Dairy News february 14, 2012
12 // news
Feed ordering goes online FONTERRA FARMERS can now mix and
order supplementary feed blends online through the co-op subsidiary RD1. The retailer’s online ordering platform, launched last June, was revolutionary in the supplementary feed world, allowing farmers more transparency and control when placing orders.
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The ability to now order custom blends means farmers have even more control and flexibility. It’s quick and easy to use, says RD1 nutrition operations manager Mike Borrie. “Farmers input into the system will come straight through to RD1 Nutrition for processing. We’ve had good feedback on our existing online ordering tool. They’ve found it simple and straightforward. And they enjoy the flexibil-
ity of being able to place an order any time, day or night. “Now being able to make custom blends online we are sure will be a
welcome initiative.” The custom blends tool features an online blend calculator for reckoning the tonnage rate for whichever feed and ratios
are selected. The range includes PKE, tapioca pellet, wheat bran pellet, biscuit/cereal meal and cottonseed meal. Online ordering through RD1 is only available to Fonterra farmers, as is the ability to see supplementary feed pricing. “They can see our pricing daily and place orders online.” Currently the blending service is only available in the North Island – Tauranga and New Plymouth.
West Coast’s effluent trial face hurdles PETER BURKE
TRYING TO develop an effective effluent disposal system for West Coast dairy farmers is proving a challenge for two AgResearch scientists, Dave Houlbrooke and Seth Laurenson.
Dave Houlbrooke
The pair is in the middle of conducting a six month trial on the Coast with the principle objective of trying to reduce nutrients leaching in to Lake Brunner, a popular tourist attraction. But as part of this trial they are looking at the wider issue of managing dairy effluent in what is a very high rainfall area.
farm dairy effluent (FDE) using low rate effluent applicators and comparing this with the system of direct discharge from the traditional ‘two pond’ system. Houlbrooke says it’s too early to come up with any definitive answers from the trial. “What is clear is that what works for the rest of New Zealand won’t necessarily work here because it’s so much wetter. We will need to readjust the rules for the West Coast and we are still working out rates of applications, volumes and timings,” he says. Covering yards to capture rainfall and prevent it infiltrating into the effluent system could be of benefit, says Seth Laurenson. But he concedes that this could also be an expensive option for some farmers. “The dairy industry as an organisation acknowledges that it needs to look at the way they manage nutrients and be quite careful about that management of these. I think
“The dairy industry as an organisation acknowledges that it needs to look at the way they manage nutrients and be quite careful about that management of these.”
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The problem they say is compounded by the high water tables which limit options for land effluent disposal. Their work has been funded by DairyNZ with strong support from Westland Milk Products which is why it took off, says Houlbrooke. The West Coast is unique in that much of the land developed for dairying is ‘humped and hollowed’. Diggers have been used to create a landscape that looks like corrugated iron with small man-made hills and valleys in each paddock with the cows grazing on the ‘humps’ when it gets very wet. But the soil is good and despite the unique wetness of the region, dairying is profitable business. The trial is comparing
there’s quite a lot of support for this project because it’s helping to develop those key management decisions,” he says. Houlbrooke says he hopes one of the key outcomes of the trials will be to prove to farmers that careful management of nutrients on a dairy farm will have a direct financial benefit. “We have started a dialogue with farmers to demonstrate correct disposal of effluent to land can actually pay for itself. It means keeping streams clean and provides an economic benefit to the farmer,” he says. The trial is due to end in May and Houlbrooke says they hope to get their results out as soon as possible after that.