being led by Holstein Friesian New Zealand on behalf of other dairy cattle breed societies to give the whole dairy industry more options when selecting genetics for physical traits of cattle.

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The new system is expected to be completed and fully integrated into the Dairy Industry Good Animal Database (DIGAD) by November this year.

It will serve a two-pronged purpose: • Breed society registration and classification of cattle • Recording “traits other than production” (TOP) to help dairy farmers screen more efficient cows that are healthier and live longer.

The TOP system collects phenotypic data on the physical traits of dairy, such as stature, legs and udders, to enable the improvement of those traits.

The DIGAD is managed by New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL), a subsidiary of DairyNZ. The societies assess the physical and behavioural traits of 50,000 dairy cows a year to help evaluate the performance of the country’s top breeding bulls.

Data collected on behalf of society members and genetics companies is accessible to all dairy farmers.

“It’s a vital industry-good service which is independent and impartial,” said Cherilyn Watson, general manager of Holstein Friesian New Zealand.

The system now used by breed societies for collating registration and genetic information is more than 20 years old and no longer fit for purpose.

“It’s a threat to the dairy sector’s competitive advantage,” Watson said.

Her organisation took the lead in the development on behalf of the breed societies, applied for funding from the MPI’s Sustainable Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Food and Fibres Futures and was granted $792,000.

Holstein Friesian New Zealand will cover the rest of the cost.

Once the system is operating, agreements will be reached with other societies about how they use the system and service costs.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Jersey requirements. That was the foundation for The Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures cow, an Ayrshire cow or a Holstein cow, the LIC database today. fund – which has $40 million a year to it’s a business where we do very much the LIC has hosted the system since the invest, much of this for projects over same thing,” Watson told Dairy Exporter. dairy industry was restructured to establish several years - supports problem solving “So it makes sense to build a system Fonterra. and innovation in New Zealand’s food and that all the breeds can use to do business, While LIC will no longer host the fibre sectors. working collaboratively as a group rather breed society system it will be a user, and Meanwhile, progress on the ministry’s than all building independent systems.” both LIC and CRV will be contracted to review of the regulatory regime for herd The breeds society data comprises complete TOP herd inspections each year improvement has been slowed by the just a small part of the total LIC as is done now. government’s measures this year to deal database, but “the system has Wickham said it was important with the Covid-19 epidemic. major limitations and is to have an independent group of The ministry initiated the review and inadequate to deal with the people who could assess whether invited comment from stakeholders rise in the use of genomic bulls are improving or not through a discussion document released technologies.” improving the traits desirable in late in 2018.

It was initially developed dairy cattle.

The review aims at updating by the breed societies and “From here on this parts of the regime related to data the Dairy Board but when the development will give these collection requirements but it also dairy industry was restructured activities more independence from sought stakeholders’ views on how Brian Wickham, in 2001 the LIC became a userLIC,” he said. to accommodate the effects of new manager of owned co-operative responsible Moreover, it would eliminate technologies, such as inline data collection NZAEL. for herd testing and for hosting duplication by enabling the DIGAD and genomics, into the regime. the dairy core database. to collate all information A strong response from stakeholders Besides giving independence to the needed for breeding and showed they generally wanted societies when their data is entered registering. a more ambitious and through the DIGAD rather than LIC, the DairyNZ will use levy comprehensive approach to new system will ensure against critical funding for its work on matters such as industry good gaps in pedigree data that look likely to the project and expects to data sharing including genomic result from changes in the way dairy herd recover this through service data. Agriculture Minister breeding records are to be collected, stored fees.

Damien O’Connor agreed to and made accessible.

Steve Penno, the MPI’s defer decisions on regulatory Breed societies no longer will have full director of investment changes to allow the industry to Cherilyn Watson, pedigree information for their members. programmes, said genetic consider how it could work together general manager Without complete data, breed businesses improvement is good for the and with government to give effect of Holstein would not be able to operate. environment, animal welfare, to this broader vision.

Friesian New Zealand.

“That’s why we need to have a solution and for the profitability of New Chris Kerr, Director Agriculture that has access to all animal records for our Zealand’s dairy sector.

Marine & Plant Policy, said industry members from one neutral source,” said He said the database used by discussions have been proceeding Watson. the breed societies needed upgrading and “and MPI has maintained ongoing Brian Wickham, manager of NZAEL had to be able to record a greater number engagement with key stakeholders to keep since February last year, said the project of animal traits. abreast of these discussions.” is “very much driven by the needs of the It also had to be integrated into the The ministry has also been working breed societies”, aimed at rebuilding their DIGAD. on the design of a new regulatory data platform and plugging it into the “They wouldn’t have been able to framework to support a more modern and DIGAD. achieve those two things without comprehensive herd improvement regime, He was involved with the original additional support,” he said. “but its final shape will depend on the database development with the Dairy “We saw this as being an important tool outcome of further discussion and then Board incorporating breed society for industry.” consideration by the Minister”.

It is important to have an independent group of people who can assess whether bulls are improving the desirable traits in dairy cattle.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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STOCK VET VOICE

Down cow with a cover.

Quality nursing lifts survival Words by: Phil Poulton

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ecent research into the management of downer cows was conducted on dairy farms in South Gippsland, Australia, during the winter calving periods of 2011 and 2012 in conditions similar to typical dairy areas in New Zealand.

The results showed that secondary damage was often more important in determining the cows’ eventual fate than the original cause of the recumbency, and the quality of nursing quality was a key factor in their chances of survival.

When a farmer first finds a down cow it is important that the cause is determined to ensure correct treatment.

Veterinary assistance with that may be needed. A plan needs to be devised to ensure the cow is correctly treated and managed.

A ‘non-alert’ down cow is an emergency and should be dealt with immediately.

‘Alert’ down cows can be dealt with as soon as possible unless they are in 92

a position that could cause harm to themselves or other animals, such as lying on their side, having their head downhill, or being exposed to harsh weather.

Common complications include hip dislocation, paralysis of the nerves in the forelimb, pneumonia, mastitis and bed sores.

All of these conditions are associated with poor quality nursing.

If a cow is suffering unduly she must be promptly and humanely euthanised. This is important because consumers demand high standards of animal welfare on farms. Down cows that haven’t recovered after a few days and can’t be nursed intensively, and cows that are unlikely to recover,should also be euthanised.

TREATMENT:

Drugs, if needed, must be given in the appropriate time to maximise the chances of a quick recovery. If the cow is not responding as expected, a re-assessment is required to ensure the primary diagnosis was correct and to consider secondary complications.

Milk fever is a common cause of recumbency in freshly calved cows and is treated with calcium solutions. If calcium is given into a vein too quickly it will kill the cow.

There are many other conditions that can cause cows to go down. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) are often appropriate in the prevention and treatment of many of the secondary conditions that recumbent cows are prone to. These drugs are available only under prescription by your veterinarian.

The response to the initial treatment needs to be assessed by the farmer in relation to the primary condition and its severity. Cows with milk fever should be up and about within a couple of

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SECONDARY DAMAGE:

Down cows are prone to secondary damage, especially if they have been down for more than a day, often because of pressure on the muscles and nerves of the hind limbs.

Risk factors are hard surfaces, heavy cows, inability to swap from side to side, and length of recumbency. Damage to the nerves in the back resulting in their hind limbs going out behind them is another common cause of secondary damage.

Other common complications include hip dislocation, paralysis of the nerves in the forelimb, pneumonia, mastitis and bed sores. All of these conditions are associated with poor quality nursing.

Figure 1: Daily cumulative recovery percentage by nursing quality for 2018 downer cows Satisfactory nursing (n=151)

Unsatisfactory nursing (n=67)

50

45

40

35

Cumulative recovery %

hours whereas cows with severe systemic conditions, such as Salmonella may not have changed much in this time.

Cows that have not improved as expected need to be re-assessed to ensure their treatment was correct. Alert cows that are unable to stand should be lifted, if appropriate.

Some cows will be able to stand and walk away after being lifted. Cows that cannot stand or are not strong enough to lift at this point need to be moved to a suitable nursing environment to maximise their recovery chances.

30

25

20

15

10

5

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Days Source: Poulton PJ, Vizard AV, Anderson GA et al. High quality care improves outcome in recumbent dairy cattle. Aust Vet J 2016; 94:173-180

NURSING:

Every farm should have a dedicated area set aside for the nursing of down cows, which provides shelter from adverse weather conditions, suitable deep soft bedding such as hay, sawdust or sand; barriers to keep the cow on the bedding and restrict her area to approximately 3m x 3m to prevent her crawling; conveniently located so the cow can monitored regularly and rolled from side to side if needed; and clean and dry to ensure good hygiene.

Down cows need to have adequate feed and water readily available, and enough staff to provide a high level of care.

Many New Zealand dairy farms have limited shed space during calving, so many down cows are nursed outside in paddocks. Using a good quality cow rug will help improve their welfare.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Excellent nursing in a pen

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Poor nursing in a paddock

MOVING DOWNER COWS:

Recumbent cows need to be moved to the nursing area in a way that avoids causing further damage, such as rolling them into a front-end loader bucket whilst ensuring their head is in a safe position, rolling them on to a “carry-all” and tying securely, or carrying them in a sling or hip clamp with a strap under their chest. They must not be carried only by a hip clamp.

LIFTING:

Lifting should only be done if it is effective and supervised. The cow must be able to stand in a natural position and take about 70% of their own weight. Some cows may be unable to stand and some are unwilling to cooperate. Either way, those hanging in a hip clamp or slouching in a sling without taking any significant weight will suffer secondary damage.

They are better not lifted. Supervision is important to ensure they can be put back down on the ground when they tire and the effective lift becomes ineffective.

Cows that are lifted ineffectively or are unsupervised have a poorer chance of recovery than if they were not lifted at all.

DAILY NURSING CYCLE:

Cows that are still down on the second and subsequent days can be thought of as 94

having entered a “daily cycle of nursing”.

This cycle involves being checked several times each day to ensure their basic needs are being met: • adequate feed and water • the environment is kept hygienic • adequate protection from the weather • they remain on the suitable bedding • rolling them from side-to-side multiple times a day if they are unable to do so themselves • lifting, if appropriate • continually assessing their welfare.

damage if they are affected by it.

Cows that are nursed well have been shown to recover even after a few weeks whereas those nursed poorly that have not recovered after a few days are very unlikely to recover. If a down cow is to be nursed, do it properly or euthanase them after a few days.

This is an important animal welfare message. If a farmer is unable or unwilling to provide a high level of care then euthanasia should be elected early in the course of the recumbency.

CONCLUSIONS:

A ‘non-alert’ downer cow is an emergency and should be dealt with immediately.

Results from the study showed that the recovery chances of a downer cow that was nursed “satisfactorily” was more than an eleven-times better than those nursed “unsatisfactorily”, as shown in Figure 1. If a high level of nursing is provided to the cow, they are more likely to recover, less likely to sustain secondary damage and more likely to recover from the secondary

Many farmers find down cows difficult to deal with and unrewarding. This is often due to the secondary damage that occurs after they become recumbent, which is highly associated with the quality of nursing they receive.

Down cows must be treated promptly and appropriately. If they have not recovered within a short time, they should be moved to a suitable nursing area where they can be cared for at a high level. The welfare of the down cow must be always considered.

• Phil Poulton is a veterinarian with Gippsland Veterinary Group, Leongatha, Australia.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Getting back to our better nature It’s no exaggeration; dung beetles can deliver your farm from two of its biggest agricultural challenges.

Clean water & sustainability of pastoral soils Farmers know that their engine room is the soil. As the industry grows, farmland usage is being intensified. Over 100 million tonnes of dairy, cattle, sheep and horse dung is deposited every year. The run-off is steadily degrading our waterways, while the residual mess is infecting our animals and impoverishing our soils and pastures.

Sometimes Nature knows what’s best In this case, it’s the humble dung beetle, evolved over millions of years with our stock. Tests conducted abroad and in NZ prove that introducing dung beetles is a practical, sustainable and cost-effective way to alleviate many of the problems we face in farming while lifting profitability. The answer isn’t always fencing and planting. enr94437

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95

WELLBEING RESILIENCE

Building resilience in tough times Words by: Sheryl Brown

D

id you want to kill your husband, kids or staff during lockdown? Building resilience will help you deal with feelings like that.

Tools for increasing resilience were shared as part of the Dairy Women’s Network online conference in May by Dr Lucy Hone and Dr Denise Quinlan.

The pair, co-directors of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience, say that resilience is not a fixed trait that people either have or don’t have – it can be taught.

When you find yourself criticising a person in your head or worrying about a situation, focus on what is good about

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that person or situation, eg. what’s the kindest thing they’ve ever done for you?

“We all have moments when someone in our lives is doing our head in.

Relationships are a package deal – you can’t cherry pick the best parts,” Denise says.

Choosing where you focus your attention is one of the strategies in the Real-time Resilience Toolkit.

“People who are resilient focus their attention on what they can change and accept what they can’t change. They are realistic optimists.”

There will always be times when you feel overwhelmed so it’s about recognising the signs and focusing on how you think and act.

“Sometimes food and sleep are the

most important things. When you are feeling overwhelmed and you can’t think or problem solve your way out of it, you have to calm yourself. Go for a walk, have a cup of tea – whatever works for you.”

People who are resilient focus their attention on what they can change and accept what they can’t change.

Understanding that struggle is a part of life is another strategy in the Real-time Resilience Toolkit and farmers are no

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

REAL-TIME RESILIENCE TOOLKIT • Understand that struggle is a part of life • Choose where to focus your attention • Is this helping me or harming me?

• Don’t catastrophise!

strangers to understanding how tough life can be, Lucy says.

“Sadly, terrible things happen to us all. I think it’s really important for us as parents, employers or in any kind of responsibility, to make that message really clear – that you don’t find things easy all the time, and that is normal.”

With people exposed to unrealistic lives on platforms such as Instagram, it’s even more important to share the message that it’s normal to experience tough times.

“It’s so important for us to role model and explain that to our children because if we do, when something terrible happens, people accept this is life and it stops them feeling singled out and discriminated against.”

Lucy’s 12-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident in 2014 along with two family friends. The strategies in the Realtime Resilience Toolkit are what helped her get through her grief.

“These are what saved me in my toughest times.”

Asking “Is this helping me or harming me?” is another great strategy in the toolkit, she says.

People need to focus on how they are

Lucy Hone and Denise Quinlan - resilience is not a fixed trait, it can be taught.

thinking and acting and whether it is helping their mental health. For example, if during lockdown you feel overwhelmed watching the international news daily or reading about Donald Trump then choose to not watch the news or read those articles.

“It’s a great question to apply to everything in life – is a fourth glass of wine helpful or harmful? Is comparing myself to a colleague helpful or harmful?

Is going for a walk helpful or harmful?”

The last strategy in the toolkit is “Don’t

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Catastrophise”. Everyone is guilty of worrying about the future and thinking about the worst case scenario, often at 2am, says Lucy.

“Think about what you were most worried about before lockdown. Does it still seem as important? Often what pans out is something you can’t imagine, so try not to do the “what if” thinking.”

• For more information visit the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience nziwr.co.nz/keynotes

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RESEARCH WRAP OWL FARM

Monitoring individual BCS meant that BCS improved in spring.

Mating plan revamp pays off for Owl Farm Focusing on individual cow body condition score boosted six-week in-calf rate on a Cambridge demonstration farm.

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hree seasons ago a disappointing 65% six-week in-calf rate on Owl Farm, St Peter’s School’s demonstration farm near Cambridge, prompted an investigation and overhaul of the mating programme.

One of the key elements in turning the situation around was body condition score (BCS), emphasising individual BCS in addition to the herd average, said farm manager Tom Buckley.

“When we looked back at the BCS numbers the herd bottomed out at an average of 4 in spring. If you have an average of 4 there are going to be some below and some above. The following season we decided to compare individual 98

BCS with each cow’s calving date and we dried them off accordingly.”

Monitoring individual BCS led to an improvement in spring, the peak was higher and the cows transitioned better.

“In fact, last year we probably overshot the mark and had too many fat cows and too much grass, so we need to manage that a bit better this year.”

The result of the overhaul was a marked improvement in the six-week in-calf rate to 74% in both 2018 and 2019, which means the reproductive performance now sits in the top 25% nationally.

“An extra 9% of cows in six weeks makes a big difference to our peak milk production, and we also have a lot fewer

animal health issues,” says Tom. LIC is one of Owl Farm’s industry partners and Jair Mandriaza, LIC Senior Reproduction Solutions Advisor, is on the team helping with advice. He agrees that BCS was an essential component of turning the situation around.

“They focused on reaching BCS targets at the cow level instead of averages, and now they look at both the average and the distribution and work hard to achieve a successful outcome in both areas. They have also worked on tweaking their transition management – minimising BCS loss between calving and mating, which helps significantly too.”

Getting the fundamentals right means

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

“An extra 9% of cows in six weeks makes a big difference to our peak milk production” they can now shift their focus to other elements of the reproduction programme, which also fits with their ethos to show industry leadership as a demonstration farm. Reducing bobby numbers, achieving a better financial return from the excess calves, and improving staff welfare are all targets.

M. bovis and looking after staff health and safety were both drivers for taking bulls out of the system and shifting to allseason AI. “Last season we mated the top 80% of our herd to replacement AI and we used fresh sexed semen,” says Tom. “The bottom 20% were bred to either Hereford, short gestation crossbreed, or Wagyu sires. We use Hereford in the first week because we can get the most value from those beef calves at that first sale.

After that everyone else starts sending their calves away and our price drops.

“Then we swap to short gestation dairy (SGL Dairy) to shift those week two calvers into week one. We get less for the calf but we get an extra 10 to 14 days of milk.

Then we swap over to Wagyu - we have a contract with Firstlight. In the future we are considering using AI on the heifers too - the top 50% for keeping and the rest would be put to Wagyu.

“The cash returns from Wagyu calves should be a lot higher and we will have a lot less bobbies, reducing down to 5-10%.

So that should be easier, there will just be a few more that they need to feed longer on a daily basis.”

The other new strategy they have introduced is sexed fresh semen. “We are trying to get more replacement heifers in a shorter period,” says Tom. “It started a bit late last season so we will have a few bobbies in the first week but LIC have recognised that people want it available on day one so this year sexed semen will be available on 25th September.

“We found that the conception rate

Tom Buckley Owl Farm farm manager and Jo Sheridan, Owl Farm demonstration manager.

was the same between normal and sexed semen, 52%. Our aim is to get that closer to 60%.”

A comprehensive mating plan, with buy-in from staff, heat detection training, regular time off and good historical herd reproduction results, are important before embarking on full season AI. “Everything got a metricheck, we do individual BCS and any cows that are struggling are put on OAD. We use Metacam on mastitis cows through August.

This is to reduce the swelling from the infection, which studies have shown helps to increase the conception rate.

“It is important to touch up your tail paint and we use Kamars and LIC heat patches as well. We also do in paddock checks, add any cows we identify to the draft list and recheck them in the morning.”

“People have to prove their worth by having the right reproduction results - a six-week in-calf rate over 70%,” says Jair.

“If you get the basics right the reproduction results from all-season AI, compared with using bulls, are not that different. You do need to be good at

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

FARM FACTS:

• Farm Owners: St Peter’s School • Industry partners: Lincoln University, LIC, PGG Wrightson Seeds, DairyNZ, Ballance AgriNutrients, Farm Source, Westpac • Demonstration manager: Jo Sheridan • Farm manager: Tom Buckley • Location: Cambridge, Waikato • Area: 148ha (eff) • Cows: 420 crossbred • Production: 168,000kg MS • 3 week submission rate: 91% • 6 week in-calf rate: 74% • Not in-calf rate: 10%

identifying cows on heat and this does get difficult as mating progresses - there is a quick drop in the number of cows that are sexually active, things become less obvious and people get tired.”

The successful results from last season’s mating have given Owl Farm the confidence to continue with the strategies they have put in place in the coming season, with some tweaks.

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DAIRY 101 SUCCESSION

Keeping the name on the letterbox Story and photos by: Karen Trebilcock

S

o your dad is getting grumpier as each year passes but your mum’s scones are still the best in the world.

They were really happy when you got married but things have definitely got a bit icy now that your wife understands the farm accounts better than they do.

At her urging you casually dropped the words “succession planning” into the conversation last week over a cup of tea, which got the response from your dad: “Do you want to dig my grave as well?”

Your mum hasn’t made you scones since. Sound familiar?

As the older generation live longer and in better health, and the younger generation have more access to information than ever before, farm succession planning is getting trickier.

With Covid-19, the solution of disappearing on an OE for a couple of years might also be gone.

So how to go about it?

Firstly, work out if your parents want the name on the letterbox to be kept the same, and let them know you want it that way as well.

Make sure they understand you don’t see it as a right or an entitlement, that you 100

know that they worked hard and made sacrifices to buy/run the farm and that you and your spouse are prepared to do the same. And that you hope your children will take it on after you.

The process isn’t just about you – it’s about your parents and their grandchildren and maybe even their great grandchildren.

Once that is sorted but before you make the phone call to accountants and lawyers there has to be an understanding of what all of you want out of it.

And this isn’t about money – it’s about lifestyle. Do your parents want to stay living on the farm? Do they want to stay helping out, and in what ways? Do they still want to see the accounts and be part of the financial management?

Letting them do the fun stuff keeps them connected, feeling worthwhile and having a better and more enjoyable lifestyle as they get older. Your dad may want to keep driving his favourite tractor and your mum may want to keep looking after the calves in the spring, but they might be more than happy to give you the task of finding the money to pay the bills every month and doing the GST. They may want to come to management meetings but it might not be because they want to control what you do – they

might just want to feel included and know what’s happening.

Or they might want to be paid out and leave you to it so they can finally buy that campervan they’ve always wanted and tour New Zealand for several years, and then buy a house in the town where they are close to doctors and friends.

Everyone is different, and finding out what mum and dad really want will help set up a succession plan that works for all.

Make sure your spouse is included. Sure, in older generations mum didn’t pay the bills or go to those serious meetings with accountants and bank managers. However, times have changed and wives and husbands now have equal responsibilities – something that the older generation can have a problem with.

Including spouses, either male or female, also leads to more heads around the table to think things through. Sure, divorces happen but deaths happen too. If you die, and, let’s face it, farming doesn’t have the best statistics, your spouse will inherit and surely you and they will want to be up-to-speed with the farm and not estranged from the family at such a difficult time.

Got that sorted? The next step – seek professional advice, and this is not as easy as simply picking up the phone. Whoever

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Keeping the name on the letterbox the same

Don’t let anyone say “it’s okay, whatever you all decide I’ll go along with it” because you can be sure that something will not be okay. you use will work for their client – is that going to be you and your spouse or your parents?

If it is your parents they and the advisor will work out a succession plan and you will have to agree to it. If it’s you then the opposite will happen. It might be best if you and your parents are the clients equally. Just a thought.

Find the right advisor. Make sure whoever you chose is someone who does this sort of thing in the dairy industry a lot. They know what works and what doesn’t and are keeping up with how farm and stock values are changing.

Now that you have started make sure the succession plan is a priority. Don’t start it and then let calving or something else take over. Get it sorted quickly so everyone knows what is going to happen, how, and when.

Make sure meetings include everyone – even if mum isn’t keen make sure she attends – and all of your brothers and sisters and even the grandkids if they

are old enough. Introducing kids to business planning can never be done too young. Making sure that everyone is at the meetings means information is not passed on second hand, and that everyone understands exactly what is going to happen. Don’t let anyone say “it’s okay, whatever you all decide I’ll go along with it” because you can be sure that something will not be okay and, when everyone realises, it might be too late.

Expect through the process to learn a lot more about your financials, other opportunities such as off-farm investments, and legal stuff like enduring powers of attorney.

Succession planning makes everyone focus on the business and where it is heading – not just to get to drying off and how to winter the cows but for years into the future. It’s a good thing, and the lessons you learn through the process should make you better at examining both the farm’s future and yours.

Make sure the succession plan you all

come up with is a living document – not something that is written down and then filed in a drawer. Things change, and what sounded like a great idea a couple of years ago might not work any longer. Health needs change, stock values change, the will to get up every morning to milk cows at 4am might change.

And don’t fall into the thinking that since you are going to be “given” the farm one day when both of your parents die you should work for them for free. Don’t laugh – it has happened on a lot of farms.

Equally, don’t let your parents think that it’s okay for them to face financial insecurity so you can fulfil their dream of a second and third generation on the farm. If the farm can’t pay you a living and give them a financially secure future as well, no amount of succession planning is going to work. Instead relook at the business and find a way to get enough money out of it for everyone.

Successful succession planning relies on a clear vision and purpose for the business and willingness for everyone to trust and support all involved. The aim should always be to keep your family together. Remember, those scones are worth it.

Safe Labour, Water and Nutrients er ® Safe Labour, Water bust and Nutrients Dung Dungbuster + + Bladder Bladder “we make farming ezy” ng ezy” www.technipharm.co.nz 0800 80 90 98 th2072 070520

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

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DAIRY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Coming soon!

ONLINE AWARDS CELEBRATION Facebook

@DairyBusinessOfTheYear

Details to be announced so keep an eye on our social media channels.

LinkedIn New Zealand Dairy Business of the Year

www.dboy.co.nz Twitter

enr94028

@nzdboy

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? MILK QUALITY

Exciting FIL and Levno agritech partnership

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wo of the dairy sector’s leading brands have partnered up in the name of quality milk.

Dairy hygiene and animal health supplier FIL and leading provider of on-farm monitoring and milk vat monitoring systems, Levno, are working together to improve dairy hygiene and visibility of their farming operation.

Customers will be able to use Levno’s milk vat monitoring system to provide data and analytics to FIL. The partnership will make use of Levno advance analytics to detect and prevent milk quality issues before they occur, saving farmers time and money.

“Having access to real-time information about their milk vat, our farming customers will feel empowered to understand what is happening on their farm. And being able to see this data from a mobile - no matter if you’re on the farm or not - is key to making timely decisions that will help farmers see better results and maximise milk return,” says FIL National Sales Manager Bede Murphy.

FIL is encouraging its customers to install Levno’s Milk Vat Monitoring system, one of three options available at no cost through Fonterra in its national project to have vat monitoring technology installed on all its suppliers’ farms.

Fonterra will get limited access to some of the data from the system to improve transportation and milk quality for Fonterra.

Visit levno.com and fil.co.nz for more information.

Levno’s milk vat monitoring system pushes data and analytics straight to mobile.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Five facts about colostrum feeding 1. THE QUALITY OF MATERNAL COLOSTRUM ON MANY NEW ZEALAND DAIRY FARMS IS POOR In a 2015 study by Dairy NZ, only 10 percent of 298 colostrum samples collected at multiple times during the calving season had immunoglobulin concentrations over the recommended levels, and only 11 percent of samples had acceptable (low) bacterial contamination levels¹.

2. IgG = IMMUNITY Feeding colostrum with inadequate levels of immunoglobulin, specifically IgG, will likely result in failure of passive transfer, compromising calf health and performance.

3. EVERY CALF NEEDS A MINIMUM OF 100G IgG IN THE FIRST FEED. For passive transfer of immunity to occur, the global standard recommendation is to feed every calf a minimum of 2L colostrum containing 22% milk solids (MS) so that the calf gets 100g IgG. 4. IT IS SIMPLE TO MEASURE COLOSTRUM QUALITY ON FARM. Colostrum quality can be tested on farm using a Brix refractometer. If it is less than 22% milk solids (MS), it is not good enough quality and calf health will be compromised due to failure of passive transfer.

5. ONE FEED OF LAUNCHPAD18 GIVES A CALF 108G IgG Launchpad18 colostrum powder offers guaranteed quality and quantity of transfer. Feed a calf 2L reconstituted Launchpad18 in one feed to ensure the animal receives 108g IgG in the first 12 hours of life. Note: you should feed Launchpad18 for the first feed only, then revert to maternal colostrum.

Alternatively, you can boost the IgG content of maternal colostrum by fortifying it with Launchpad18 colostrum powder. See agrivantage.co.nz, or the Dairy Exporter AgriVantage wrap-around cover for more details on colostrum enrichment.

For more information on passive transfer of immunity, see agrivantage.co.nz.

1. https://www.dairynz.co.nz/news/latest-news/ colostrum-management-giving-calves-a-great-start-to-life/ 103

SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? LAMENESS TREATMENT

The Wrangler celebrates 25 years

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he Wrangler is celebrating 25 years of helping New Zealand dairy farmers manage lameness safely.

Wilco and Waverley Klein-Ovink are the brains behind the product, putting their Kiwi Number 8 mentality into designing equipment to make their life on the farm easier.

As Bay of Plenty sharemilkers, Waverley would typically hold a lame cow while husband Wilco treated the hoof. They looked for equipment to buy to make the job easier and safer and on finding nothing available, Wilco designed The Wrangler.

The concept was so new to NZ they were granted a patent on tying and lifting a cow’s leg.

“No one seemed to realise at that stage what a huge issue lameness was in New Zealand,” Waverly says.

“Farmers were regularly getting injured

and cows going untreated so we started researching and writing to raise awareness of the need for better facilities to get cows treated.”

It was around the same time that OSH (Occupational Safety & Health) was established and their vets persuaded them this could be a solution for other farmers to keep themselves and staff safe.

They took their design to Mystery Creek and won the Fieldays Innovation Prototype Award in 1995 and the Innovation Waverly and Wilco with The Wrangler they designed to make New Equipment Award in 1996. hoof treatment easier and safer.

“Right from the start farmers have been enthusiastic about the Wrangler, calling into the Fieldays every It’s a great product NZ can be proud of.” year, giving feedback, and shaping its To celebrate 25 years in business, design to fit NZ cow size and needs.

Wrangler orders during June get a free “Kiwi farmers have helped us develop it upgrade to the new enhanced back leg by putting their collective heads together. winch, worth $450+GST.

Site specific effluent solutions

F

arm effluent is a valuable resource but designing a system to make best use of it isn’t easy. There are many factors to be taken into consideration; soil type, annual rainfall, on-farm safety and management, milking season, and much more. Every dairy farm is different so no one system suits everyone.

However, Williams Engineering has the expertise to develop site specific effluent

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solutions. The Hauraki Plains based business draws on 40 years of experience in the production of high quality, well designed, practical, user friendly and cost-effective farm machinery. Over the past 10 years they have changed their business approach after completing training in farm dairy effluent system design and management in conjunction with DairyNZ. Seven years ago the business became

Farm Dairy Effluent Design accredited.

This has been key to their product development.

The team starts by visiting onsite to create a farm-specific plan including effluent storage, which is now a large part of their business. Project management can include precasting and installing their own concrete panels to create sand traps and bunkers, and supplying the right pumps, stirrers (agitators), mainline systems, and hydrants right through to the irrigator.

The Williams team has the know-how and machinery to do it all – a one-stop shop making the whole process more efficient and cost effective for farmers.

The company knows that reliability and simplicity of operation is paramount in today’s busy dairy farming world, and with their nationwide network of experienced dealers Williams Engineering has the proven experience and expertise to solve any effluent problem.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? TRAILER INNOVATION

Prioritising calf welfare during transport

P

lucks Engineering Ltd have recently introduced the Benic Calf Trailer.

This new and patent-pending innovation for transporting newborn dairy calves was invented by Benjamin Popowski on a 800-cow dairy farm in Tasmania. Concerned for calf welfare and determined to reduce calf health risks and stress during transport, Benjamin worked closely with local vets to come up with a better way than using the traditional caged trailer.

Now after three seasons of refinement and encouraging market success in Australia, Benjamin has teamed up with Plucks Engineering in Rakaia to bring their innovation to New Zealand.

The unique Benic Calf Trailer uses a special sling-rail system to hold and support each calf securely – all the calves are kept upright and are safely and comfortably held during their journey from paddock to shed.

Significant benefits with this system are that the calves are protected from injury and their navels are kept clear and protected from infection. The trailer's shielded headboard also protects calves from dirt and windchill. In addition, all calves are neatly lined up on the rail allowing quick and easy naval spraying and initial colostrum dosing before offloading.

The trailer is low profile for stability with the sling-rail height optimised for easy calf loading and unloading. Rails are also adjustable to suit the herd’s calf size.

Benic Calf Trailers are robustly constructed to the highest quality standards and are fully hot dip galvanised for long term corrosion protection. Trailer weight has, however, been kept low for ease of towing with quad bike or ATV. Plucks Engineering has initially launched two Benic Calf Trailer models – for 10 calves and 15 calves. The Benic design is readily configurable for larger trailers or as a tractor carried platform, so we can expect to see further expansion of the Benic range in NZ. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

An innovative trailer from Plucks Engineering makes transferring calves from paddock to shed easy, healthy and safe.

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OUR STORY 50 YEARS AGO IN NZ DAIRY EXPORTER

50 years ago in the Dairy Exporter June As NZ Dairy Exporter counts down to its centenary in 2025, we look back at the issues of earlier decades.

50 Years Ago – June 1970.

LOCAL MARKET PRICES

“The time has come to divorce the local market and the export returns to the dairy industry for butter,” said the Chairman of the Dairy Board Mr F. L. Onion, in a press statement last month.

“For the past 15 years, the return from the local market has been linked with the export return, which has been severely depressed by international dumping,” he said.

“While internal costs have climbed, our returns have been reduced. No other food manufacturers could have remained in business had they been subjected to a price freeze as cruel as this.

“I emphasise that what we are asking for does not necessarily involve an increase in the local market butter price. It is for the Government to make an appropriate credit to the Dairy Industry Account and to decide how this should be financed,” he said.

FARMERS CONFIDENCE HARMED

Pessimism beyond the facts had harmed some of the dairy industry’s markets, the confidence of the community, and the confidence of the dairy industry, Mr I. MacLean said at the Eastern Ward conference at Whakatane.

The meeting in general was very critical of pessimistic statements by industry leaders about problems of disposal of butterfat products, and of the promotion of the dairy beef diversification scheme.

False market pessimism had been built by the dairy industry leaders, including the Chairman, Mr Onion, speaking on behalf 106

of the Dairy Board.

“On his return from this year’s quota talks he was despondent when interviewed about butter prospects, and in August last year he was predicting substantial surpluses,” Mr MacLean said.

“Other industry leaders have spoken of New Zealand being forced to dispose of this year’s surplus butter at any cost, before the drought gave an excuse for an about face.

“The Journal of our industry, the NZ Dairy Exporter” should perhaps now be renamed the “NZ Beef Exporter.”

I TOLD YOU SO

A number of Consulting Officers feel like saying “I told you so” to all those farmers who stopped milking their cows because they thought production was far too low.

Those farmers who kept milking their cows twice per day despite low production found that they recovered remarkably well when grass growth resumed after the drought.

Of course there are some people for whom drying off was a common sense procedure because they would either not have enough grass in the spring or the cows were getting too thin by continued milking.

When this wasn’t the case cows recovered from as low a level of butterfat production as .2 lb butterfat per day up to .3 - .5 lb fat per day and if you put this in monetary terms the value is considerable.

Above: Our cover picture this month shows a tanker driver hosing down his vehicle at the Westland Co-operative Dairy Company’s new spray milk powder drying plant at Hokitika.

HERD TESTING

“With high beef schedules and low cost of replacements there is less point than ever in milking poor stock,” reports Consulting Officer Jim Rotherham from Matamata.

“I anticipate a considerable increase in the number of people testing next year.

Especially in big herds there are a number of things that farmers can do to assist the tester.”

Quick, accurate, positive and easy identification of cows by the farmer prevents lost time and mixed samples.

A farmer should be prepared to milk slower while the tester is in the shed.

A farmer should provide some facilities for the tester. For example, a table or a box in the end of a herringbone pit protected with splash guards.

If possible have extra labour in the shed on test days, especially when individual cows are not known or milking is very fast.

Thanks to the Hocken Library, Dunedin.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

DairyNZ consulting officers

June

Upper North Island – Head: Sharon Morrell 027 492 2907 Northland Regional Leader

Tareen Ellis

027 499 9021

Far North

Amy Weston

027 807 9686

Lower Northland

Hamish Matthews

021 242 5719

Whangarei West

Ryan Baxter

021 809 569

Regional Leader

Wilma Foster

021 246 2147

South Auckland

Mike Bramley

027 486 4344

Hauraki Plains/Coromandel

Jaimee Morgan

021 245 8055

Te Aroha/Waihi

Euan Lock

027 293 4401

Cambridge

Lizzy Moore

021 242 2127

Hamilton

Ashley Smith

027 807 3049

Waikato

Events

Huntly/Tatuanui

Brigitte Ravera

027 288 1244

Matamata/Kereone

Frank Portegys

027 807 9685

Pirongia

Steve Canton

027 475 0918

Otorohanga/King Country

Denise Knop

027 513 7201

Arapuni

Kirsty Dickens

027 483 2205

Regional Leader

Andrew Reid

027 292 3682

Central Plateau

Colin Grainger-Allen

021 225 8345

South Waikato/Rotorua South

Angela Clarke

027 276 2675

Eastern Bay of Plenty

Andrew Reid

027 292 3682

Central Bay of Plenty

Kevin McKinley

027 288 8238

Bay of Plenty

DairyNZ Levy vote 2020

Lower North Island – Head: Rob Brazendale 021 683 139 Taranaki

yoUr Levy, yoUr FUtUre

Thank you to all the dairy farmers who voted in the milksolids levy vote.

For results visit dairynz.co.nz/vote.

Events

Regional Leader

Mark Laurence

027 704 5562

South Taranaki

Mark Laurence

027 704 5562

Central Taranaki

Emma Hawley

021 276 5832

Coastal Taranaki

Caroline Benson

027 210 2137

North Taranaki

Ian Burmeister

027 593 4122

Horowhenua/Coastal and Southern Manawatu

Kate Stewart

027 702 3760

Wairarapa/Tararua

Rob Brazendale

021 683 139

Eketahuna

Andrew Hull

027 298 7260

Hawke's Bay

Gray Beagley

021 286 4346

Northern Manawatu/Wanganui/Woodville

Rob Brazendale

021 683 139

Central Manawatu/Rangitikei

Charlotte Grayling

027 355 3764

Lower North Island

Events Over the last few months DairyNZ has responded to the

South Island – Head: Tony Finch 027 706 6183

Covid-19 restrictions by offering more online events.

Top of South Island/West Coast

For an update on events near you and whether they are online

Nelson/Marlborough

Mark Shadwick

021 287 7057

or face-to-face visit dairynz.co.nz/events.

West Coast

Angela Leslie

021 277 2894

Regional Leader

Ross Bishop

027 563 1785

North Canterbury

Amy Chamberlain

027 243 0943

Central Canterbury

Alice Reilly

027 3798 069

Mid Canterbury

Stuart Moorhouse

027 513 7200

Prep for spring

South Canterbury

Heather Donaldson

027 593 4124

North Otago

Alana Hall

027 290 5988

DairyNZ events will focus on topics to help you prepare for spring

Southland/South Otago

including calving and pasture management tips.

Regional Leader

Ollie Knowles

027 226 4420

Visit dairynz.co.nz/events or contact your local DairyNZ

West Otago/Gore

Keely Sullivan

027 524 5890

South Otago

Guy Michaels

021 302 034

Northern/Central Southland

Nicole E Hammond

021 240 8529

Eastern Southland

Nathan Nelson

021 225 6931

Western Southland

Leo Pekar

027 211 1389

Canterbury/North Otago

consulting officer.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020

Z

0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969) I dairynz.co.nz WITH DAIR

YN

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BACK UP.

GOOD CALL. At FMG, we know that more than 10% of our milk claims are as a result of power loss.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this kind of specialised rural knowledge that allows us to pass on valuable advice to farmers to help manage risks. Like making sure you always have a back-up generator on a dairy farm. At the end of the day, if we can help you avoid loss, it reduces stress, lost production and downtime. So why not get in touch with FMG to see how we can help you make some good calls on your farm. Call us on 0800 366 466, or go to fmg.co.nz

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here for the good of the country.

FMG0915DEFP_B

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2020