Dairy News 12 July 2016

Brexit’s impact on dairy prices ‘modest’. PAGE 3

ENVIRO REPORT

PCE changes focus PAGE 9

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Brexit’s impact on dairy prices ‘modest’. PAGE 3

ENVIRO REPORT

PCE changes focus PAGE 9

JULY 12, 2016 ISSUE 360

WIRELESS MONITORING Bolus-based sensors PAGE 37

// www.dairynews.co.nz

THE HEAT IS ON Farmers have less than two years to upgrade milk cooling systems on farm. PAGE 4

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

NEWS // 3

Brexit spares prices PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

Floating farm coming. PG.08

Jersey NZ creates history. PG.14

THE GLOBAL Dairy Trade (GDT)price index fall of 0.4% last week was “modest” in the face of Brexit’s impact on other markets, rural economists concur.

However uncertainty remains and the 1.4% fall in whole milk powder (WMP) could have other implications, they say.

ASB rural economic Nathan Penny told Dairy News that in the short term they have been largely assured that Brexit impacts will be modest and at a higher level Brexit doesn’t mean too much in dairy markets.

The pulling back of supply in New Zealand, Australia and more recently the EU should be the bigger global factor affecting markets.

“We don’t think Brexit has changed that picture,” Penny says.

However if growth falls because of Brexit and it spills over to China and other dairy importers, that could affect dairy demand and prices in the

Brexit’s impact on commodity prices has been minimal to date.

medium future. He says the 0.4% drop last week was “pretty modest” compared with the currency market moves, sharemarkets dropping by double digits and the pound at 31 year lows against the US dollar after the Brexit vote.

PRICES PRECARIOUSLY PLACED

Mule suited for agriculture. PG.39

NEWS ������������������������������������������������������3-16 OPINION ����������������������������������������������18-19 AGRIBUSINESS ����������������������������� 20-21 MANAGEMENT �������������������������������24-27 ANIMAL HEALTH ��������������������������� 29-31 CALVING ���������������������������������������������32-35 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS ������������������������������������� 36-40

ANOTHER DROP in the GDT whole milk powder index is troubling, say two bank economists.

ANZ rural economist Con Williams says despite the headline dairy auction result holding up (-0.4%), it masked troubling softness elsewhere.

“The main price support was for product to be delivered in August with WMP (+15%), AMF (+11%), AU SMP (+9%) and butter (+6%) all up substantially.

“This kind of near-term price support would suggest demand from a small number of buyers for short-term requirements.

“It was a different story further out on the curve where the likes of WMP prices dropped 4-6% across the other contract periods.

“All up prices remain precariously placed and combined with NZD resilience this means Fonterra’s starting milk price forecast in May of $4.25/kgMS looks optimistic at this stage.

“If recent auction prices were to persist then the milk price would see no improvement on the season just finished.”

Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins says the WMP price index has fallen at the past three events and is now 8% below the May 2016 price.

“Chinese import demand remains soft given solid purchasing earlier in this year,” she says.

“Very simply, growing levels of inventory and weak global demand continue to overhang the market.”

NZ also had a reasonably firm end to the season with May production up 2.5%. But the season as a whole was down and ASB has pencilled in a 5% drop in NZ in the season just started.

“We think the low milk price will bite increasingly hard and that will lead to lower production.”

UK production is dropping the hardest and EU production has started to fall on a seasonally adjusted basis.

“We think it’s a case of European farmers sharing the pain NZ farmers have been feeling,” he says.

ASB is holding its forecast of $6/kgMS but Brexit has delayed temporarily the expected lift in dairy prices. If those types of disruptions continue it may be harder to reach that number, Penny says.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon says in light of the Brexit turmoil the GDT result was as good as we could hope for.

Since the Brexit vote there had been fairly large swings in international markets.

“Typically commodity prices don’t seem to react well to uncertainty. It is not necessarily good or bad outcomes as such, just the wide variety of possible outcomes tending to weigh on commodity prices, whether it is oil, iron ore, wheat, milk and so on. There was a risk we could have seen a deeper dip in dairy prices; we didn’t get that, though beyond that whole milk powder was trickling lower.”

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

4 // NEWS

Heat rising as deadline looms SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

DAIRY FARMERS will need more

time to upgrade milk cooling systems to align them with proposed new regulations.

Low milk prices for the past two seasons are forcing farmers to postpone spending on new milk cooling systems.

The new rules will take effect on August 1 for new farm dairies or dairies making significant changes to their refrigeration system. For existing dairies the new rules will now apply from June 1, 2018.

Cost for each farm will vary depending on herd size; some farms could upgrade their current coolers but a new system would cost $8000 to$25,000.

According to milk cooling technology providers, most farmers seem to be waiting for their incomes to improve.

The Ministry of Primary Industries, which sets the new regulations, says it started discussions with the industry about three years ago and implemented a long transition period.

The regulations will ensure New Zealand maintains its global position as a producer of top quality milk.

Dairy Cooling Solutions, a division of Eurotec, reports those who can afford it are responding positively but most farmers are waiting for income to improve.

Eurotec sales and marketing manager Chris Farmer believes it’s inevitable that an extension will have to be granted.

“The current suppliers of milk cooling equipment including our-

selves could not realistically meet demand before the due date if farmers decided to upgrade today.

“With potentially 4000-5000 farms across the country requiring upgrades to their refrigeration in 18 months, it’s not possible.”

Steve Corkill, Corkill Systems, agrees.

“Most are holding back due to having no money and are waiting to see what other options become available; they are also aware that currently Fonterra has no way to monitor their systems so are doing only the minimum to get the best from what they have.”

He supports an extension.

“Yes, the time could be extended as Fonterra has currently no way to monitor vats and it will take time to have this set up nationally.

“If the farmer is knowingly outside the requirements he probably needs to act (Fonterra can do individual temporary monitoring now); anyone marginal has time to see what else appears in the market and can play with optimising their current systems.”

To help cash-strapped farmers, companies are offering easier payment terms.

Farmers have less than two years to meet new stringent milk cooling regulations.

Taranaki-based James Thomas, Dairychill, believes farmers are taking the issue very seriously.

“We are currently finding that farmers are reacting on the whole very well and responsibly with the current squeeze.

“Our systems and payment terms over the last year have been tailored to help out. They make this easier to put in and also ensure there is a payback for the customer so they save money on kW/h of power used -- important for any business.”

Thomas says some farmers already comply with the regulations. But anytime is a good time to improve cooling and save power, he says.

“It’s a positive thing that farmers are looking at payment terms to help with downturn.”

The new MPI regulations require farmers to hold milk at 6 deg C or cooler until the tanker collects. Present rules allow milk to be cooled to 7 deg C within three hours of milking and until collection. In Australia milk must be cooled to 5 deg C within 3.5 hours of milking; in China to 4 deg C within two hours of milking. In the EU, milk collected daily must be kept at no more than 6 deg C if not collected daily.

CONSULT BEFORE YOU SPEND MPI SAYS various options are available to farmers.

Director, animal and animal products, Mathew Stone, says to ensure farmers find a cost effective solution MPI recommends they consult their dairy company, refrigeration service provider, farm dairy assessor and the EECA website before committing to spending money.

“It is an individual farmer’s responsibility to meet the costs, though in some cases their processor has a joint responsibility,” says Stone.

Better cooling keeps power costs down FARMERS ARE being urged to use milk cooling system upgrades to rein in their farm power costs.

James Thomas, DairyChill, says this presents a huge opportunity to farmers.

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water combined on a farm are usually the main power costs,” he says.

“New Zealand averages show these are around 53% of total farm power cost, so if you could save 50-80% of that in kW used it would make sense and offer the best payback.”

He says Dairychill’s main focus is on saving money onfarm.

“Dairychill’s power savings are based on kW of power used, not basing the costs on using night rates or anything like that, so whatever power system you are using there are savings.”

Chris Farmer, sales and marketing director at Dairy Cooling Solutions’ parent company Eurotec, says additional water heating capacity is available from any refrigeration plant but that should not be the main driver.

“There are always compromises when you try to extract too much heat from refrigeration plant because that affects the whole system.

“In terms of energy consumption, the DCS Ice Builder offers significant

opportunities to reduce energy consumption; ice is produced at night (with potential to get off-peak rates), allowing the use of a smaller refrigeration plant because the ice is being made over a longer period and when milking is in full swing the refrigeration plant doesn’t run.”

Steve Corkill, Corkill Systems, says there appears to be some confusion about what is actually needed to comply.

His product is unrelated to water heating.

“Most farmers I talk to are marginal with their cooling and therefore do not need the whole new systems some are telling them they have to have.

“For those with marginal systems there are cheaper options – from the Chillboost we make costing $200+GST (designed to optimise their existing system), to the next stage which is filling their colostrum vat (not normally used after spring) with water and connecting it to the existing chiller unit to cool this water and circulate it through a secondary cooler.”

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

NEWS // 5

Biodiesel switch to reduce gas emissions SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA TANKERS

are switching to biodiesel in a bid to reduce the coop’s greenhouse gas footprint.

The co-op will initially use the new B5 biodiesel from Z Energy for onethird of its tanker fleet at five depots: Edgecumbe, Reperoa, Te Awamutu,

Morrinsville and Te Rapa.

The shift to biodiesel is part of a move towards greater efficiency and sustainability in all the coop’s operations, and is helping Z to make the cleaner burning biofuel available in NZ. While Z’s biodiesel is slightly more expensive than the regular fuel, Fonterra chief operating officer global operations Robert Spurway says it will

MAYOR HAILS FONTERRA WHAKATANE MAYOR Tony Bonne says Fonterra’s Edgecumbe site is special for the district.

The century-old dairy site employs 380 people and “because jobs are the lifeblood of our community we hail Fonterra for ensuring this factory remains at the leading edge of dairying,” Bonne said at the launch.

From Edgecumbe Fonterra despatches 26 tankers collecting 4.2m L of milk daily from 720 farms at the peak of the season in Whakatane district.

Bonne says the introduction of new biodiesel will have a positive effect on the community.

cut emissions per truck by 4%.

Spurway was joined by Transport Minister Simon Bridges, Whakatane mayor Tony Bonne and Z Energy general manager supply and distribution David Binnie for the B5 launch at the Edgecumbe site.

He told guests Fonterra is proud to be a foundation partner of Z’s B5 biodiesel.

“It’s a significant milestone for Fonterra and for the logistics and transport industry in New Zealand,” Spurway says.

Biodiesel will improve the efficiency of Fonterra’s 500 tankers, which use about 45 million L of diesel annually.

Fonterra in this season has only 80 trucks on the road, collecting 3m L of milk, but during the peak season 500 tankers operate 24/7, picking up 85m L of milk daily.

The tankers collect milk from a farm every eight seconds, deliver it to a plant every 24 seconds

Fonterra’s Rob Spurway fills B5 biodiesel in a tanker at the Edgecumbe site.

and an export container is loaded and closed every 2.5 minutes.

“Those are the sort of statistics and business behind all that diesel use,” he says.

“Our fleet can travel hundreds of thousands

of kilometres every day....

Our [partnering in] Z Energy’s biodiesel project... also means Z can bring this fuel to the pump for NZers.

“Our sustainability strategy [includes] sourcing clean energy alterna-

tives.... Fuel burned for transport contributes up to 20% of NZ’s total greenhouse gas emissions, so given our scale it’s important we play our part.

Z produces biodiesel from tallow (inedible fat from meat products) at its

Wiri plant. The first phase of the plant will produce 20m L of biodiesel; 50% of the volume relies on foundation customers like Fonterra. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

6 // NEWS

Fonterra makes savings from waste INNOVATIVE USE of common dairy technology is helping Fonterra make savings from waste.

The upgrade underway at Fonterra’s Edgecumbe plant will allow it to capture lactose previously unable to be extracted from the waste stream by creatively using existing filtration gear.

The work, costing $8 million, will double the lactose recoverable each day, reducing the co-op’s reliance on imported lactose and saving money.

The director of New Zealand manufacturing, Mark Leslie, says the upgrade will play a vital role.

“Lactose is used mainly in standardising milk powder, and the additional volumes of lactose we’re now able to capture will be essential in supplying the new dryer opening soon in Lichfield.

“We are always looking for ways to get the most out of our milk and this is a good example -- a creative way to use existing technology that will bring great results.”

Removing even more solids from the site’s waste water will further reduce Fonterra Edgecumbe’s environmental effects, part of the co-op’s work in creating a more sustainable dairy industry, Leslie says.

“As with any project, reducing our emissions and environmental impact is a first consideration.

“This project and several others planned for the Edgecumbe site show our commitment.”

City-friendly dairy shed earns award

Upgrade at Edgecumbe site.

MANAWATU DAIRY farmer and Federated Farmers provincial president James Stewart has been recognised by the Feds for his efforts in primary sector education.

Stewart is seen here with the mayors of Palmerston North, Grant Smith, and Manawatu District Council, Margaret Kouvelis, at the opening of his new dairy shed last December.

Stewart was given the ‘farm message award’ for his interaction with the local community and encouraging urban people to see his farm inside the Palmerston North city boundary.

The modern, high-tech shed has a viewing room from which 30 people can watch milking.

The room cost a bit extra but in the big scheme of things it was not huge, Stewart says. The citation for the award noted his “leading from the front and respect among the local community”.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

8 // NEWS An artist’s impression of the floating farm.

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A FLOATING dairy farm? Yes, you’ve heard correct. Developers in Rotterdam, Holland, are planning to build a floating dairy farm.

The $4 million project, by the company Beladon, will have 40 cows on a 1200 sq.m floating platform, producing 1000L of milk a day to be pasteurised and made into yogurt in a dairy on the floor below.

The building will be concrete, relatively light and buoyant, with galvanised steel frames and a membrane floor that lets bovine urine soak through. A machine will collect dry dung, another will top up food stations.

The cows will wander in and out of stalls and the milking section, and may potter over a ramp to real-life pasture on the land.

Also on the ground floor, water from the cows’ urine will be purified

and used to grow red clover, alfalfa and grass under artificial light. Some dung will be despatched to a nearby farm.

Beladon muses on its website about world population growth and the resulting rise in demand for food.

“The big question is how and where shall we produce this food and how healthy will the food be?

“One billion people suffer from [malnutrition]. Food production for a growing world population is an immense challenge. The area of arable land is decreasing while cities are grow with the demand for housing. Citizens are further and further away from farmland.”

The floating farm will produce and handle fresh milk very close to the consumers in the city, it says.

“We reduce the transport and logistics and save the environment

from greenhouse gases.

“Besides our daily dairy production we emphasise education on healthy food for children and other visitors... on guided tours.

“Floating farm offers a transparent... view of the entire process of milk handling, animal welfare and robotics.”

The website says the floating farm will open in January 2017.

One question Beladon faces is do cows get seasick?

“They won’t here,” says spokesman Minke van Wingerden. “In Friesland, where I come from, sometimes they bring cows from one place to another on a barge. [The floating farm] will be very stable. When you are on a cruise ship, you aren’t seasick.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Young farmers join DairyNZ board TWO FARMERS will be joining the DairyNZ board this year as associate directors.

Jessie Chan-Dorman, Canterbury and Stu Muir, South Auckland, will join the DairyNZ board for successive six month terms; Chan-Dorman began last month, Muir from January 2017.

DairyNZ chair Michael Spaans says they bring great industry experience to the roles, and will gain further experience as future leaders, seeing first-hand how a board works and what goes into making key decisions.

“It’s an opportunity for them to see governance in action and we directors will learn from them as they inject a fresh approach and new thinking. Jessie and Stu have strengths we will value having at the table this year.”

Chan-Dorman and her husband Hayden are dairy business owners

leasing 420ha and milking 950 cows at Dorie, Canterbury. She has an honours degree in animal science and has worked in various rural professional positions for 15 years.

She hopes to grow her governance skills and contribute some diverse thinking. “This is a tough time for the industry that requires farming businesses and [DairyNZ] to be clear about our purpose.”

Chan-Dorman holds governance roles in Federated Farmers national dairy executive and is a director of Ashburton Trading Society.

Muir owns a farm with his wife Kim Jobson, milking 500 cows on 140ha at Waiuku. He is an industry leader involved in environmental initiatives, including project managing large scale wetland restoration on the Waikato River, the subject of local and national recognition.

He hopes serving on DairyNZ’s

board will expand his knowledge and expertise in governance. He expects also to add “a unique perspective based on experience, the ability to think laterally and challenge the status quo, while accepting the viewpoints and experiences of others”.

“My particular interests are in the environment, health and safety and finance. I’m extremely grateful to have this opportunity.”

Muir also has governance roles with the Lower Waikato River Catchment group and a Waikato Regional Council sub-committee, and was a Fonterra Shareholders Council member.

Five other farmers have been associate directors of DairyNZ since the initiative was introduced in 2013. These are non-voting roles for dairy farmers wanting to move beyond their farm and into industry leadership.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

NEWS // 9

Kiwis have no idea what’s going on

Is dairying off the radar?

PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

DO KIWIS know what’s happening

in dairying? asks an industry leader.

As a dairy farmer I am fed up with negative focus on dairying, says Federated Farmers Dairy chair Andrew Hoggard, reacting to Kiwis’ complaints about the sector spoiling the environment.

The recent report by the parliamentary commissioner for the environment again harps about dairying being the main contributor to poor water quality.

But Hoggard says in the catchments with problems there is a lot more than dairy farming going on.

“Dairy farmers have done a lot of good stuff and we are trying to do more. While dairy is part of the problem, we will keep on working on alleviating that. At times it’s made out to be the only part of the problem and it is bloody annoying to me as a dairy farmer to hear that.”

Urban and industrial areas also need to feel some ‘heat’, Hoggard says.

It bothers him how little some people know about the farming sector, for example, he gets emails asking why he supports that “foreign company” Fonterra.

“I would hate to see what the survey results would show if you were to ask Joe Public in Wellington or Auckland who owns Fonterra.

I still hear people saying Fonterra is stealing all the profits and ripping off farmers.”

He hears stories about people who

Andrew Hoggard

TAKING THE MIDDLE GROUND ANDREW HOGGARD says he heard two versions of what lies ahead for the dairy sector in the next two years – one gloomy and one optimistic.

He says he takes the middle ground, believing that farmers are looking at perhaps a couple more tough years and some improvement in prices. But it won’t be peaches.

“People are going to have to keep an eye on their budgets to protect their cash and the key

think Fonterra sells its milk powder cheaply overseas; they don’t understand that some of this is high value ingredients. Fonterra could be doing more, he says, but on balance they do a great job.

Some people’s perceptions of the dairy industry border on bizarre.

“I remember a survey of water quality on the Manawatu River and one answer amazed me. Someone

thing is to learn some lessons about debt levels and what we pay for land.

“We talked about all this in 2008 and, yes, everyone has been supportive in these tight times.

“But this will happen again so we need to remember what happened this time and take lessons from it.”

Hoggard says the risk is that when times get good, people will revert to their old habits.

thought all the farmers were taking all their cows to the Manawatu river to wash them, hence the pollution. Do they think I have nothing better to do in my day than to wander my entire herd down to the Manawatu River for a scrub and soak?” he asks.

And some comments by government and local government officials also make him scratch his head in disbelief.

CLIMATE CHANGE, pests and erosion -- rather than dairy --have been singled out by the parliamentary commissioner for the environment as the big issues facing the land in NZ. But Dr Jan Wright also notes that water quality caused by dairying is also an issue in some areas.

In her latest report on the environment, Wright says a century of clearing bush on unstable hill country has left a legacy of erosion with an enormous amount if topsoil being washed into waterways.

She says vast areas of the North Island east coast are particularly bad and while trees Jan Wright have been planted to stabilise soils in some areas, this has had little overall effect at a national level. The problem is likely to get worse, says Wright, with climate change projected to bring more heavy downpours that will exacerbate the problem.

Wright has much to say on fresh water, pointing out that lakes in particular are vulnerable to the impacts of sediment as well as nitrogen and phosphorous.

Especially worrying her is the accumulation of sediment in estuaries, and she has a view on the effects of farming on rivers.

“Rivers that are pristine inland become increasingly degraded as they flow down developed catchments. The

conversion of sheep country and forests to dairy land has greatly increased the amount of nitrogen in freshwater, where together with phosphorus, it fertilises unwanted plant growth.

Throughout the country, wetlands – the ‘kidneys’ of catchments – have been cleared and now occupy only a small fraction of their former extent.

“Changes on farms such as spraying effluent onto land, fencing and bridging streams are helping reduce pathogens, sediment and phosphorus pollution. But it is much harder to stop nitrogen getting into water, and impossible to stop the ‘load to come’ – the nitrate in groundwater that has accumulated over decades and is slowly making its way to lakes such as Taupo.”

Wright notes that the debate about water quality has become less polarised over the years and there is now an increasing focus on finding solutions.

But she says the proof of this will be in the pudding.

Climate change is regarded by Wright as the number-one issue and given the past year with its unusual seasonal variations few farmers could disagree with her.

Much of the report is devoted to a critique of a report on the environment last year by the Department of Statistics and the Ministry for the Environment.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

10 // NEWS

Forecasting in Oz must be clearer STEVE SPENCER

past few months have shown up a gaping hole in the information reaching Australian dairy farmers.

While all the focus was on the major correction in 2015-16 milk prices and the remedies by the two largest milk processors to address the impact of ‘overpayment’ on their businesses, any signals about expected future prices got lost. Projected 2016-17 milk prices seemed to come out largely as a shock in the past two weeks.

Frankly, for an industry with considerable worldliness and sophistication, that isn’t good enough.

Perhaps the problem – the shock – is a combination of signals not being given clearly and not being read for what they are.

Farmers make the longest and largest capital investments in the dairy value chain and deserve much better certainty than the information currently provided.

The usual defence for the lack of forecasting of milk prices is that there is not enough information out there or insufficient certainty to provide a credible view. That once might have been a valid defence, but the world is now more transparent.

Information from competitor and importing

regions is more readily accessible, and there are rsk management tools that provide commodity price signals.

The other major impediment now in play is the impact of ‘forwardlooking statements’ on unit holder expectations.

If Murray Goulburn were to make a next-sea-

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son price forecast, for example, that would amount to a dividend forecast and hence a price-sensitive item of information to investors in the MG unit trust.

The new structure has engendered more caution about giving milk suppliers a meaningful future price signal, and recent events will no doubt make the company even more cautious.

Without a price number or range from the largest buyer out in the air, others could be reluctant to either commit to a signal, let alone any firm guidance.

Distilling all the market information and chatter out there into a meaningful number for a farmer is not easy.

Domestic market notwithstanding, global dairy trade affects milk values

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in Australia due to our trade exposure, and the world market is increasingly complex with many moving parts.

Our business took on that challenge a couple of years ago and bought a platform to provide our customers here and overseas with a rolling twoyear outlook for the global market.

We have turned that outlook into a forecast commodity milk value – the expected farmgate value of the returns from a relevant mix of major commodity products, based on export prices, manufacturing costs and company margins.

A commodity milk value isn’t the same as a farmgate milk price as Australian returns are typically higher than commodity values.

The wholesale prices achieved by dairy companies in the domestic market are more stable and smoother than prices achieved from exports.

In addition, Australian exports generally achieve a higher average price than product sold as bulk commodities as there is more tailored specification sought by customers.

In the last couple of years, the difference between southern Australian milk prices and the commodity value of milk has been worth close to 80c/kgMS. The chart (above left) shows the history of that difference.

Interestingly it was higher in the past, suggesting that rather than adding value above commodities, net costs have been added.

We have used this global and local analysis to develop an estimate of 2016-17 full-season milk prices in a range of $4.80 to $5.20/kgMS for southern manufacturers, which we released in mid-May. Companies have

mostly announced fullyear estimates in that range – although differences in product mix, market mix and performance can vary the actual payments.

Where is the commodity milk value going?

In 2016-17 season, within the above number, we expect a value of just $4.10/kgMS. Right now, our workings suggest the latest spot prices would convert to a commodity milk value (CMV in the chart above) (NB: Fresh Agenda 2.jpg) of just $3.74/kgMS. The market is in recovery and has a way to go before averaging $4.10/ kgMS for the year.

In the following year, our projected commodity values for exports are currently much higher as the market is expected to recover.

Our 2017-18 season outlook currently sees a commodity milk value of about $5.20-5.60/kgMS; that should yield a farmgate price of $5.80-$6.30/ kgMS. The opportunity exists for the industry to systemise this process and its information, package it properly, track it for changes in global variables and make it available to dairy farmers so that decisions can be informed by well-founded future expectations. Forecasts have had a bad name lately.

Ours is built on an add-up of the world and a constant reading of the forward indicators of supply and demand. Take it for what it is -- better than nothing.

Here are some other thoughts on chatter out there at present.

• Steve Spencer is a director of Freshagenda, a Melbourne food industry consultancy. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

NEWS // 13

Clock ticking for some farmers PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

SOME DAIRY farm-

ers continue to ignore their financial problems, instead sticking their heads in the sand, says Westpac’s agribusiness chief, Mark Steed.

He told Dairy News the bank is having to work very closely with such people.

Unless the payout rises to $4.50-$5.50 in the next 18 months, heavily indebted farmers will be in trouble, he warns.

Brexit could be the catalyst for a new round of global instability as was seen with the Asian and global financial crises. And though the US presidential election race may be an American domestic issue it could have international consequences that excite further market volatility.

In times of downturn farmers need reserves to cope with bad times, Steed says.

“In the pre-dairy downturn a lot of our customers had 60/40 debt to equity; now they could

more likely be 70/30. In others words the capitalisation of losses... is eroding their equity in their farms. In some cases their debt equity could be as high at 75/25.”

Other factors could also come into play, say, a drop in land prices and a fall in the NZ dollar. Historically when the kiwi tumbles it ‘falls off the cliff’, Steed says. Interest rates, now buffered by the low official cash rate (OCR), also present a risk.

Another cut in the OCR is forecast for August, which will set the base rate at just 2%.

Steed says to support the dairy industry all banks must hold capital reserves to cope with the risk. While some of this capital can be obtained locally, about 40% has to be borrowed offshore; the cost of this has gone up and could signal increases in interest rates.

Sharemilkers are at great risk in all this.

“They have moved from having stock worth $1800 per head to $1200$1400 per head. These guys didn’t have strong

HIGHER DEBT, BIGGER RISK DAIRY FARMERS who are deep in debt and have high-production systems are clearly the most at risk, says Westpac’s Mark Steed.

But there are encouraging signs that many are adjusting their business models to the changing times. In many ways the present downturn is a stimulus for change, Steed says.

Westpac predicts a payout of $4.50-$4.60 for this season and good farmers are looking at new scenarios to cope with this.

“It’s not one-size-fits-all. Some guys are concerned and we’re trying to support them on the way through if they are showing a degree of capability in their business modelling. If they are good managers we will support them and continue to do that.”

balance sheets in the first place and now many have seen their equity eroded to virtually nil.

“These are the guys I fear will be exiting the industry and yet they are

important for the future.

We very much want to support them and there are a couple of strategies we are adopting to do this.

But gosh it is tough at the moment.”

Mark Steed, Westpac.

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14 // NEWS

Jersey NZ’s first woman president knows her maths JERSEY BREEDERS

have appointed Alison Gibb the first woman president of Jersey New Zealand in its 114-year history.

Gibb and her husband Russell run Zenith Jerseys at Taupiri, Waikato. She says she is ready for the challenge.

“In some respects I’ve been there before. In the early 1980s I was the only full time woman maths teacher in a department of 10 plus.”

Gibb finished 25 years as a maths teacher at Fraser High School in Hamilton in 2008.

Her appointment is a “sign of the times,” she says. “Farming is mainly

family businesses where husband and wife are in partnership and the women play a huge role in decisionmaking. Male or female we have a job to do; gender shouldn’t enter into it.”

As president Gibb will help promote the efficiency of NZ Jersey cattle to the dairy industry.

Gibb, one of two appointed directors on the six-person Jersey NZ board, has 24 years experience in governance – on a school board, as a trustee then acting-chief executive of Arts Waikato and as a Dairy Women’s Network trustee and north Waikato convenor.

“As a trustee of DWN

I have rubbed shoulders with many successful women and the key message always is that women need to back themselves more, to ‘lean in’ and contribute to decisionmaking.

“Women offer a different dynamic at a board table; not that we are better, but we think differently and add diversity of thought in decisionmaking.”

Gibb says Jersey NZ, after a tough time, needs a sustainable business model and strong governance.

“Our members believe in the advantages of the Jersey cow, and we need to promote that message to the wider dairy industry….

Alison Gibb is Jersey NZ’s first woman president.

There is growing demand for Jersey genetics worldwide – sustainability and efficiency being the key driver” Gibb lists the Jersey cow’s advantages as higher fertility, ease of calving and a lighter frame causing less pugging of pasture.

Jersey milk contains more nutrition per litre than any other dairy breed, she says. “The higher fat component of the milk was seen as a disadvantage when public perception was that fat was bad for you but now the public knows fat provides flavour and is a naturally healthy choice.

“The Jersey cow’s

JERSEYS GALORE big efficiency is the milk produced per kilogram of feed and live weight; many Jerseys produce more than their own live weight in milksolids.”

Gibb will lead the board to develop Jersey NZ’s business model for growth and sustainability.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

WORLD // 15

Turn riparian planting dreams into plans NIGEL MALTHUS

AN INTERACTIVE web tool to help dairy farmers plan and implement plantings along their waterways is getting good uptake, says Dairy NZ. Senior developer for sustainability and land management Matt Highway says the Riparian Planner tool, online for just over two months, now has about 4000 registered log-on users, and about 80 rural consultants and planners are trained to use it.

Highway presented the tool to a popular workshop at the recent SIDE (South Island Dairy Event) in Invercargill.

He says the tool enables farmers to examine their waterways on an interactive map, plan suitable plantings and cost the work over the time they expect it to take. The tool can export documen-

tation, for contractors or authorities, if planting plans may be needed under consent conditions.

“If you’re a dairy farmer, you put in your supplier number and it’ll zoom you to your farm anywhere in the country and allow you to map your waterways and wetlands.

And then it asks you what that waterway is like.”

The tool will prompt for information on, for example, whether erosion is a problem, and possibly promote that to the top of the priority list. This will allow farmers to plan what they will do and how long it would likely take. Plans might range from merely fencing off grass strips to full planting projects.

Highway says the tool was developed with local experts so that where it suggested possible plant species they would suit the local conditions and be approved by regional authorities.

With 96% of dairy waterways now fenced under the water accord, Highway says the tool will be “the next step” in managing waterways. “This is part of our commitment to New Zealanders towards managing our water qual-

ity as well as we can.”

More information on riparian plantings is available in regional riparian planting guides, of which 4000 have now been ordered or downloaded directly from the DairyNZ website.

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ciency and innovation during factory winter maintenance is saving money.

Director of NZ manufacturing Mark Leslie says the winter shutdown is a key time of preparation for the season ahead.

“Each year we process 18 billion L of milk, mostly in spring. The work we’re doing now readies us for that peak period.”

More effectiveness and efficiency at maintaining sites is their focus, Leslie says. “We’ve always been efficient in our maintenance projects, so the challenge this year was to… do things better, faster and smarter.”

Hundreds of factory staff are working on about 500 projects nationwide, ranging from major capital works to minor overhauls.

Winter shutdown manager at Te Rapa, Blair Bond, refers to an “owner’s mindset” among the manufacturing staff.

“We treat the assets as if we were their owners – putting ourselves in our farmers’ shoes and thinking about how we can do things more effectively and [save money].”

Some work will lead to change in the way the plant processes milk during the milking season. Bond gives the example of the D4 evaporator: the staff suggested splitting the process into stages, which will allow the evaporator to run 6% longer – more milk processed each day.

“It’s year-round for us. Year-long we talk to other sites about what worked for them and leverage our collective strength.”

Te Rapa now has a year-round asset care approach to maintaining and servicing plant.

More farmers are now using an online riparian planner tool to protect waterways.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

16 // WORLD Staff at Fundo El Risquillo, a large farm in Chile are eagerly awaiting the installation of 64 DeLaval VMS milking robots, making it the world’s largest robotic milking farm.

Largest robotic farm takeing shape A 6500-HEAD dairy farm in Chile will become the world’s largest robotic dairy after signing an agreement to install 64 DeLaval VMS milking robots.

The farm, owned by AgrÌcola Ancali and part of the Bethia Group, already has 16 DeLaval VMS installed and averages 45.2 litres for the 920 cows going through the robotic milking system.

Ancali AgrÌcola chief executive, Pedro Heller, says the expansion follows good results from first stage of the robotic dairy.

“We started using robots for 500 cows, and when we saw the economic benefits and we realised that it was possible to improve production per cow by 10% and reduce the stress of the cow so we decided to further explore,” he says.

“During the second stage we decided to modify the farm, changing our conventional milking system for an automatic milking system.

“The plan is to have our best 4500

cows milked by DeLaval VMS and we believe we have a perfect set up should we decide to grow more in the future.”

The farm also includes a ventilation system, cow cooling, rubber flooring, swinging cow brushes, water troughs and illumination.

When the new installation is complete, 4500 cows will be milked robotically while one rotary will remain for fresh and special needs cows. There are currently four rotaries in operation today.

The first DeLaval VMS installation took place with eight milking robots in October 2014. By early 2017, 64 DeLaval VMSs will be installed making the farm the largest robotic milking farm in the world.

The El Fundo Risquillo farm is located 500km south of Santiago and is part of a larger operation including a beef farming operation and a stud farm.

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Struggling Oz farmers want clearer price signals from co-ops AUSTRALIAN FARMERS are bracing for

another season of losses.

Farmgate milk prices for the 2016-17 season announced by processors over the last few weeks are below the cost of production.

Fonterra has opened at A$4.75/kgMS, MG A$4.31/kgMS, Burra Foods A$4.50/kgMS, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter A$4.80/kgMS and Bega A$5/kgMS. Australian farmers say the cost of producing 1kgMS is A$5.00-A$5.50.

Fonterra chief operating officer of velocity and innovation, Judith Swales, says the opening price is responsible and reflects market conditions.

FONTERRA APPOINTMENT

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“Our forecast is based on the Australian dollar holding at around 74 cents to the US dollar and reflects the revenue we expect to earn.

“Our farmgate milk price in Australia is also impacted by global dairy markets given our mix of domestic and export sales.

CHINESE RAISE STAKE CHINESE STATE-OWNED food enterprise China Resources Ng Fung has lifted its stake in embattled dairy group Murray Goulburn for the second time in a month, boosting its interest to 6% in recent weeks.

Last month the Chinese company revealed it had taken a 5.1% stake in the co-op’s listed entity, after emerging as a foundation shareholder in the float of the dairy group’s listed trust last year alongside Peter Cooper’s Cooper Investors and Chinese billionaire Richard Liu’s e-commerce company, JD.com.

The company is the largest food distributor in Hong Kong. It has interests in food distribution; food production, processing and trading; food retail and supermarket; sea fishing; and abattoir operations.

In China, Murray Goulburn rival Lion Group’s Dairy Farmers UHT products are sold through the China Resources Ng Fung group.

FONTERRA HAS appointed René Dedoncker as its Australia managing director.

The appointment follows the recent promotion of Judith Swales, previously Fonterra Oceania managing director, to Fonterra chief operating officer velocity and innovation.

Dedoncker started with Fonterra in 2005 in the Australian foodservice business. He has 20 years experience and held domestic and global roles at Fonterra and Mars Corporation. Most recently, Dedoncker has been Fonterra acting managing director global brands and nutrition.

Swales says the appointment of Dedoncker was the right choice for the Australian business.

“Despite the imbalance between global milk supply and demand, there are signs in key milk producing areas of a slowdown in production and increased imports into China, Asia and Latin America.

“This supports our view of a recovery in global prices through the season.”

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria wants ‘decipherable’ pricing to encourage farmers’ resilience and confidence.

President Adam Jenkins says dairy processors convey opening milk prices to farmers in the mail, but these are far too complicated for anyone to decipher.

“We’ve been calling for transparency in the weighted average milk price system for three

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years, because much of the industry gets substantially less than the weighted average price.”

UDV wants dairy processors to provide all dairy farmers with income estimates then visit each.

“We still have people who have not been contacted since the price drop some weeks ago,” Jenkins says.

Farmers are also calling for the removal of clawback provisions in their milk supply contracts.

This allows processors to retrospectively cut milk prices for farmers.

It was this mechanism that allowed Murray Goulburn and Fonterra to recoup money already paid to its suppliers, when they announced retrospective price cuts last month.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

18 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Keep calm and carry on

MILKING IT...

Pub talk about Brexit

HIGH LEVELS of chatter persist about Brexit, amongst it this explanation by a Scottish saleswoman in a Wellington shop.

“Imagine England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland walk into a pub. Suddenly England says it doesn’t like the pub so we all have to leave.”

How true!

Unlucky cow

A CHINESE woman’s lucky charm cost her a $400 fine when she tried to bring it into New Zealand recently.

An MPI sniffer dog detected a tooth in her handbag which she claimed was a dog’s tooth that brought her good luck. Unluckily for her, MPI quickly realised the tooth was from a cow and pointed out it could contain foot and mouth disease or rabies and seriously harm NZ’s primary sector.

The fine was for failing to declare the tooth.

Well done MPI and dog for cracking down on people who threaten our primary sector and our fragile ecosystems.

The tooth was one of MPI’s “more unusual” biosecurity interceptions at Queenstown Airport this year.

Golden pee

SCIENTISTS CLAIM to have struck gold in every sample of urine taken from a herd of cows.

Seven years of research at Junagadh Agricultural University (JAU) in India are said to have brought forth the startling discovery. The researchers took 500 samples from calves, pregnant cows and male animals and found traces of gold in all of them.

Analysis of the urine samples by the Food Testing Laboratory of JAU showed 10-30mg of gold per litre of urine. The gold can be extracted and solidified using chemical processes.

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Werther’s in a bottle

WHEN LEWIS Road Creamery announces a new flavoured milk our mouths start to water.

This time the popular producers have teamed up with ex-MasterChef NZ contestant and social media star Chelsea Winter to create a caramel and butterscotch blend said to taste like a “Werther’s Original in a bottle”.

Lewis Road founder Peter Cullinane says the double caramel milk is “authentic and nostalgic,” inspired by a recipe Winter whipped up using the dairy’s sea salt crystal butter. “The caramel has a hint of burnt sugar, sweet notes of silky butterscotch and old-fashioned toffee flavours.

Yippee! Get to your supermarket.

EVERY IMAGINABLE commentator has come out of the woodwork to offer their two cents worth on Brexit – Britain’s exit from the EU. Some farmers will recall the hype when Britain entered the EEC (forerunner of the EU) in 1973. Then, New Zealand was cut loose from Mother England’s apron strings. Until then Britain had bought most of our primary produce. But come 1973 the Common Market was Britain’s market and NZ was forced to cajole for trade access to the UK and the EEC. Ironically, Brexit has NZ in a similar place, just not as dire as in the 1970s because successive governments and officials have built great relationships in the now vastly expanded EU. Last week’s Global Dairy Trade price index was modest.

Since the Brexit vote there had been fairly large swings in international markets and we know commodity prices don’t seem to react well to uncertainty.

But analysts say Brexit impacts seems to be modest and at a higher level Brexit doesn’t mean too much in dairy markets.

The pulling back of supply here, in Australia and more recently the EU should be the bigger global factor affecting markets.

However if growth falls because of Brexit and it spills over to China and other dairy importers, that could have impacts on dairy demand and prices in the medium future.

On trade access, NZ faces problems – especially access for some primary products – but Trade Minister Todd McClay reassures us there is plenty of time to negotiate new trading arrangements, including the possibility of a free trade agreement with the EU. Time is indeed on our side: during Britain’s 40-odd years in the EU its law and rules have become so intertwined that the unravelling will resemble the time, effort and patience needed to sort the ball of wool the cat has muddled.

Yes, they have separated, but neither the UK nor the EU wants a divorce so messy as to trigger economic instability.

Whatever the personal feelings about the split, economic reality will triumph.

All eyes are on the Conservative Party leadership battle underway; Theresa May may not have supported Brexit but she may end up guiding her country out.

Brexit is a shock and a challenge to NZ; wild and uninformed speculation would be untimely and unwise. McClay’s team has a mandate and needs the time to go bravely into this new world.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

OPINION // 19

Is the sun rising on a new day?

Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard spoke at the annual conference in Wellington last month. Here are excerpts from the speech.

ANOTHER SEASON

has gone by and whilst positive noises are sounding about potential market improvements, the prices we all face are still below the breakeven point for many of us. The expectation is that the financial implications of this downturn will see us in pain for a few years to come.

Much of the commentary in the past few days has been on the Brexit and the fallout from it. One might ask, what does this mean for New Zealand dairy? It is all up in the air at the moment, given that our exports to the UK are minimal. Whilst we have quota, the tariff rates make our product uncompetitive against cheaper imports from Ireland and the Netherlands.

If we were able to quickly organise trading terms with the UK on the same level as the EU, then we would have good opportunity. Under WTO rules existing agreed access can’t be downgraded. However, on the downside we have now lost an ally from the EU table, one that could have negotiated a free trade deal with the EU. With all the global uncertainty this may have a negative impact on global demand.

The economic fallout is interesting because it shows the impact caused by trade barriers. All this panic is being caused by the UK’s intention to leave the free trade area of the EU; it is not because they are leaving behind the red tape, bureaucracy, regulations, various common policies, and the fact need to have one’s passport stamped when travellling between the UK and the rest of Europe. Let’s face it, if there had been more effort globally at the WTO, and a better setting globally for trade, would this be such a big deal? One hope I have is that this will result in more focus on the WTO, which can only be good for us.

The sharemilking system unique to New Zealand has served our

industry well, allowing progression and giving our industry access to innovative and fresh thinking. While many other dairy industries worldwide have complained that they struggle to attract the younger generation, here sharemilking has provided the means for progression and succession in our industry.

The current climate has seen a number of sharemilkers leave. It is not because they are poor farmers; many will be very good farmers, but timing has not been in their favour. Whilst there is the adage that one person’s loss is another person’s opportunity, we need to recognise we don’t want a situation where we lose too many of the next generation.

We need to ensure our sharemilking system is robust enough to handle the volatility we are experiencing right now. There needs to be flexibility to ensure that during the poor times the hardship is evenly balanced, and during good times the gain is also balanced appropriately.

We have had a lot of talk about system change on our farms. Much of that talk is about going back to all grass. But is the message DairyNZ is giving out the same as the farmers are hearing? Is something ‘lost in translation’; does maximising your pasture usage mean ‘all grass’?

We may also need to consider debt levels on NZ dairy farms. Compared to other countries we carry very high debt. There are several causes: in many cases farmers in other countries haven’t been able to expand because of regulations, thus they haven’t needed to borrow; or they have experienced volatility from other quarters, such as weather in Australia, which means they have a fixation about managing that and so carry less debt.

Is this current downturn just a blip, or are we entering a new period?

Things might look slightly different than the last decade Will this mean we need to re-evaluate what

a smart level of debt is?

These are the questions farmers should be asking themselves.

Milk prices remain below the breakeven point for many.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

20 // OPINION

LIC best to stick to its knitting But LIC proposes that Minda and herd testing be placed in an agritech company – separated from narrowly defined ‘herd improvement’.

This creates a problem: a narrow definition of herd improvement that sits it on a one-legged stool when, in fact, both herd testing and Minda are needed as the two other legs of a three-legged stool, i.e. a rational herd improvement activity containing all its three essential components.

All three – herd testing, Minda and artificial breeding – must be retained in one organisation. There is a fourth vital and inseparable component, GeneMark, which identifies animals and so is deeply integrated with Minda. LIC has invested a lot in genomic selection

DAVID WALLACE

DAIRY FARMERS at a well-attended LIC meeting at Morrinsville heard chairman Murray King propose splitting the co-op into two parts – a herd improvement co-op and an agri-technology company.

Farmers thinking of herd improvement see herd testing, Minda recording and artificial breeding as three inseparable elements of the whole. The herd testing data informs the farmer and enables LIC to fulfil its sire proving work.

Minda links herd testing and genetic improvement; it is at the heart of herd improvement, an integrated activity whose different components should not to be separated.

(the selection of young bulls using DNA analysis) and the co-op is close to fulfilling its promise of reliably identifying top BW bulls at a young age.

Genomic selection makes herd improvement moreor-less complete.

The farmers meeting at Morrinsville showed little appetite for LIC investing in technologies other than these components of herd improvement. Farmers believe LIC should have limited involvement – if any – in developing new technologies that are not part of the core components of herd improvement. Milking machine companies and others will develop these technologies and are best suited to doing so.

LIC chair Murray King, when asked “What problem is the board trying to

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LIC’s proposal to place Minda in an agritech company is being questioned by farmers.

solve with this proposal?”, replied, “The tension that exists between the interests of investment shares and the interests of coop shares. Owners of investment shares want dividends, and owners of co-op shares want surpluses ploughed back into herd improvement,” King said.

But the meeting saw that the problem the LIC board wants to solve goes deeper than just this tension between the two types of share. The investment shares have proven to be “an illiquid market created by thin trading,” King said, and this is not helpful to an LIC board that “needs capital for growing information, automation and sensing businesses”. The farmers are selling their investment shares and that is “going the wrong way” for an LIC board hungry for capital to fund growth, King said.

Five factors appear to be behind the LIC board’s proposal: The goal set a few years ago to grow the co-op into a $1 billion/year business The goal to invest in technologies other than the four components of herd improvement Investment shares held by farmers provide an illiquid market and a shallow source of capital, insufficient to fund the targeted revenue expansion offshore and investment in technologies not related to herd improvement Factor 3) compels the board to seek outside capital to achieve goals 1) and 2) Cash reserves have run out.

Outside capital can only be raised by placing valuable components of

herd improvement, especially Minda, into the proposed agri-tech company which then becomes the vehicle for raising capital by selling shares to outside investors. But doing this would start LIC on the track of ‘corporatisation’ with outside shareholders, causing more tension than ever. Farmers would be justified in asking, would this serve us well?

To answer that question, farmers must first ask and answer three other questions: Do we want LIC to become a $1b revenue company?

Answer: LIC must maintain its drive for added value behind the farmgate rather than prioritising the growth of its own revenue.

For years LIC has added hugely to the annual revenues of its farmer members by means of rising genetic value, and therefore productivity, of our dairy cows. The case for LIC continuing this is immense. Any large concentration by LIC on growing its own revenue stream would risk the co-op losing sight of continuing its achievements for its farmer members.

The board’s agritech company proposal requires new capital to fund risky investments in new technologies and to fund the difficult business of going overseas to compete with large breeding companies. Overseas herds are mostly found in feedlots and milked yearround and that calls for different genetics from those required for our grass-fed, seasonal cows.

Farmers believe LIC should stick to what it does best: pursuing the endless possibilities for

innovation, such as breeding cows of higher and higher breeding worth, breeding cows ever more suited to OAD milking and developing DNA analyses to make genomic selection of young bulls more accurate.

The goal to increase LIC annual revenues fourfold to $1b takes the co-op down the wrong path. If the board openly recognises there is no farmer mandate for this goal it will reconnect with farmers and regain their confidence.

What is the essential core business farmers want LIC to focus on?

Answer: herd improvement, i.e. herd testing, Minda, artificial breeding and genomic selection.

Farmers last year told the LIC board at roadshow meetings that the co-op should ‘stick to its knitting’. The farmers have not changed their minds.

Many ask, pondering this latest proposal, how did this suggestion for restructuring ever see daylight, does LIC have a strong board and what is the state of LIC staff morale?

Have we been better off with investor shares?

Answer: a corporatetype company structure is ideal for most businesses, but complete herd improvement is different.

It cries out for a cooperative company structure to pull together thousands of farmers who effectively throw all their intellectual property (cows) into a large common pool to be shared by all co-op members. The co-op then chooses the best animals from this pool to breed even better animals for the benefit of all. Selection of the best animals from such a large population is

extremely intensive, and therefore powerful. All the farm businesses rise higher and faster because of this shared, integrated interest.

The LIC board says the investor shares, available for ownership only by members of the co-op, have created a confusing ambiguity in the capital structure of LIC. Over the years LIC has been very successful: until 2014 it made a surplus averaging at least $20m/ year, enabling it to invest strongly in R&D. At that time its cash reserves of $20m gave it a strong bulwark against an industry downturn.

LIC has provided large annual genetic gains to farmers’ herds that are both permanent and cumulative. Over 10 years the net value captured by farmers from this annual genetic improvement has been estimated at about $3b in increased revenues.

A board buy-back over time of investment shares, as suggested at the Morrinsville meeting, would – as a means of addressing the tension between coop shares and investment shares– be feasible if LIC could again achieve a $20m annual surplus.

In the meantime, LIC is strongest and clearest of purpose as a cooperative company having the goal of delivering genetic gains and services to its New Zealand farmers through herd improvement. Reaffirming that clear, simple and straightforward purpose would reconnect the company with its farmers and provide the greatest possible benefits to those farmers.

• David Wallace is a Cambridge farmer with farming interests in Brazil.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

AGRIBUSINESS // 21

Murmur leaves after creating a bang SIX YEARS of exceptional dairy progeny will remain the legacy of CRV Ambreed jersey bull Okura Lika Murmur as he retires this month, the company says.

Breeding manager Aaron Parker says Murmur has given nearly 500,000 doses of semen, and has 22,464 daughters herd testing in New Zealand and a long list of sons.

He is credited with having expanded CRV Ambreed’s exporting market, especially in South Africa, North America and Australia.

“He has bred outstanding sons and daughters with super production, udder and capacity traits,” says Parker. “Hundreds of his cows have been contract mated in NZ and as a sire of sons he has produced some of country’s

best Jersey bulls.”

This season six Murmur sons were released to market as ‘daughter proven sires’ and are among NZ’s highest ranking bulls including Roma Murmur Kingpin, Kaitaka Murmur Lazarus and Ashvale OLM Highlite.

“Kingpin, CRV Ambreed’s highest selling jersey sire this season, is a superstar in production because he is Murmur’s son.”

Other sons and grandsons include Kingpin’s son, Puketawa King Connacht JG. “Connacht is an elite young sire in our Jersey team this year based on his parental information and scientific data. With his daughters coming into milk this season, we expect to see big things

Dean Bell

Milking platform pioneer wins export gong WAIKATO MILKING Systems (WMS) has won two notable export awards: 2016 Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Exporter of the Year and QBE Insurance Exporter of the Year ($10m-$25m category).

Founded in 1967, the 100% Kiwi-owned company is a world-noted designer and manufacturer of rotary and herringbone milking platforms and components.

At the award ceremony in Auckland in late June, judging convenor Barry Squires described WMS as “an NZ success story… an outstanding example of the growth of agritech exporters”.

This is the first year the awards have been open to Waikato businesses.

Winning the awards was, “a tribute to an extraordinary bunch of people,” says spokesman Dean Bell.

“Our world renown as a leading innovator and manufacturer… was cemented by our Centrus Composite rotary platform a few years ago.”

The Centrus is made from a composite material which contains Kevlar, similar to material used to make aircraft, racing yachts and bullet-proof vests.

“Centrus platforms are 80% lighter and five times stronger than traditional concrete alternatives,” Bell says. Being lighter and stronger they incur less wear and tear, are cheaper to maintain and last longer than any other dairy platform in the world.”

WMS also makes a range of herringbone dairies and dairy technology.

from him,” Parker said.

Murmur was bought in 2005 from breeders Luke and Lyna Beehre of the Okura Stud, north of Whangarei. The stud bred Okura Manhatten, a game changer for the industry.

Parker says after Manhatten, Murmur is the next most influential Jersey sire to have been bred in NZ. “We will be hearing Murmur’s name in the dairy industry for many years.”

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XVII Nordic Veterinary Conference 1994.

Bom, JY Secondary Problems Following Hypocalcaemia Around Calving.

Proceeding International Calol Conference 1994.

Schülten, A Investigation on the Efficacy of a Prophylactic Treatment Against Milk Fever in Cattle.

A Doctoral Thesis for Giessen University 1993.

Todd, Patrick Anion Imbalances in Dry Cow Rations.

Proceedings NZVA Dairy Cow Veterinary Surgeon Conference 1994.

Wermuth, N New Treatment of Milk Fever.

Proceedings World Buiatrics Conference.

Wickham Report on Practical Assessment of the Acceptability Laboratories of Calictad 50, Calcitad 25 and a Combination of Calcitad 50 and 25 as a Treatment of Milk Fever.

Report to TAD Pharmaceuticals 1987.

Zeperitz, H & Calcium Concentration Around Calving and Falkenberg C the Calol Study in Neubukow.

Proceedings International Calol Conference 1994.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

24 // MANAGEMENT

Robots put time back in the day “Firstly, the cows are happy and quiet, milking well and showing good markd@ruralnews.co.nz condition. Secondly, the system allows us more flexibility in the hours we LARGE NUMBERS turned out to a work; we don’t do any less, but we can recent ‘show and tell’ at a Lely robotic- get more done onfarm without wormilking farm near Morrinsville, owned rying about getting back to the shed to get ready for milking. Thirdly, we by the Cameron family.

The Camerons milk 480 Friesian and have a raft of information at our fincross-bred cows on 170ha effective, and gertips such as yield, body weight and after buying adjacent land they took the cell counts to help us make informed management plunge and built a shed to house six “The cows are happy decisions.”

Other benLely A4 robots and and quiet, milking efits: individa dairy. ual quarters are The property well and showing milked sepahad been farmed good condition.” rately with sucby successive gention stopping as erations since the early 1900s and Ben Cameron says “the milked flow ceases, and blind milking driving force for us was to make plans is eliminated, lowering the incidence for the future right now, and get our- of mastitis.

Smith says the move to robotics was selves in a position where our children would hopefully want to take over one largely trouble free; cow ‘training’ was day, and explore the same sort of oppor- minimal, most cows getting used to the system in three-four milkings and a few tunities we were given”.

Robotic milking has brought notable timid ones within a week.

The system is incentive-based: cows benefits, not least a reduction in labour.

Manager Darren Smith oversees the are fed a ration during milking then get operation with only one assistant and access to fresh pasture; it’s all much calmer than when cows were pushed lists three standout features.

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Nowadays Smith treats the farm as three units with three races; he structures the grazing regime so animals have access to fresh paddocks after each milking.

The cows are free to milk themselves as many times as required within the range 1.7-2.5 milkings per day.

Some cows are seen to prefer robots and wait until these are vacant, some prefer left- or right-hand stalls, and the

Nature and Nurture. Now.

records show that one cow has only ever been milked by robot number 6.

Samuel Anderson, general manager dairy at Lely NZ, says robotic milking “has come of age, with wide acceptance by farmers who realise you can’t manage what you can’t measure”.

“Robots mean cows are herd tested every day; and the inclusion of cell count measurement, microphones listening for rumination and activity sensors recording movement give operators

early warning of potential problems, or even heat detection, which drafts cows automatically for further inspection.”

Anderson says farmers’ rising acceptance of robotics is contributing to unit costs falling. He says robotic set-ups are becoming cost-comparable with new rotary set-ups but are smaller, produce more milk, slash labour costs and give farmers more time for better husbandry. www.lely.com

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

MANAGEMENT // 25

Milk quality scrutiny will rise – MPI pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND’S

overseas trading partners will soon increase their scrutiny of what happens on NZ farms affecting milk quality, says Ministry for Primary Industries chief assurance strategy officer Billy Jolly.

This is where the safety and quality of milk begins, and where market and consumer perceptions emanate from, he says.

“While the Government continues to work hard to open up new markets and create new value adding opportunities for our exports, NZ can’t ignore current trends, especially those mandated by our trading partners for continued access into their markets.”

Changes have been on the way for some time, and the current lower farm milk price will likely only slightly delay their implementation, he says.

Price recovery depends on maintaining and enhancing access as well as providing a platform from which greater value add products can be developed and sold.

Changes could mean tighter requirements for farm inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, veterinary drugs and animal feeds; environmental controls; more attention to animal welfare and milking hygiene; enforcement of clean, dry udders prior to milking; and stricter milk cooling requirements.

“There may also be new requirements for design, upkeep and operation of all aspects of the milking plant, including toilets and washing facilities; better sanitation regimes; and tighter water controls; and... enforcement of time and temperature requirements relating to milk cooling, collection, transport and receipt at processing facilities,” he told the NZ Veterinary Association conference.

“Increased testing of the acceptability of milk at the point of receipt is also inevitable in the short term, be it for chemical residues, microbiological

parameters or other qualitative criteria.”

Heat treatment (pasteurisation) has always been the most important critical control point in milk processing and a tighter enforcement of the frequency of checks and reports by qualified heat treatment engineers is a condition of Grade A equivalence with the US. He says after several years consultation, MPI is about to publish a comprehensive new infant formula processing standard.

However, most processing facilities have already begun the necessary upgrading.

While major changes to Chinese regulatory requirements have caused a huge drop-off in the number of brands and formulations produced, the success of NZ’s transition to the new standard can be judged by our relative resilience compared to that of other competing countries. NZ continues to get more processors, brands and formulations approved than any other country.

“As the complexity of the production supply chains increases, the ability to assure each and every component and be able to trace back and isolate any problem should it occur, is critical to staying in business,” he says.

Furthermore this needs to be able to happen almost in real time, with appropriate interoperability between all companies in the supply chain and the ability to readily search and send comprehensive digital files to customers and regulators.

As more brands or higher value components are produced, the ability to further ensure the integrity and identity of these products becomes increasingly important so as to be able to protect against counterfeiting or threats of intentional adulteration.

“For the NZ dairy industry to continue to grow… we need to have a good story to tell -- importantly a story which allows our manufacturers to be able to extract a premium,” he says.

“Value added pro-

cessing is only part of the story. Having enhanced food safety and quality assurance attributes that markets, customers and consumers can all value is the necessary foundation for further growth.”

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

26 // MANAGEMENT

If only the flax cutters could s The whole team paid attention to detail. That’s the reason Glen Weitenberg, a Landcorp dairy farm manager in Manawatu, won the prestigious Supreme Award for the Dairy Business of the year. Peter Burke visited the farm to meet Glen and his boss Tony Dowman.

THE FARM is named

Ruapehu, but unlike its namesake mountain which commands the central North Island landscape, the 253ha block is snuggled low between two stopbanks which protect it from the Manawatu River and the adjacent Moutoa floodway that takes over-

flow from the Manawatu when it floods.

Ruapehu is one of nine Moutua farms near Foxton for which business manager Tony Dowman is responsible. He’s a newcomer to Landcorp, having joined last December from Taratahi where he oversaw its dairy farms

in the North Island and ran training on these farms. But Ruapehu farm’s awards entry was not his project because it presented its performance in the 2014-15 season.

The farms are located on former swamp land, once the scene of a thriving flax industry that

Farm manager Glen Weitenberg (left) and business manager Tony Dowman.

Spillway protects the farm from flooding.

made Shannon and Foxton famous. During WWII two camps for ‘conscies’ (conscientious objectors) were located in the area and the men spent lots of their time cutting flax.

“The blocks were originally Lands and Survey settlement blocks for servicemen returning from WWII,” says Dowman.

“The Moutoa block was originally all in swamp but in the late 1970s and 80s beef cows were brought in to eat down the flax and they were converted to sheep and beef farms.

“Then in the early 1990s they were converted to dairying. Now we have nine farms with from 180

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HIGH FINANCE and great environmentals won Ruapehu farm the Dairy Business Award. Seventy percent of the marks are for financial performance, 15% for environment and 15% for people management.

Manager Glenn Weitenberg (26) grew up on a dairy farm, share milked for his father, and worked on another farm before joining Landcorp as manager of Ruapehu three years ago.

The financials are impressive. When Weitenberg took over the farm in 2013-14 it produced a record 373,000kgMS. In 2014-15 he and his four staff worked hard to lift it to 415,000kgMS, doing this at no cost increase over the previous season.

By the numbers, this gain translated into a 7.1% return on capital, an operating profit of $4191/ha, cost/kgMS of $3.61 and operating expenses of $4.08/kgMS. Weitenberg says Ruapehu is a high input farm operating at system four. The stocking rate for the 871 Kiwi cross cows is 3.4, so PKE, maize and silage are used to achieve the high production.

“We harvest 60-100 tonnes of silage off the farm and buy in the remaining 400 tonnes. We also grow 450t of maize onfarm. But the big thing is growing and utilising grass well. That’s our first priority and in 2014-15 we were bang on with this.

“We tried a few different things such as pretopping our grass and we harvested an extra 1.8-2t/ha of grass which helped get us that extra 45,000kgMS. “We also focus on leaf emergence – trying to graze it to 2.5-3.00 leaves. Half your growth is probably in your third leaf so allowing that third leaf to grow is a big part of our focus.”

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

MANAGEMENT // 27

d see it now FROM PAGE 25

to 900 cows. Ruapehu is a big one, as is Aspiring.”

(All farms are named after prominent NZ mountains.)

Originally the farms were share milked but in 2005-06 they came under full Landcorp control and are now run by managers.

Dowman has 27 fulltime

and up to 12 casual staff working on the nine farms which in 2014-15 produced a record 2.1 million kgMS. This past season this dropped to 1.9m due to severe flooding in the region.

Annual rainfall is about 1000ml/year; this and the low-lying land contribute to flooding. Surface

drains deal with water on the nine farms’ 1400ha.

Dowman refers to a challenge in getting some locals to understand the role and nature of the Landcorp farm cluster at Moutua; a community hui and the farms’ winning the award has helped reassure the community of Landcorp’s intent.

Investments have been made on the farm to lift its environmental credentials.

$500,000 EXPENDITURE SOME $500,000 was spent on Ruapehu leading up to the awards.

The biggest chunk of that was to build a 3500m³ effluent pond, storage sump and solids separator.

Looking like a gigantic home swimming pool, it enables Ruapehu to perform superbly in environmental terms.

The system is set up to separate the solids and hold them for use when crops are grown in the spring and summer. The size of the storage pond allows spraying of effluent onto the farm to be done at the optimum time. And, says Weitenberg, they have doubled the area from 50ha to 100ha where effluent can be spread off Ruapehu.

The judges applauded Ruapehu’s good nitrogen leaching performance.

“Our max application of urea

For hoof health and increased immunity…

was only 50kg/ha which is lower than most people’s. We try to stick to ‘a little but more often’ instead of putting on 150kg and getting a massive growth,” he says.

Weitenberg and his colleagues were surprised and delighted at winning the award.

“We knew we were a finalist but some other very good farmers were there also, as it showed on the night, with the result being very close,” he says.

Weitenberg enjoys his role at Ruapehu and will be there for the coming season.

Dowman is full of praise for Weitenberg, noting that he’d only been on the farm a year and had an entirely new team in the award winning season. It’s a pretty impressive result.

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ANIMAL HEALTH // 29

What’s so great about $9.20kgms?

WHY ORGANIC milk?

What’s so great about not being able to do whatever you want with your fertilisers and cow treatments?

The first answer on most dairy farmers’ lips now is $9.20/kgMS. But to get a robust answer to this important question we must dig deeper by first asking why our markets are willing to pay so much more for organic milk?

Our milk is perfectly good without being organic, isn’t it? Yes, but here’s a key principle: the consumer rules. Every expert is telling us we need to focus on quality production for the high end international markets, i.e. certified organic.

The next question then is, what do they know that we don’t know to prompt them to pay so much more, or is this all just hype we can take advantage of?

To answer, we need to know what consumers see in organic milk. Mostly they see safety: they want milk products less likely to carry pesticide residues and less likely to contain antibiotics or mycotoxin traces. Some of them equate organic milk with grass fed and the reputed health benefits of milk from all-grass grazing.

When I stand back and look at these questions, the answer I come up with is BUGS. Yes, microbes – bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and tens of thousands of other kinds of microscopic organisms that rule our existence and underpin agriculture and specifically our wellbeing.

And what the heck qualifies me to say that?

Well, microbes are the basis of soil and I trained in soils at university and have studied the biological aspects of soil and agriculture for 20 years. I’ve been a soils consultant and turned production, profit and farmer health around on many farms.

I farm an organically certified dairy support block in Hawkes Bay. I

studied with Dr Dettloff, senior consulting vet for Organic Valley Co-op (USA) and I provide certified animal remedies for most of the major dairy health issues.

But increasingly it is my study of eco-nutrition and the ties between the microbiome (the zillions of microbes in the soil, on our skin and inside our guts and cows’ guts) and health that fuel my interest in looking after those willing microbial workers.

Without a robust, diverse natural population of microbes in any setting, we’re stymied.

Unbalanced or outright starved/nuked microbes lead to tight, waterrepellent soils that won’t fix atmospheric nitrogen for free, can’t sequester carbon and can only produce crops that attract pests and diseases, increasing the ‘need’ for pesticide applications in a vicious downward spiral.

Likewise in our guts, Candida fungi in charge of the beneficial lacto bacillus and bifidus struggling to maintain a foothold means inadequate digestion of our food, mood swings and an inexorable march towards Alzheimer’s.

Microbes are important: we are more microbial DNA than we are human genes. We’re simply vessels for complex microbe ecologies and so is every other ecosystem on the planet. They may be tiny but microbes control the game. And we damage them at our peril.

Organic ag systems do less damage to microbe populations because they don’t use synthetic chemicals, antibiotics or scorching conventional forms of fertiliser, all of which harm some part of the soil and animal microbiome.

Few consumers probably see their purchase of organic milk in this light, but we’re the ones producing it and we need to know the basics: all natural soil fertility, all quality nutrition, all water quality and all human and animal health depend on well balanced microbe

populations.

If you think this organic stuff is too hippy and too hard, repeat to yourself: “My health depends on happy microbes.” And if that isn’t enough, keep repeating

“$9.20… $9.20.” info@truhealth.co.nz • Phyllis Tichinin is an econutritionist and founder of True Health, Havelock North. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

30 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Knowledge the key to a high score during calving KNOWING THE signs and stages of labour, how to calf a cow and the immediate care needed after calving will increase the number of successful births, says DairyNZ. Cows close to calving (springers) must be checked at least twice every 24 hours. If calving is not going normally, remedial action must be taken and a moving vehicle must not be used to provide traction to assist calving.

Check springers for signs of labour regularly, quietly and thoroughly

and record what you observe.

Quietly: walk quietly through the springer mob – when cows are feeding is best. Don’t walk through the mob when cows are hungry and are waiting to be moved to fresh grass or a new break. Look for cows that are showing signs of labour.

Regularly: check cows at least four times a day.

Your manager will set a routine for springer checks.

Thoroughly: check all areas of the paddock and

depending how good the fencing is, check the paddocks next door as well.

Check drains, hollows, long grass, hedges – anywhere a calf could be sleeping.

Record: note the number of any cow or heifer that has started to show signs of calving, or has calved, and report to your manager so you can keep an eye on her progress.

Early signs of labour ■■ Swelling of the udder can happen up to a month before calving.

Cows should take no more than two hours to calf.

Milk dripping from teats.

■■ Mucus string from the vulva (from the plug of mucus that seals the vulva).

■■ Restless.

Stages of labour Calving will progress at different rates for different cows. Some may show all the signs, whereas others may show few signs.

Generally labour can be broken into two stages: preparation for labour and delivery.

Preparation for labour The preparation phase can take up to six hours in cows and 72 hours in heifers. Look for these signs when observing springers: ■■ Away from herd and reduced appetite.

■■

Pelvic ligaments relaxed; vulva looks swollen and flabby.

■■ Dip between tailhead and pin-bones.

■■ Tummy less full as calf moves into birth canal/ birthing position.

■■ Mothering other cows’ calves.

■■ Discomfort – swishing tail, arched back, restless, peeing, kicking and nosing at her side, tail raising.

■■ Straining/contractions.

■■ Water bag protruding.

Delivery Cows should take 30-60 minutes to calf – no more than two hours.

Heifers should take twothree hours to calf – no more than four hours.

During a standard delivery the following will ■■

HOW A CALF IS BORN NORMAL PRESENTATION is head-first. The two front feet and head of the calf create a wedge which assists in opening the birthing canal to allow the calf to pass through.

Feet and nose entering the birthing canal is one trigger that causes the cow to start straining. If a calf is presented breech (tail first) the cow may not go into full labour.

Even if a calf is in the right position, assistance may be needed if the calf is too big for the cow.

Abnormal presentation A calf presenting abnormally is likely to need assistance in delivery.

occur: ■■ The cow starts straining and pushing; two feet are visible within the water sack.

■■ Once the feet are 10cm clear of the vulva the head has cleared the pelvis. The chest of the calf has not passed through the pelvis at this stage and the umbilical cord is still attached so the cow is still providing oxygen to the calf.

■■ Once the head has cleared the pelvis, the cow may rest for a minute or two. Once the calf’s shoulders have cleared the pelvis, the birth will continue fairly quickly. The umbilical cord will have likely broken by this

point and the calf will start to breathe on its own.

Cleaning ■■ After a normal birth, the cow will stand, sniff and start to lick the newborn calf. Licking will help dry the calf, stimulate blood flow and prevent the calf from getting too cold.

■■ The placenta comes out within six hours of birth and the uterus begins to shrink back to the normal size.

■■ Cows usually eat some or all the placenta.

Make sure you know what an entire placenta looks like. If only a small part of the placenta comes away, record this and let your manager know.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

ANIMAL HEALTH // 31

Slow, generous transition to fodder beet sitioning their herds onto winter fodder beet are being advised to take it slowly – but be generous.

Too much of the highsugar crop, too quickly, can lead to lactic acid in the cow’s rumen, causing acidosis leading to rumen damage and even death.

Take it slowly, says DairyNZ, attend to detail and closely monitor animals during the transition.

Seed supplier Seed Force agrees, but says the ultimate goal ought to be a generous regime, the cows effectively getting as much beet as they want in a selfregulating intake.

Extension manager James White advocates a three-week transition to fodder beet with the aim of getting to “almost unrestricted” quantities.

“We’re trying to get them to consume quite high quantities with the aim that once they’re fully transitioned and the gut’s adjusted and we hold them for another week, we can allow the animal to selfregulate – pretty much ad-lib feed.”

White says by then the farmer would still be using moveable electric fencing to control the herd’s access to the fodder beet crop but cows would hold back from breaking through, knowing they could have their fill.

“Imagine, if they’re putting pressure on the line while being held at 8kg, and there’s a breakout or the line goes down for any reason, they then [can] consume as much beet as they want and because they’ve been at 8kg their system hasn’t adjusted to these high feeding levels.

“So even though the farmer thinks he’s safe because he’s done the transition well, he could still get acidosis in the middle of winter, if he’s been restricted-feeding those animals.

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White says that’s why they advocate high-level beet feeding with limited supplements – because that’s the safest form of beet feeding.

DairyNZ regional leader for Southland, Richard Kyte, says cows must be very slowly introduced to fodder beet by gradually decreasing pasture/silage allocation and increasing the crop over 14-21 days. “[Pay] attention to every detail all the way through the transition process. We can see issues after the first eight to 10 days, when people think they are through.”

Even for cows eating fodder beet during late lactation, careful transition up to their winter feed allocation is required, Kyte says.

“We’ve had cases recently of acidosis in cows, related to fodder beet. Acidosis can cause rumen damage or death and will definitely reduce a cow’s food consumption.

“People [must be] vigilant: if they think cows aren’t looking well, call a vet to check them out.

The feed regime can then be adjusted to keep cows healthy.”

White says many farmers will now have transitioned but should realise there was still danger of acidosis if they’ve been advised to keep their cows’ beet intake restricted.

He says a high-beet diet should also be cheaper because of the relatively high cost of supplements such as hay, straw, silage or baleage.

A low-beet diet could be 8kg/day/cow with about 4kg/day/cow of supplements; a high-beet diet 10kg/day/cow plus 2kg of supplement.

“They’re satisfied and they’re self-regulating,” says White. “They actually slow down the way they consume. They’ve got beet under their feet. They know it’s not going anywhere. They’re not having to pressure themselves.”

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

32 // CALVING

Cheap, effective mastitis control at calving ROD DYSON DAIRY FOCUS

WET WEATHER and

mud in Australia has returned with a vengeance, and many farms will now be calving cows in these conditions.

The most common cause of mastitis at calving, both clinical cases and new subclinical infections, is Streptococcus uberis (Strep uberis). This environmental organism is passed in the faeces of cattle, so the major source of these mastitis infections onfarm is

the faeces and mud that contaminate teats.

Though Strep uberis is also capable of spreading from cow to cow during milking, new infections at calving are far more likely to be from the environment.

The dry-off process raises the risk of mastitis infections at calving, but there are ways to mitigate that risk. Most cost very little; the main thing is to manage the transition process.

1. Minimise faecal contamination The amount of faecal contamination in the calving area will be directly

proportional to the number of animals and how long they are there.

Have you got clean areas for calving that have not been grazed for the last few weeks?

Can you regularly move the springers to a fresh clean area as the current area becomes too contaminated (more than two cow pats/sq.m)?

Can you reduce the number of springers in the calving area to those very close to calving, so numbers are lower and they are there for less time?

2. What is your strategy to deal with cows that drip milk before calving?

After dry-off, cows form a natural keratin teat plug to seal and protect the teat canal during the dry period. The use of an internal teat sealant at dry-off adds to this protective seal.

However, as a cow approaches calving, if that seal is lost and the cow begins to drip milk, the teat canal is now at high risk of bacteria entering.

Cows on the point of calving with large, tight udders that are dripping milk should usually be brought in and milked twice daily. Discuss with your vet whether anything can be done to calve these

cows promptly.

3. How do you handle cows, especially heifers, with udder oedema?

Cows, especially heifers, with udder oedema (flag) usually have hard swollen teats more at risk of infection, and they are liable to not let down properly due to the discomfort.

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quickly reduce the flag in these animals, and to enhance milk let-down.

Be patient and ensure milk let-down has occurred before milking them. Especially take care not to overmilk these animals, especially if you milk them ‘on the bucket’ because if you do they will experience higher vacuum than cows milked normally.

4. Milk freshly calved cows and heifers preferably within 12 hours The sooner a freshly calved animal is in the dairy being milked, the sooner you can check her, and the sooner you fully milk her out, the greater the chance of flushing out any recently arrived bacteria.

The calf will never achieve this goal for you, and the sooner you have the calf brought in, the sooner you can administer colostrum to that calf if necessary.

All freshly calved cows and heifers should have their teats washed and dried at least for the first milking. This removes contamination from teats, causes effective milk letdown, gives better milking characteristics and allows the post-milking teat spray and emollient to access

teat skin properly and do its job. And it only costs a minute of your time.

Consider adding a little extra emollient to your teat spray during wet, muddy conditions to enhance teat skin condition.

5. Minimise the exposure of fresh cows to environmental bacteria after calving Recently calved cows are amongst the highest risk cows for new mastitis infections – especially in wet, muddy conditions.

These cows should be in a fresh, clean environment, yet we regularly see them sent to the little fresh cow paddock beside the dairy for their colostrum period.

Though this area may have been clean at the start of calving, it rapidly becomes badly contaminated. Don’t put your highest risk cows in the highest risk area.

6. Detect clinical cases early and ensure milk is suitable for the vat All freshly calved cows should be checked for mastitis at every milking in the colostrum period.

The sooner you detect a clinical case, the sooner you can treat it and the higher the chance of cure. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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CALVING // 33

Do the groundwork for calving PLAN AND prepare to succeed in calving this season, setting up your team early with all the right knowledge and gear.

Pre-calving checklist ■■ Supplies of metabolics, electrolytes, navel spray, etc on hand or ordered.

■■ New team members up-to-date on farm policies and what to expect during calving.

■■ Calf trailer and feeding equipment clean and disinfected.

■■ Calf shed clean and disinfected and all repairs and maintenance done.

■■ Designated sick calf area ready.

■■ Fresh bedding laid in calf shed.

■■ Calving kit prepared.

Calving kits A well-stocked calving kit will save you making trips between the paddock and the shed.

Keep your calving kit at the gate of the springer paddock. Have a team member in charge of making sure it is restocked regularly.

Looking after your team Planning and preparing for calving with your farm team will reduce stress when calving is in full swing and help it run smoothly.

Hold a team meeting prior to calving and decide who will do what and when. Post the plan where everyone can see it. Introduce new staff to systems and processes so everyone is on the same page when calving starts. Establish a roster and make sure staff know how to fill out timesheets.

Eating well is important: some owners provide staff with crockpots, keep healthy snacks at the shed and/or eat a cooked break-

fast together after milking.

Health and hygiene Newborn calves need more care and attention as they have a lower immune system. Following good biosecurity practices will help you rear healthy

calves and keep the farm team healthy.

Good biosecurity measures include controlling wild birds and rodents, managing visitors and regularly cleaning equipment, work clothes and vehicles.

Calving kit.

STOCKING UP THE CALVING KIT ■■

Bucket with a lid to contain kit (tape a checklist of contents inside the lid).

■■

Metabolics (clearly labelled milk fever treatments and starter drench).

■■

Three calving ropes or chains (strong, supple and cleaned after each use).

■■

2L container of lube (a plunger pump is an easy way to dispense lube if hands are busy).

■■

Towel and soap for cleaning hands.

■■

Notebook and pencil (a pencil will still work in wet conditions, unlike a pen).

■■

Eartags or other calf identification system (pre-numbered tags with corresponding numbers on a record sheet will save time and reduce the chance of recording mistakes).

■■

Spray paint: red plus another colour (red can be used as a warning colour, e.g. withhold milk. Tell staff about this).

■■

Gloves for rectal or other exam.

■■

Head torch and spare batteries.

■■

Iodine spray pre-mixed with water (do not use teat dip as an alternative).

■■

Key contact numbers (vet, manager) on laminated sheet. Save numbers in phone).

■■

Calving intervention guide.

■■

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

34 // CALVING

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Pooling colostrum is a major risk factor for low concentration of the antibody Immunoglobulin G (IgG) in colostrum, Denholm told the recent NZ Veterinary Association conference.

Pooling colostrum is common practice on NZ dairy farms.

At least 90% of surveyed farmers pooled colostrum for feeding to newborn calves (Cuttance and Denholm unpublished observations). This practice can be problematic, as high production cows produce poor quality colostrum and so dilute

the IgG content of the pool, Denholm says in a conference presentation.

In international literature, it is recommended that colostrum pooling be avoided despite its advantage of increasing the volume of colostrum available to newborn

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representation of high volume, low IgG colostrum in a pooled sample. There is also increased risk of disease where colostrum is pooled as multiple cows are present in a single colostrum feed.

In recent NZ work, 26% of farmers were pooling colostrum from later milkings with firstmilking colostrum with a significant detrimental effect on colostrum.

Bacterial contamination of colostrum As well as IgG concentration in colostrum, a major indicator of colostrum quality is bacterial contamination. Recent work in NZ shows that bacterial loads in first milking colostrum are exceedingly high, Denholm says.

Bacterial contamination of colostrum may reduce IgG absorption and increase risk of FPT. The mechanism by which bacteria (and specifically coliforms) interfere with IgG absorption is still unclear and she suggested a number of possibilities.

“Whatever the mechanism of action, it is clear that in NZ, colostrum samples are contaminated which could be a major risk for FPT,” she says.

A previous study explored possible sources of bacterial contamination of

Pooling colostrum is a common practice on New Zealand dairy farms.

colostrum and suggested multiple sources including secretion from the mammary gland, contamination during milking, contamination during storage or feeding and bacterial proliferation in stored colostrum.

“Clearly, careful employment of targeted management strategies may reduce much of this contamination risk, such as careful udder preparation prior to colostrum harvest, proper regular cleaning and sterilisation of calf feeding equipment, and storage using an approved preservative at the correct concentration and at refrigeration temperature,” she says.

Discarding colostrum from infected cows and not pooling colostrum could also be effective management strategies.

“Practically speaking, to reduce bacterial loads farmers should endeavour to collect colostrum hygienically from the donor cows and store the colostrum in clean buckets or tanks. As the season progresses the risk of bacterial contamination of colostrum rises, so farmers need to maintain hygiene throughout the season even as calving

fatigue sets in.

“Whether or not to pool colostrum should be carefully considered, and if pooling is deemed appropriate, animals to contribute to the pool should be carefully selected.”

Denholm says few farmers clean feeding equipment regularly with hot soapy water, the required means of removing the fatty deposits left by colostrum and milk feeds; this would reduce bacterial build up.

Preserving colostrum quality Farmers should be advised to store colostrum appropriately in lidded drums and to stir it regularly prior to feeding.

Sick cows’ colostrum should not be added to the pool and colostrum with clots should be avoided, she says.

Potassium sorbate is used in the wine and cheese industries and has been used in Australia effectively to preserve colostrum. In American work, potassium sorbate at ambient temperatures slowed the rate of bacterial growth and prevented or delayed fermentation process; however the effects of potassium sorbate were

most beneficial during refrigeration.

Despite considerable evidence that bacterial proliferation is controlled by refrigeration of colostrums, very few NZ farmers have refrigeration for colostrum.

NZ work shows that potassium sorbate even at ambient temperatures is highly effective at preserving IgG concentrations and reducing bacterial loads.

Farmer education Colostrum quality is an important determinant of subsequent calf health, Denholm says.

Anecdotally it appears relatively uncommon for farmers to assess colostrum quality, and benchmarks for colostrum quality have not been widely extended to farmers.

“Managerial practices such as routine testing of individual cows for colostrum harvest and routine testing of newborn calves, plus improved hygiene of collection and storage of colostrum would likely improve colostrum quality, reduce the risk of FPT and improve calf health on many NZ dairy farms.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Expert tips on calving CALVING SEASON just got bit easier with a new series of online videos from SealesWinslow.

The two-minute clips provide quick, relevant advice from SealesWinslow nutritionist and quality manager Wendy Morgan, refreshing calf rearers’ knowledge and providing useful information.

Morgan says giving calves the best possible start is vital to setting up dairy cows for a long, productive life.

“It starts with having a good calving plan, ensuring calves get the right nutrition at the right time and making full use of good housing.

“Well grown heifers succeed much better as milking cows, and growing them well starts the day they are born.”

Six videos appear on the SealesWinslow YouTube site https://www.youtube.com/user/ SealesWinslow, starting with advice on setting up healthy and effective

calf housing.

Topics include the best way to provide colostrum to newborn calves, feeding strategies for optimal rumen development, setting up outdoor shelter and hitting weight targets.

Says Morgan, “We know how hectic life can get on the farm during calving time so we’ve presented the information in a way that gives rearers what they need, when they need it.”

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

CALVING // 35

Bobby calves deserve better NEW REGULATIONS

to strengthen the law on the management and treatment of bobby calves were announced last month by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy. They span the whole supply chain and will go to the cabinet for final approval. The first will then be enforced this calving season, as follows: ■■ Young calves must be at least four days of age and physically fit before trucking for sale or slaughter.

■■ Journey times must not exceed 12 hours for young calves being trucked for sale or slaughter.

■■ No shipping young calves across Cook Strait.

■■ No killing of any calves by use of ‘blunt force trauma’ (blows to the head) except in an emergency.

MPI says most farmers already meet these regulations with good processes and practices that mostly match the existing minimum standards.

Three more regulations will be introduced next year, giving farmers time to make any changes necessary. These include: ■■ Proposed February 2017: young calves must

be fed at least once in the 24 hours prior to slaughter.

■■ Proposed August 2017: suitable shelter must be provided for young calves before and during trucking and at points of sale or slaughter.

■■ Proposed August 2017: loading and unloading facilities must be provided and used when young calves are trucked for sale and slaughter.

The regulations follow two months of public consultation by MPI in a wideranging effort by farmers, industry and government to raise bobby calf welfare.

Eight organisations formed the Bobby Calf Action Group at the end of 2015 to accelerate and add to existing measures to ensure everyone involved with bobby calves applies best practice in their handling and care.

The group includes DairyNZ, Dairy Companies Association of NZ, Meat Industry Association, Federated Farmers, NZ Petfood Manufacturers Association, Road Transport Forum, NZ Veterinary Association and MPI. DairyNZ is making sure farmers are supported

in making any changes on farm by working with others in the supply chain, helping farmers to make sure calves are fit for trucking and ensuring farmers have suitable facilities for loading.

Treatment of bobby calves must improve, says MPI.

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ON THE farm bobby calves must be given the same degree of care as every other calf.

■■ Colostrum: bobby calves must be fed colostrum (2-4 L/calf) within the first 24 hours of life, preferably within six hours. To aid local immunity, colostrum should be fed to them twice daily for the first four days of life.

■■ Handling: handle calves gently and with care at all times.

■■ Weather protection: bobby calves must be protected from extremes of weather, especially wind, rain, cold and heat. They should be moved to a sheltered, draught-free calf shed as soon as practicable after birth.

■■ Housing: a comfortable lying area that is well drained, covered with comfortable material and free from unpleasant odour should be provided for calves. Exposed concrete and bare earth are not acceptable. There should be no hazards likely to cause injury to the animals, e.g. sharp objects, slippery floors.

■■ Water: calves must have free access to clean drinking water at all times.

Zoetis New Zealand Limited. Tel: 0800 963 847; www.zoetis.co.nz. SCOURGUARD is a registered trade mark of Zoetis Inc. or its subsidiaries. ACVM No. A10057. RVM; Available only under Veterinary Authorisation.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

36 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

How to keep your cool MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

NEW MILK cooling regulations applying from June 1, 2018 mean the countdown is on to ensure systems are up to speed.

Milk held in the vat must be cooled to 10 degrees C or below within four hours of the start of milking, or down to 6 degrees C or below within six hours, and within two hours of the completion of milking. The milk must be held at 6 degrees C or below until collection or the start of the next milking, and must not exceed 10 degrees C during subsequent milkings.

The latter parts of the above rules are interesting given that the main part of the plant we use is in the shape of the milk vat.

Looking at a typical New Zealand set-up we normally see tanks configured to stand vertically, and they are almost universally single skinned. Undoubtedly cheap to produce, this layout has serious

disadvantages, not least a reduced cross section which sees a large column of milk ‘stacked’ vertically, which is hard to invert and creates pockets of milk at different temperatures throughout the tank.

Such a tall tank is unlikely to be housed away from the elements, particularly sunshine, resulting in warm-up in some areas.

Further, although the smaller footprint of a vertical vat means it takes up less floor space, it can be inherently unstable in an earthquake.

By contrast, the typical European style equipment turns things by 90 degrees and starts by using a horizontal vat, with a much greater footprint with inherent stability, and a much bigger cross section, which largely eliminates any variation in milk temperature throughout the vat, particularly as most vessels have two- or three-paddle agitation. This latter function is key to ensuring that there are no areas of ‘super-chilling’ which might occur when using iced water, which can result in

milk being frozen and suffering a reduction in quality.

But the key point of difference between the northern hemisphere and our gear here in the south is the construction of the vat, which will always be double skinned and have a void filled with up to 100mm of polyurethane foam type insulation material which will need to meet EN R13732 regulations.

This serves to save energy, remembering milk cooling can be up to 30% of a dairy’s costs by holding cooled milk at a constant temperature largely unaffected by climatic conditions. European users of this type of technology can hold milk without any form of secondary refrigeration for up to 24 hours with only a 1 degree C rise in temperature.

So the next time your dairy company man calls to tell you what a good job they’ve been doing, ask him when they’re going to supply double-skinned, insulated vats.

Should NZ look at double skinned milk vats?

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 37

Data download drives animal detail power, any technology giving farmers a real-time insight into an animal’s physiology must be worth a closer look.

The Austrian-made Smaxtec (say ‘smacktech’) system, from Smart Farm Data Ltd (SFD), Hamilton, looks at data in real time. In an industry-first it allows wireless monitoring of ruminal pH and temperature, and tracks and monitors changes in activity levels.

There is a choice of two bolus based sensors, administered orally to ultimately sit in the reticulum of the animal.

The first sensor measures rumen temperature and activity, remaining active for four years; this would typically be used for 95% of the herd.

A second alternative bolus does the same thing, plus it will monitor rumen pH levels for about 150 days; it would be used to sample, say, 5% of the herd.

This pH optioned sensor would show the farmer any fermentation disorders, with the ultimate aim of increasing feed efficiency and uptake, plus options for ration modification.

A third option has a climate sensor which monitors environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.

The device collects data every 10 minutes 24/7, then transmits it to a base station when the animal passes within 10-15m of the device, which might typically sit in the milking shed.

The range of the devices can be extended by repeater stations in the shed or around feed pad areas. If cows don’t come into range of base or repeater stations, for example during the winter period, information is held for up to 50 days in the sensor before upload.

What is the data going to tell us?

In the case of increased activity, heat detection becomes possible, com-

ing of the onset of calving.

This latter benefit makes the unit particularly useful for pedigree dairy and beef breeders, or it might have a place with organic farmers

who would get early warning of fevers and be able to treat accordingly.

• For more information visit www.smartfarmdata. com

Bolus-based sensors allows wireless monitoring of cows.

*

IF INFORMATION is

would be about $500, typically helping to identify temperature increases as precursors to acidosis, improving heat detection and mating, and advis-

FR CONT LIN EE ACT U ER VAC S FOR TR PLU A IA S L

markd@ruralnews.co.nz

bining with temperature readings to determine the ideal time for artificial insemination. It might also indicate early onset of fevers as cows visit water troughs more frequently.

By contrast, data showing inactivity might indicate problems of lameness and allow early intervention.

Temperature monitoring might indicate the onset of disease or infection or perhaps the beginnings of sub-clinical mastitis. When combined with a lack of activity, a temperature drop is also a good indicator of the onset of calving; this might be a drop of only 1 deg C over six hours, prompting a closer watch on animals and early intervention if required. A further benefit is early signs of heat stress in cows during summer, as higher temperatures send cows more often to water troughs.

Cleverly, the system can send messages to a smart device and inform the farmer about a particular cow’s health status and suggest areas for further inspection and action.

Developing its NZ and Australian market, SFD has spent a lot of time developing algorithms that relate to the physiology and behaviour of cows in both countries.

Says Davis Hayman, managing director, “This system can provide precise data in a timely manner for early intervention and correction. Farmers who have taken the step toward robotic milking will see the benefits of animal welfare as they already rely on technology to harvest milk.

“The system will also keep a close eye on two to three year old animals which appear to be the greatest casualties in intensive milking systems. Getting this problem under control has the potential to reduce replacement costs by up to 15%”.”

Costing the system at about $165 per animal, the company calculates payback at about 3 to 1; typical savings over the four-year working life of the device

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

38 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Go large with ease MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

KUHN HAS upgraded its high output grass tedders, giving the 13m and 17.2m machines a new chassis design and rotor lift layout allowing higher clearance at headlands and improved contour-following on rough terrain.

The GF 13012 and GF 17012 Gyrotedders allow users to ted up to 15ha per hour, with the GF 13012 using 12 rotors to cover 13.0m working width, and the GF 17012 using 16 rotors to cover 17.2m.

For improved headland clearance the two outer sections on both machines are supported and held in place by self-reeling tension straps which enable

all 12 or 16 rotors to be lifted in one motion. The straps reduce stress on the main chassis and individual rotor sections, and ensure the machine remains stable across its full width – particularly when operating in rough terrain – and act as safety guards, which helps to reduce the weight seen in previous models.

When folding into the transport position an auto-reel device, similar to those used to tension car seatbelts, automatically winds the straps away.

Rotors on both models are raised hydraulically at headlands using transport wheels to provide high ground clearance, and allowing the tedder to travel over previously windrowed crop without

fouling.

The rotors respond to uneven terrain using Kuhn’s novel Ground Save Control system which allows the rotor train to move independently of the carrying frame and sees the weight of the chassis being supported by the large transport wheels; the small diameter rotors are suspended separately, to follow changing ground contour without scraping the soil and contaminating the crop.

Rotor height is said to be easily adjusted via a single lever located at the top link position, and individual rotor pitch angle is adjusted easily without tools. Both tedders use Kuhn’s case-hardened, forged steel Digidrive system for reduced

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compact transport size of 2.4m wide x 6.5m long

and 2.68m high for the GF13012, and 2.4m wide x

7.5m long and 2.68m high in the case of the GF 17012.

Feed calves the easy way WITH THE calving season just around the corner many

farmers will soon be doing their annual rounds of calf rearing duties.

The latest transporter/mixer for milk or colostrum from McKee Plastics will find favour with rearers, the self-contained unit making life easy at the flick of a switch.

The 550L moulded tank is mounted on a galvanised chassis with a low centre of gravity which promotes stability in yard or paddock.

A 180L/min submersible pump is powered by a 12V motor which can be direct wired to a quad or tractor for continuous top-up; it is said to be quiet in operation around stock.

Stainless steel fittings are used throughout, and the units are supplied with a 9m delivery hose with a 342mm dispensing nozzle. For hygiene, an in-built tank wash system makes cleaning a breeze. www.mckeeplastics.co.nz

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 39

Mule ideally suited for agriculture MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

UTV’S HAVE become the Swiss Army knife to a farmer for carrying out a multitude of tasks around a property, and whilst there are many brands on the market, the Mule manufactured by Kawasaki has become the generic term for this type of vehicle.

First launched in 1988, the Mule 1000 had a 454cc petrol engine and 2WD, rapidly established itself as a must-have, and evolved over the years with bigger engines, 4WD, Hi-Low transmissions and CVT technology. The Mule of today features similar layout to the first examples, but that is where the similarities end.

Ideally suited to agriculture and industrial use, the Pro series machines of today are available in DX or FX variants, signifying diesel or petrol engines, with the former suited to work applications where a high torque engine delivers performance and the convenience of on-site fuel compatibility, particularly on farms.

A ladder construction, wide body chassis combines with a 2345mm wheelbase to offer stability and operator comfort, as well as manoeuvrability with a tight 4.8m turning radius. Ground clearance at 265mm, combined with 26 inch diameter wheels and fully independent suspension with double wishbones front and rear soak up imperfections and allow steady progress.

When the going gets seriously tough 2WD or 4WD can be engaged ”on the fly” and combines with a fully locking rear differential to maximise traction. For sensitive areas the diff can be unlocked to minimise ground damage such as in parks and gardens, while the front runs a limited slip set up.

The Pro-DX features an all-new 3-cylinder, inline engine supplied by Yanmar with liquid cooling, just shy of 1L capacity, a power output of 18kW and 52Nm torque and meets current Tier 4 emission regulations.

With high torque at low rpm, the engine responds quickly to changing loads and combines well with the CVT to get up and go and quickly achieve the top speed of 50km/h, compared to the 40km/h of the old model. A choice of high or low ratio is selected by the dash mounted shift lever, and the transmission features an engine braking system to keep things under control on downhill sections.

Bringing things to a stop is the job of the hydraulic disc set-ups in each corner, and an internal wet multi-plate brake next to the fixed diff.

Of course the most important feature of a UTV is the ability to carry and tow, and operators will not find the Mule Pro lacking in this department.

Offering the largest cargo bed in its class at 1375mm by 1355mm, carrying capacity is quoted at 453kg.

Practicalities are taken care of with a full sized chequer plate floor, gas strut-assisted tipping provision for cargo dividers and a useful 1 inch square tie-down rail around the upper edge to allow bungees or tie-down strops to be used to keep the load in place. Down below a 50mm ball receiver hitch is rated at 907kg.

Operator comfort is provided by a full width, bench style seat to seat three adults, each provided with seat belts and hand grips on the ROPS protective frame. Standard specification sees half doors offering mud protection, easy mount and dismount, while bull bars protect bodywork from the rough and tumble often experienced.

Controls are laid out logically, with drive functions, hi/lo/reverse selection and digital read-outs to the right of the steering wheel and park brake with audible warning situated to the left. Direction is controlled by speed sensitive power steering system, that offers more assistance at slow speeds or while stationary, and less as speeds increase.

Throughout the passenger area lots of storage is available with three recesses

forward, a glovebox to the right, two drinks holders, and the ability to fit an optional large capacity bin under the bench seat arrangement. For those looking for a more spirited ride, the PRO-FX variant

features a 812cc, 3-cylinder petrol engine with four valves per cylinder and figures of 35kW and 65Nm torque. The fuel injected unit quickly takes the machine to a maximum speed of 75km/h.

Kawasaki Mule.

GEA HAS A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF 28 SERVICE PARTNERS WHO PROVIDE HASSLE FREE, TRUSTED SERVICE. Our GEA Service Partners provide a full service for maintenance and breakdowns, a range of spares including, liners, rubberware and milk filters, to assist you through the dairy season.

Call 0800 GEA FARM (0800 432 327) for your local Service Partner contact details.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 12, 2016

40 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Brighter LED worklamp range Jeep 75 years young lasts longer Jeep’s offerings in NZ.

MARK DANIEL

markd@ruralnews.co.nz

THE SHIFT to LED work lamps in recent times reflects their performance and benefits such as low current draw and a greater resistance to shock and vibration, giving a longer product life.

LED lamps emit a whiter, brighter light than halogens, better illuminating workplaces with light that closely resembles natural daylight.

The Narva LED work lamp range meets the NZ EMC standard CISPR15, so users won’t suffer the radio interference that can be an issue with some other work lamps.

Upgrades to some models include increases in light output by as much as 60%, achieved by moving from 3W to 5W LEDs in some variants, and from 5W to 10W LEDs in others. Despite the increase

in light output, current draw remains low: the smallest draws 0.58A and the largest just 3.0A (at 12V).

Looks are sleek and modern, and strength and durability are high: the polycarbonate lenses are claimed virtually unbreakable and the mounting hardware is heavy-duty stainless steel.

The lamps come in three sizes, each available in either the standard grey finish or white for marine applications -- the latter using 316 stainless steel fittings.

Across the range, the light output ranges from 900 Lumens for smaller oval models to 4800 Lumen rectangular work lamps with six 10W LEDs. A five-year LED warranty applies. www.narva.co.nz

JEEP NZ is celebrat-

ing 75 years of 4x4 military history and outdoor adventure in 2016 with commemorative versions of the Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.

“Jeep invented and defined the authentic SUV and set a benchmark for off-road capability when the first Jeeps rolled off the production line in 1941,” says David Smitherman, chief executive of Fiat Chrysler NZ.

“Today’s Jeep delivers 4x4 capability, fuel efficiency and premium on-road dynamics.”

Kiwis have been driving Jeeps from the birth of the Willys Jeep MB, the iconic Jeep was born in World War 2. NZ armed forces got their first Jeeps in 1941, just months after production started.

For Jeep’s 75th anniversary in the ‘land of the long white cloud’, all NZ special-edition models are in bright white with low gloss bronze wheels, bronze and orange exterior accents, seats with an

embossed 75th anniversary logo or unique Ombre Mesh fabric and a

75th anniversary exterior badge. www.jeep.co.nz

Tornado kicks up a storm

FEED SYSTEMS SINCE 1962

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or in a warehouse, Italian-made Tornado vacuum systems from Agriquip come in three models.

The GX 390 and GX 630 are designed for tail or sideboard mounting, powered by 13 or 21hp Honda engines, or tractor mounted with a PTO set-up requiring 13hp at the shaft.

Suction is created by a 390mm fan, which in the case of units mounted to the side or rear of trucks or pick-ups, delivers the collected debris directly onto the load platform via an adjustable rotary ejection pipe.

A 200mm diameter, 6m suction hose is said to be light to handle and resistant to wear.

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