An Ashburton Guardian Supplement

Getting off to the right start Getting off to the right start P3P3

FOCUSIssue 39 - August 17, 2011

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ContentsContents

An advertising supplement ofthe Ashburton Guardian

Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Ashburton Guardian

Publication date: August 16, 2011 Next issue: September 20, 2011

We welcome any correspondence to either: Amanda Niblett, phone 307-7927 email: amanda.n@theguardian.co.nzor Lance Isbister, phone 307-7953 email: lance.i@theguardian.co.nz

FOCUS

Lance Isbister Ashburton Guardian

rural reporterIf consumers can source an All Black rugby jersey from another country for half the price, then

why can’t they shop around to get the best value for milk?

It seems the milk price inquiry won’t go away any time soon, especially now that the Government has taken up the issue, but I have a funny feeling they will come up with the same conclusions as the Commerce Commission.

When I irst read the Government would hold its own inquiry earlier this month, it said it would look at

the pricing structures of milk from the farm gate to the factory ... and I thought something rather obvious was missing.

At irst there was no mention of the retail sector, and I thought surely any comprehensive inquiry worth its weight would look at the whole market chain from the farm gate to the supermarket shelf to have a full understanding of how the price is in luenced.

Common sense tells me that if the price of milk varies between dairies, supermarkets, bakeries and service

stations the retail sector must have some sort of in luence on the milk price, so why haven’t they been exposed to the same level of scrutiny as Fonterra?

But this is where the consumer needs to be more proactive in seeking the best value for money. Every day we are bombarded with advertising which promotes a range of deals to save people money so the information is out there for consumers to make a make informed decision, we just have to make the eff ort to go to another retailer to buy the item cheaper.

The price of the new All Blacks jersey has stirred up just as much controversy as the price of milk and the public outcry is palpable.

The diff erence is All Blacks fans seemed more proactive in sourcing cheaper jerseys through the internet, which ironically has also been used to fuel the ire as consumers express their displeasure online.

Milk consumers need to be just as savvy if they want to toast to similar savings.

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Federated Farmers will represent dairy farmers at any milk pricing inquiry, but with a separate interdepartmental

review of Raw Milk regulations under way by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), the Federation feels a new inquiry is premature and confusing.

“Anywhere, anytime, any place, Federated Farmers will put the farmer’s case. Farmers have nothing to hide as there is a fair amount of analysis already in the public domain,” said Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson Willy Leferink.

“On TVNZ’s Q+A, Paul Homes pointed out that retail milk prices have increased 23

per cent over the past ive years, but over the same period, in lation increased by 16 per cent.

“It seems we’re going into another milk price inquiry because over ive years, milk prices increased seven per cent higher than in lation.

“On that basis, we should hold Select Committee inquiries into council rates, government spending, the emissions trading scheme and even replica sporting gear.

“As a taxpayer and a dairy industry participant, I still think it is premature to hold a Commerce Select Committee inquiry into retail milk prices when an

interdepartmental review of the raw milk regulations is still to report.

“Even the Commerce Commission noted this in its recent analysis while MAF has reported separately on the milk price issue as well.

“Raw Milk regulations under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act and the farmgate price paid to farmers are interlinked. It would have been far wiser for these indings to come before considering a Commerce Committee inquiry as we’re in cart before horse territory.

“In 2008, the NZIER report ‘Food Prices - A Farmer’s Share’ found that a dairy

farmer got 35 per cent of the retail price of a two litre bottle of milk and I currently get around $1.30 for two litres of milk. This means my ‘farmer’s share’ remains about 35 per cent in a $3.68 two litre bottle of milk as recorded by Statistics NZ.

“The NZIER’s ‘Food Prices - A Farmer’s Share’, may provide a model for the Commerce Select Committee to incorporate into its terms of reference. All farmers, whether arable, dairy or sheep and beef, need to be environmentally and economically sustainable.

“Given events of the past few days, you have to seriously ask if the All Blacks jersey is fast becoming the new milk,” Mr Leferink said.

Milk inquiry ‘premature, confusing’

Milk price not just black and white

3

Getting off to the right startGetting off to the right startLance Isbister

Rural Reporter, Ashburton Guardianern

As William Low checked the herd for the third time on Wednesday, the milk tanker had just rolled

down the track with the farm’s irst supply of milk for the season.

At the time 70 of the 630 milking cows were going into the vat.

“It should be a nice safe pick up, you always worry about the irst pick up but the more volume of milk (in the vat) the safer the pick up.”

It’s William’s irst season as a lower order sharemilker on the family farm at Hinds and despite the cold weather which struck several cattle with clinical milk fever over two days, conditions have been ideal for calving.

The mild winter weather has been a dairy farmers’ delight, as the lack of mud has meant mastitis in the herd has been relatively low and their winter feed of kale was abundant.

Sure it’s been a little dry, but William can’t complain especially when the irrigation pond waterline is sitting at a good level, ready for the season ahead.

“The cows put on a lot of condition, I had them on kale and whole-crop silage, even the dryland crops were really good.”

William intends to keep 150

replacements and will use just under 200 cows for colostrum to feed the fresh crop of calves.

He runs early and late calving mobs and the late calvers are just days away from coming off the kale.

The cows which have calved go onto a diet of grass silage and barley and get plenty of minerals such as magnesium.

William’s regime sees him and his two full-time staff members check on the in-calf cows at least four times a day, once at 5.30am, then just after milking (around 8.30am), 2pm and inally at 8.30pm.

Anticipating which cows are ready to calve can be tricky at times, William said some cows may not even look like they’re about to calf and can give him the odd surprise of a new-born on his next return check.

They’ve arti icially inseminated 90 per cent of the herd with Friesian semen, but despite the result of larger calves, William has only had to assist ive of the 180 cows which had calved.

While he has a calf- jack and chains for the dif icult calvings, he prefers to enlist the help of a staff member to mitigate stress when freeing the calf from its mother.

To easily identify which calves belong to which cow, William puts rope necklaces which feature their mother’s number on a tag around their necks.

This makes things much easier for the workers when they pick up the calves later on.

PHOTO LANCE ISBISTER 100811-LI-019

Hinds lower order sharemilker William Low gives a new-born its necklace which identifi es which cow its mother is.

Dairy Industry Restructuring ActDairy Industry Restructuring ActWilly Leferink

Chairperson Federated Farmers’ Dairy Sectionkn

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Lately we have been having a lot of complaints about the price of milk from all directions because of a perceived pivotal role Fonterra has

as the dominant player in the market. A lot of this has to do with the way DIRA is written to control an arti icially created internal market as we produce way in excess of our own demand.

Currently the DIRA is going to be reviewed as it is more than 10 years old and probably slowly getting past its use by date.

The DIRA’s original goal was to promote competition and to force a fair market to operate. It was expected that when ‘enough’ competition was present, the Act would be repealed by sunset clauses incorporated into the Act.

While Fonterra initially picked up 97 per cent of New Zealand’s milk production, it was thought that ‘enough’ competition would exist in a season when Fonterra collected 87.5 per cent of milk in the North Island and “independent processors” collecting at least 65 million kilograms of milksolids (kg/MS) in the South Island with collecting at least 25 million kg/MS outside the boundaries of the Westland Regional Council.

This pro-competition policy worked. More processors have entered the dairy industry since 2001 when there were only three major players: Fonterra, Westland and Tatua. Now there are at least four other independent processors of signi icant size with many smaller ones.

All of these are picking up an increasing share of New Zealand’s milk production and all take, as they are entitled to take, regulated raw milk (DIRA milk). How many though have provided farm gate competition?

DIRA milkEveryone seems to complain that DIRA milk

is priced wrongly. The price is regulated and is currently set at Fonterra’s farm gate price plus ten cents kg/MS to re lect seasonality. Farmers complain that it’s too cheap and are concerned that pro-competition regulations will fragment the industry, much like the meat industry.

Independent processors complain that having to wait until the end of the season to ind the actual price makes it dif icult to make business decisions and adds risk. You have to ask that if it’s too risky, then why do they buy it?

Farmers believe DIRA milk allows independent processors to smooth their supply curves. The ‘October rule’ in DIRA’s regulations ties the amount taken by an independent processor during the whole season to that taken in October. This solution is only partially successful as independent processors are able to alter the amount they take almost up

to delivery, albeit paying a ‘ ine’ to do so in some circumstances.

The quantity of DIRA milk available for independent processors is ixed in DIRA’s Raw Milk Regulations at 600 million litres. The increasing number of independent processors in the market will see milk volumes reaching this limit within the next two seasons.

The sunset clause in the DIRA is also being approached, as more independent processors picked up milk in both islands.

Instead of letting the DIRA follow its planned course, the current Government reviewed the state of competition within the dairy industry.

Government feels the heatThe Government determined that there was still

insuf icient competition to allow DIRA to expire. In May, the DIRA was amended with a new ‘sunset clause’ incorporating Westland Regional Council’s area into the rest of the South Island.

It also lowered the sunset clause trigger to 80 per cent of milk solids collected in both islands.

When these triggers are reached or by the year 2015, DIRA won’t expire but will instead see another review.

In essence, the government got cold feet, so what is ‘enough’ competition? The lowering of the trigger levels increases the market share of independent processors.

If the Raw Milk Regulations remain unchanged this could encourage more independent processors with more takers of DIRA milk leading to excess demand for this milk. What will Government’s response be?

What is the risk of having so many dairy exporters competing with each other in the international market? When the Dairy Board was formed in 1961, there were 168 dairy exporters and dairy farmers were going broke. By 1995 these were consolidated into thirteen companies with further consolidation until Fonterra. Have we learned nothing from history?

Our competition is overseasBeing competitive overseas markets are essential

in order to get high returns. Ninety- ive per cent of New Zealand’s milk production is exported while we produce only around two per cent of the world’s milk. Only smart selling in this big sea brings pro its back to New Zealand.

Smart selling is providing what the customer wants. Innovation, research and development

provide innovative products and these require money, people and ideas to develop. Economies of scale provide the means when combined with international customers who are prepared to pay top dollar for attractive products.

The DIRA allows anyone who wants to set up a business here a rocket ride into the dairy export industry. Are they capable of smart selling and can they return value to farmers?

Structures countBusiness structures count, especially to farmers.

New Zealand agriculture grew on the back of co-operatives because this structure maximises bene its to its members. It’s no surprise that the dairy industry here and overseas still champions this structure.

Fonterra, Tatua and Westland are all co-operatives and all are owned by New Zealand farmers. All bene its from processing and marketing, to research and development, low back to farmer members and their communities. Risks, such as volatility in the market to weather, are carried by all farmers irrespective of the company’s structure.

Corporate business structures by contrast maximise returns back to their owners, shareholders and investors. There is constant tension between the price of the raw product and the pro it being returned by way of a dividend.

Experience from Australia’s ‘milk wars’, highlights that such companies will minimise farm gate prices regardless of the price the product is sold for. What’s evident is that investors don’t tend to live in the rural communities they get product from either; from Queen Street to New York they bene it from someone else’s eff orts.

Some unanswered questions?Did the DIRA really create competition at the farm

gate and at the consumer end as was intended back in 2001

Should independent processors have endless access to milk without their own collection system which means that the supply of milk still comes from Fonterra, meaning less competition at the gate?

Should the milk supplied to independent processors re lect better the Fonterra supply curve?

Ending this article I would like to ask everyone who has an interest in the DIRA to formulate a submission of substance to MAF in Wellington.

You can ind all the documents on its website or go to: http://www.maf.govt.nz/portals/0/documents/news-resources/consult/review-of-raw-milk-regulations.pdf

Cheers, Willy Leferink

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The irst board meeting of the newly elected New Zealand Young Farmers Board was held in Christchurch on August 3. A key agenda item was the election of a new NZYF board chairperson.

The decision was made to change the title of NZYF president to chairperson to bring the organisation into line with other board structures.

Paul Olsen of the Opiki Club in the Taranaki/Manawatu region was elected for a two year term at the recent AGM and was named the new chairperson of the NZYF board.

Paul has been a member of NZYF since 2004 and has worked his way through club and regional executive positions. A passion for the organisation and a desire to give something back meant that Paul hoped to be voted in as chairperson and was “pretty stoked” with landing the top job.

“It’s a bit of an honour to be able to do this job and to be on the board of NZYF, because it’s the members that vote you in here.”

With this is mind Paul hopes to be approachable both to members and to industry partners. During his time on the board he also hopes to see the organisation build on existing foundations and relationships that past board members have developed.

“As an organisation we’re held in a high regard and I believe we can further leverage off this to aid in the future stability, growth and development of NZYF.”

“I’d also like to see membership levels continue to grow while meeting members’ expectations with the aid of the new initiatives that are currently being implemented.”

Paul is operations manager for his family’s farming company that has a dairy farm in Opiki and the Wairarapa along with a potato production operation.

Vanessa Hore, from the Upper Manuherikia Club in Otago/Southland is also beginning a two year term on the board; she was voted in as vice chairperson.

Vanessa hopes to help the organisation maintain stability during a time of rapid growth, while also representing the many female members of NZYF. Vanessa farms merino sheep and beef cattle with her husband Ben.

The NZYF Board is as follows: Chairperson – Paul Olsen; Vice Chairperson – Vanessa Hore; Elected Board Member – Cole Groves; Elected Board Member – Jason Hoyle; Contest Chairman – Bevan Prof it; Co-opted Board Member – Sarah von Dadleszen; Strategic Partner – David Pratt; NZYF CEO – Richard Fitzgerald.

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As we approach the time of peak calving it is important to keep an eye on calf health, and maintain good preventive strategies to avoid

major outbreaks of costly calf diseases.

Calves do not have good immune system function when irst born, and in the irst few months of life.

This situation can be improved by ensuring all calves receive high quality colostrum orally in the irst 12 hours of life to initiate the production of protective antibodies in the calf blood, and for the irst three weeks of life to maintain high levels of protective antibody in the gut environment. Protection against rotavirus can be improved if the cows are vaccinated prior to calving.

Colostrum should be from adult cows and not from heifers. It should be fresh and not contaminated.

Calves’ navels should be dipped with alcohol based iodine as they arrive at the calf shed. It is a good idea to dip navels once daily for a few days especially if the weather is bad. Ensure that the entire navel is covered in iodine. Navel infections can lead to multiple joint infections, liver, bladder and kidney infections.

Calves should be fed at regular times preferably by the same people. The temperature of the milk should ideally be warm, and it is important not to over feed calves. Overfeeding can lead to bloating and diarrhoea.

It is very important to maintain a very high standard of hygiene with feeding utensils. Bacteria can easily survive in milk fat residues on feeding and other equipment. This equipment must be washed twice daily using very hot water and preferably detergents.

At this time it is a good idea to wash all gumboots and protective clothing as well, as these can also be a source of infection to calves.

Calf scours are both preventable and treatable. Prevention revolves around those measures already mentioned, but importantly colostrum feeding is the cornerstone of scour prevention. Good shed hygiene and environmental conditions are also very important.

Draughts are signi icant in the development of calf scours. They must be eliminated at calf level, and this can be done by using solid partitions between pens. These also serve to restrict the low of infective material in air and saliva between calves.

Very young calves (less than one week old) commonly succumb to bacterial diarrhoea and will require luids and antibiotics. Faecal cultures are a good idea to keep a check on the bugs that are circulating in your pens.

Older calves are usually aff ected by viral scours. Fluids are very important at the correct quantities. Most calves respond favourably to luid therapy alone, but if not you should call your vet to discuss possible alternative scour management strategies.

Calves with diarrhoea commonly die from energy de iciency complicated by electrolyte imbalance. While treating calves, keep them well fed with milk in a way that will not interfere with the ability of the abomasum to form a casein clot.

This means using good quality electrolytes and alternating treatments and milk feeds.

Calves that develop scours should be isolated behind solid partitions and remote to other normal calves. Even after they have been treated and have recovered they should not return to the healthy pens, as they remain potentially infectious to normal calves.

Regular disinfection of the calf rearing environment is important to keep the level of bacteria and viruses in the calf ’s environment at low levels.

After one week of age calves should have access to meal and straw. This will help promote development of the rumen which is important to ensure calves grow at correct levels leading up to and after weaning.

Most importantly you should involve your vet in the calf rearing process. This involves regular visits to the calf shed to monitor all calves, diagnose any disease problems, collect appropriate samples and give the right advice.

Best wishes for a successful calf rearing season.

Colostrum feeding is paramount.

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I have just been to Lancaster Pennsylvania (US) to a hoof trimmers’ conference.

I met new people and saw diff erent ways of doing things.

It also reminded me how lucky we are in New Zealand when it comes to the diff erent diseases that other countries battle with that we don’t – things like digital dermatitis and heel erosion which are dif icult diseases to get rid of. They even talk about super foot rot.

This is a severe form of foot rot. The cow loses the claw on that foot and it is obviously very painful. It does happen here in New Zealand, that cows lose their claws but that is usually because of some form of poisoning. When this occurs it often aff ects all claws on the cow whereas the super foot rot aff ects only one claw.

One disease that we do deal with here in New Zealand just like our colleagues overseas is laminitis. It is our biggest challenge especially if we don’t recognise it as a disease. Many of us still call it stone bruising and try to solve the issue with minimising the physical forces on the hooves.

As you probably know, I don’t say that you should or can ignore the

physical aspects of it, but that is only half the story. We do have times when the risk of laminitis is more serious and one of those is calving time.

For a cow to push out a calf through the birth canal the muscles need to get more supple and that is achieved with more luid being sent to the muscles in

the back half of the cow. In particular with heifers it is a very obvious process when you can see the udder swelling up.

Even though this is a necessary process for calving one of the negative side-eff ects is that the luid aff ects the corium (live tissue that grows the hoof) in that it damages the blood vessels in

the corium and you can get little luid blisters in the claw. Damaged blood vessels cause the red colouring and the luid blisters show up as yellow in the

claw.

Obviously we don’t want to stop our cows from calving but we do need to be aware of the elevated risk of laminitis around this time. Because of that we need to be more vigilant with the other causes of laminitis. Things like changing the diet too quickly or feeding an imbalanced diet with not enough ibre.

It is also important to keep the stress levels down by not pushing cows in the yard or on the tracks, and not yelling at them or hitting them with a piece of polyethylene pipe.

This is particularly signi icant for heifers because they are under a lot of stress already. They have never calved before so there are big hormonal changes, they have never had to walk twice a day to the cow shed before, they have never been milked before and they never had to be in competition with older more dominant cows before.

Keeping those things in check will help minimise the laminitis in your herd. Usually the laminitis that occurs at calving time doesn’t show up till a couple of months after calving so that is where you will see the biggest diff erence.

Fred HoekstraVeehof Dairy Services

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Keeping stress levels down is important to reduce the likelihood of laminitis - especially in fi rst-time mums.

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It’s a busy time for local irrigation companies, which have been hard at work servicing and installing

irrigation systems for the season ahead.

Rainer Irrigation’s Gavin Briggs said they had more than 4000 metres of centre pivot irrigation to be installed within the next 12 months as well as hundreds of centre pivots and rotorainers to be serviced in that time.

Mr Briggs said on average centre pivot engine rooms could clock up around 500 to 600 working hours in a year so it was important for farmers to ensure their systems were up to scratch to avoid costly problems throughout the irrigation season.

He said Rainer service technicians checked and serviced everything from the centre pivot’s structural soundness and mechanical workings through to its wiring and gearbox oil level.

Mr Briggs said one thing which could be overlooked was the tyre pressures of pivots/laterals and checking the water pressure was also paramount to ensure the system was operating as ef iciently as possible.

“It’s all preventative service so it’s ready to do another 3000 hours a year.”

Mr Briggs said people had been slow to install water meters which will be mandatory on irrigation systems in

October 2012 and urges them to get on the case as soon as possible to avoid strife later when demand could outstrip supply as farmers look to comply with regulations at the eleventh hour.

“There’s going to come a time where if they don’t get organised it will be too late.”

Mr Briggs said some farmers may have been reluctant to buy water meters

because they saw them as another cost to their business, but he believes the water meters are a valuable means of gauging how irrigation pumps were performing.

“Once guys have them in there they realise what it’s worth.”

At this point in time pivots, laterals, rotorainers and guns should be parked up in a safe position. Without water to weigh irrigators down their limsy nature,

in relation to their large wingspan in the face of a howling nor’-wester or in the teeth of a southerly gale, make them prone to be blown over.

Another option is chain/anchor them to the ground. Equally if irrigators are parked in the shelter of trees make sure that the trees themselves don’t become the hazard, with whole trees or large branches falling from wind or snow events.

A hazard often overlooked is the expansion and contraction of metal with temperature change. To give an example an 800 metre pivot facing temperature changes from 30 degrees during a summer day to a bone chilling 15 degree frost can contract up to 500mm over the length of the pivot.

If a pivot is locked or frozen in wheel tracks the stress of the contraction caused by the change in temperature manifests itself in the joints and seals along the pivot. Disconnecting the machine at the hitch and/or one-third of the way out from the pivot allows for the contraction of the steel. If this is impractical operating the pivot once a month will walk the stress out of the pipeline.

The other component of irrigation aff ected by temperature is of course water. It sounds obvious but you need to drain as much water as possible out of all exposed pipes and pumps and ensure no part of the system remains pressurised.

Farmers are urged to install mandatory water meters on their irrigations systems before ECan’s deadline of October 2012 to avoid a bottleneck.

9

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Don’t forget the small diameter pipes that lead to pressure gauges or automatic shut-off components. And if drain plugs and bungs are left out put them somewhere that they can be found again in the spring when you need them.

Open pipes and drains make for inviting hidey holes for a variety of small critters. Often they manage to squeeze in but can’t get back out again. Bits of them are then really good at blocking nozzles or sprinklers at start up time. So to avoid headaches, (yours and theirs) remember to cover any open pipes or drains.

Simple greasing of all moving parts covers two aspects of winter maintenance. Firstly it forces out any water left in the joints, preventing frost damage and secondly it prevents corrosion and moving parts seizing.

To avoid becoming a spring statistic, specialist rural insurer Farmers Mutual Group recommends three key points that irrigators should consider when putting gear away for the winter.

• Make sure irrigators are anchored or tied against the wind.

• Don’t park the irrigator for months on end without moving it.

• Have the service booked in well before the spring start up time.

Getting an irrigator serviced early can identify problems that could become very costly in terms of lost production. Replacement parts can be ordered and repairs and maintenance done on time to avoid down time during the season.

Excluding stock from pump sheds and other areas avoids bored cows chewing or rubbing stray wires. Turning off the mains supply to irrigator controllers conserves energy and also

avoids potentially damaging power surges.

Mostly it is common-sense. The key points to remember are around the weather, wind and temperature, and winter maintenance – keep it moving in a timely fashion.

This will mean your investment dollars are protected and your next season’s production dollars are

safeguarded.

The inal word – this winter is the time to get your water meter installed to beat the expected last-minute rush that will otherwise result next winter, ahead of the November 2012 deadline.

If you have any queries or problems contact your local service provider. They will ensure a smooth start to the next irrigation season.

Hedges can offer rotorainers good protection from howling southerly and nor west winds, just make sure they are trimmed so branches don’t contribute to damage.

10

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Reliable support for the rural community

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Dairy farmers can get hands-on with a new version of DairyNZ’s most popular publication, the Condition

Scoring Made Easy ield guide.

For many years this booklet has assisted farmers to make accurate measurements of cow condition.

Tens of thousands of copies, dog-eared with use, reside in dairy sheds, utes and the back pockets of overalls throughout the country.

First published in 2004, the booklet has been updated as a response to farmer feedback.

DairyNZ principal scientist and co-author of the booklet Dr John Roche said it was a farmer designed booklet.

“At each step of the way, a reference team of farmers were consulted and the makeup of the booklet changed on their advice. I’m really excited by the end result. It was a great team eff ort.”

The new booklet features pictures of Jersey, Holstein-Friesian and Crossbred cows alongside updated descriptors.

“Farmers told us that they would prefer

to see pictures of real animals instead of the computer-generated images in the old booklet,” Dr Roche said.

“We followed a number of cows as they gained condition, making weekly trips to photograph them.

“A number of farmers have given very positive feedback on the inal product, and are really delighted with the quality of the photos. They all believed this would help them condition score cows better and train their staff to do the same.”

DairyNZ’s Condition Scoring Made Easy is free to levy-paying dairy farmers and can be ordered on the DairyNZ website or through the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service on 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969).

New edition of condition scoring guide

Pretty much another awesome spell of winter weather since I last wrote in Dairy Focus. However,

time is getting closer and closer to the inevitable irrigation season and that is not a pretty thought! It is still way too soon to be irrigating – the soil temperature is still too low but it is quite dry.

According to Ken Ring, not much rain is expected this month – or possibly next as well, my advice - get those irrigators ready sooner rather than later!

We are doing all we can to build new systems, maintain existing systems and generally get things ready for the next season. However, all our county requires is a nice spread of 30 to 50mm of rain over the next few weeks and everything will be good - not too much at one time, no snow or horrible winds, is that really too much to ask for?

Most cropping farmers are pretty well up to date with their agricultural work. Most of the winter sown crops have been drilled and the ground conditions have been in good order to allow this to happen.

Most – if not all, cows have come “back home” after their winter grazing away, once again the weather conditions have been superb and cows are in good condition. Calving is now under way.

Let’s hope the weather patterns are suitable over the next few weeks to get everything off to a good start.

The world currency markets are in turmoil. The New Zealand dollar is at igures that are “stratospheric”. Not many

weeks ago our dollar was around the US0.75c we thought – at that time, this is great, however, as we all now realise, that was just the beginning.

Having peaked recently at just above US0.88c, the dollar has “settled down” to the low US0.82c. Where to from here – goodness only knows! Some “experts” are still predicting US0.90c – we shall wait and see – watch this space.

As I have said before, the high exchange rate has certainly helped reduce the costs of most imported goods; our irrigation equipment from our American suppliers is a classic case.

We have containers coming consistently out of Reinke Manufacturing in the USA. We are endeavouring to build all of these systems as soon as they arrive. Luckily we have been able to source extra staff locally, of which we are very grateful of the high calibre of these people, to help us get everything completed in readiness for that irrigation deadline which is getting closer and closer.

An exception to the cost of imported products is the cost of petrol/diesel.

There has been much hype about the cost of a 2 litre bottle of milk in the media recently – demanding reviews on cost structures etc. Yet nothing has been said about the very high cost we are paying for petrol/diesel.

If the dollar drops back, even slightly the cost of a litre of fuel increases by 3 to 5 cents, sometimes more – yet when the exchange rate forces the dollar up, the cost of that same fuel doesn’t really drop accordingly. I dread to think what the cost of fuel would be if the dollar was at US0.50c.

In simple terms we are being ripped off and yet nothing is done about it! The frightening thing also is what would happen to the cost of fertiliser. This product would increase signi icantly if the dollar was at a lower level.

Realistically, our dollar is overvalued; it should be at levels of around the US0.65c. We are an exporting country. I cannot believe that the likes of Fonterra can maintain the high pay out to dairy farmers for very much longer. Yes they have taken currency cover to ensure that the payout remains as high as possible, but this cover cannot remain in place for much longer.

It will be very interesting to see what next year’s payout is going to be. One thing we can be thankful for is the Asian market buying good quantities of our agriculture products, this, in some way, is helping to ensure that there is good demand for our products which also maintains reasonable prices to us.

Until next month, let’s have a little rain – please!

11

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A crisp Canterbury morning surrounded by a border of snow peaked mountains, not a cloud

in the endless blue, the sound of calves beckons me needing their breakfast.

I am reminded that we indeed live in a beautiful country, and the New Zealand dairy industry a food producing powerhouse.

The most exciting aspect of being in a robust industry is the strength of the people and the relationships we build in it.

These important relationships - professional, educational or personal are vital in building a network and the solid foundation from which to grow our businesses.

I decided to join the Dairy Women’s network for this reason.

You may have seen or heard about the Dairy Women’s network, as it has been around since its inception in 1998.

Originally created by New Zealand Dairy women to educate and empower women this has in turn added value and insight into farming businesses nationwide.

As women we are great at networking with each other and sharing knowledge, this gives us the potential to raise our businesses to higher levels of pro itability, by learning with and from others.

We have Dairy Days with topics such as creating cash lows and budgets to personal well-being and health, a national conference with amazing key note speakers, regular meetings on a wide range of topics – the last being on cows, calves, kids and cooking.

As a national network we are privileged to have the support of DairyNZ as well as many other companies that are also partnered with us.

Another side of the network is to create friendships within an industry which can be transient.

It is dif icult when moving into a new community without knowing anyone, I know this feeling all too well.

Isolation and distance can play a major part of feeling down, and to combat this is to have someone to talk to.

One of my favourite sayings is “You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” – AA Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh.

The more I get to know other people in the dairy industry, the more I realise how great creating a wide network is.

The old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know – is true in some respects, but it is also who knows you” this can create future opportunities and open doors.

My invitation to you is this, reach out and move out of your comfort zone and take the opportunities when they rise up to meet you, no matter what your situation may be.

The Dairy Women’s Network is alive and thriving and welcomes you to join us.

To ind a local group please log on to

our website www.womenindairying.org.nz or call Becky on 302-7879 to get onto the email list for up and coming events.

Thank you for reading and remember

“It is your attitude, not aptitude that determines your altitude” – Zig Ziglar

- Mid Canterbury convenors Carol Wilson and Becky Miller

The old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know – is true in some respects, but it is also who knows you”.

12

Calf rearing - the ten demandmentsCalf rearing - the ten demandments

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So what are the musts of good calf rearing?

• Must rear a good quality heifer replacement

• Must “dispose” of surplus calves in a good husband like manner

• Must have good facilities for calves and staff

• Must have quality staff who are valued

• Must have good disease prevention strategy

• Must have a healthy herd;• Must have good co-operation with

the milking staff and owner.

Most of these factors are already well known but in times of inancial stress these principles are often quickly forgotten or compromised.

The important point to remember is that calf rearing does not start in the calf barn but with a healthy herd and good staff .

It is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that calves and staff are well cared for and stress free. “Stress is a stimulant - distress is a disaster”.

The value of colostrumColostrum is the most valuable

nutrient for the newborn calf. It contains high energy levels, growth promoters, vitamins and that vital immunoglobulin

so necessary for the transfer of a passive immunity from disease.

The eff ect of low immunoglobulin on illness and survival are well documented world wide and show similar results.

Care of colostrumFirst day colostrum “Colostrum Gold”

should be collected and stored in a clean drum.

First day colostrum with blood in it or with “clotty mastitis” milk need not be discarded as this will still be high in colostrum antibodies and will do the calf no harm.

Surplus colostrum is best stored in small multiple drums (of not more than 5000 litres) in a cool spot and stirred twice daily. Multiple drums may be needed on big farms.

Storing all the colostrum in one drum is dangerous; if things go wrong large volumes of valuable milk will be lost.

A colostrum keeper can be added to maintain the sterility of the product or each drum can be seeded with a sachet of Ezy-yo. This culture can be transferred from drum to drum as the season goes on.

Non saleable milkThe use of non saleable milk for herd

replacement calves is still controversial. The fear that heifers would calve with mastitis or blind quarters has been

researched throughout the 1970-1980s but results are unclear. Even calves fed milk inoculated with staphylococcus aerous showed no greater incidence of mastitis at calving then controls (Barlo et al 1982).

Similarly the growth rates and the incidence of scours of calves fed mastitic milk before and after antibiotic treatments were similar to those fed saleable milk. However the feeding of antibiotic milk could come under increasing scrutiny for its potential to foster the survival of resistant bacterial species. It is not good practise, but to date nothing to the contrary has been proved.

As a general rule the feeding of antibiotic milk should only be feed to calves over three weeks of age or discarded.

Transport of the calves from the paddock to the barn

The question always is, “How many calves can be carried on a trailer?” Even short distances in an overcrowded or dirty trailer can have a devastating eff ect on the joints and navel cord, leading to Joint Ill, Navel Infection, or Septic Arthritis.

The damage done can be signi icant and is often irreversible. The incidence of navel infection can be as high as 25 per cent and the future of any replacement calf with this infection is in serious doubt. Remember that this is the damage that you can do within the irst hour of you handling that valuable calf.

So take care and give the calves at least 1sq metre of space in the trailer. The bedding should be soft (shavings, straw) and at least 100mm deep. Replace the bedding daily or spray with a good virucidal spray (Virkon).

Viral diseases – prevention and treatments

The majority of infectious agents include Rotavirus, Corona virus and BVD virus. These are most often found as mixed viral infections, or in tandem with Cryptosporidium or Salmonella species.

The predominant virus isolated is Rotavirus. In fact if Rotavirus is absent clinical disease seldom occurs. Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is often the immune depressing factor in an outbreak of Cryptosporidium. In my experience control BVD and Rotavirus

and Crypto will disappear.

Two commercial Rotavirus vaccines (Rotavec/Corona and ScourGuard) are now available in NZ.

The clinical results have been excellent especially in large herds where the disease challenge is greater, and where stock movements have been great.

Other “on farm” practices useful in the control of vial diseases are:

Calf barn well away from the cow shed and feeding pads

1. Control rodents, birds and dogs2. Good ef luent disposal with no

contact with cows faeces and ef luent sprayed paddocks

3. No access to drains or swamps4. Keep dairy staff , bobby calf trucks

and staff out of the calf barn5. A proper spray program of the barn,

feeding utensils and the trailer with a good quality, safe virucidal spray (Virkon) twice a week.

In reality the biggest spreader of disease in the barn is the rearer, so complete control is never possible nor necessary. Where large numbers are reared and the facilities become stressed good disinfection from the start is necessary to minimise the disease challenge especially in the late calves.

The Ten Demandments1. A healthy herd – Vaccinate2. Early colostrum intake – within 6

hours after birth3. Good Housing – separate

replacements – small group pens4. Early disease protection –Medic Alert5. Disease Treatment Protocols For

Scours and Navel infection. Need Thermometers, Syringes and a Tube Feeder

6. Good Quality Electrolytes7. Sodium Bentonite – For Prevention

and Treatment8. Good Quality Meal/Pellets/Fibre9. Good Clean Pasture10. Good Staff – Well Paid and not

required to lift more than 30kg.

Remember that these calves are your best genetic asset and the future herd.

The Key: Calf rearing starts at birth, not 24 hours later.

Dr B. W. Schouten

13

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Prime Minister John Key is looking to allay concerns that Chinese investors want to buy up local farms, maintaining that New Zealand has

control over what ends up in overseas hands.

In a brie ing to reporters last week, the Chinese embassy said New Zealand was an attractive place for investment and Chinese companies were being encouraged to invest in strategic assets like dairy farms.

Foreign investment in strategic assets has been a sensitive issue in recent years. Hong Kong-listed company Natural Dairy was refused consent in December to buy the Crafar family’s inancially troubled dairy farms.

Another Chinese company, Shanghai Pengxin International Group, has lodged an application with the Overseas Investment Of ice to buy the farms.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said China’s “charm off ensive” was smoothing the way for a massive buy-up of state assets and chunks of the dairy industry.

However, Mr Key said New Zealand was able to dictate what areas where foreigners could invest in.

“We’ve changed already once the Overseas Investment Act, and said, in terms of agriculture and farms, you can’t have more than 10,”

“The second thing is we’ve also changed the conditions around the Overseas Investment Act, saying not only the number of farms but you actually have to prove to us you’re adding value.”

Mr Key said he had not speci ically encouraged

investment in meetings in China.

“It’d be the same message that we give anybody internationally which is, for the most part, New Zealand welcomes foreign investment,” he said.

“Where we can see jobs being created, where that capital’s lowing in and lifting productivity, capital investment in companies, for the most part we actually welcome that.”

Agriculture Minister David Carter said he was not concerned by China’s desire to buy New Zealand farms.

“This country was founded on foreign investment. New Zealand has been such a poor saver over decades, this country needs foreign investment,” he said.

“I think many New Zealanders have a fairly racist attitude to foreign investment, particularly when it comes from Asia. I personally don’t.”

The Chinese would be looking at New Zealand farms but they would have to pay an “extraordinarily high price” compared with investing in the rest of the world, he said. - NZPA

New Zealand does have the power to dictate who buys what when it comes to foreign ownership.

14

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The Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Steven Joyce, recently announced the release of two tender documents

for the inal Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) contracts.

The contracts will cover:• 192 schools (predominantly in zone three).• The 60 most remote schools for which a non- ibre,

fast broadband solution is required.• Integrated family healthcare centres in rural areas.• Up to 82 libraries in rural communities.

“When fully implemented, the RBI will mean our rural communities have access to the best healthcare and education services anywhere – barriers of time and space will be almost completely removed.”

Ninety-seven per cent of New Zealand schools will be connected to ultra-fast broadband and the remaining 60 schools that are located in very remote places will have access to improved terrestrial or satellite wireless broadband services.

Mr Joyce said the 192 rural schools in the tender will receive the same services as their urban counterparts and wholesale prices for these connections will be comparable as well.

The government originally budgeted for a higher number of schools in this tender but a further 99 rural schools have since been added by agreement with Telecom under its existing RBI contract, within the budget cap.

“As a result of that saving, we will be able to connect all publicly-funded hospitals and integrated family health centres in rural towns to ibre as well.

Use of this technology has the potential to transform healthcare in this country,” Mr Joyce said.

“The ability to exchange high-resolution images and real time video will make valuable health care services available to rural communities without the need to visit a hospital.”

“Fibre connections to places like Te Puia Springs Hospital will mean that specialist services can be delivered to remote residents from Gisborne or elsewhere in the country. This will save residents having to travel several hours by road to access health services and specialists can spend more time treating patients rather than driving to clinics”, Mr Joyce said.

As part of the Registration of Interest, the government will also connect as many public libraries in rural towns to ultra fast ibre as possible.

“The New Zealand economy depends on the rural sector, and the extension of ultra-fast broadband to rural community hubs like libraries will help keep our rural communities connected to the rest of the world”.

The number of public libraries in rural towns to be connected under the RBI will be based on the remaining budget available after connecting schools and hospitals.

The second Registration of Interest is to connect the inal 60 remote schools to vastly improve broadband using terrestrial wireless or satellite services.

“This tender process is designed to determine the best solution for each school. As a result, it is more than likely that contracts with several suppliers will

be signed.”

A key enhancement of the remote schools broadband policy is the desire to provide surrounding communities with better services. This could be achieved, for example, by providing a wireless broadband service from a hilltop near the school and potentially making the site available to provide improved mobile coverage.

“Contracts for the remote schools are expected to be entered into progressively over the coming months so that these 60 remote schools have access to the improved services by the start of the 2012 school year” Mr Joyce said.

15

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Livestock Improvement Corporation chairman Stuart Bay will retire from the board of the dairy farmer owned co-operative, eff ective June 2012.

Murray King, a farmer director on the LIC Board,

has been named chairman-designate. Mr Bay will have been chairman of LIC for two

terms (eight years), following a similar period of time as deputy chairman. Under his leadership the size of LIC’s business has doubled.

The co-operative’s record performance in

2010/2011, combined with his desire to spend more time with family, marks a natural point at which to hand the baton to a new chairman to guide the organisation through its next phase of growth.

“I have re lected many times on the fact that a good

skipper knows when to go.

“The role of chairman exacts a signi icant cost on families, with time and attention away from home. I recognise this and made a conscious decision that I would choose the point at which I retire so I can spend quality time with my wife, Beth, our sons and grandchildren and devote more time to the farm, my church and charity interests.”

Herd and farm improvement in the blood

Herd and farm improvement is in the Bay blood. After completing a B Agr Science (Hons) at Massey University, Stuart worked with acclaimed industry leader, R. A. Candy, before following in his father’s (David) footsteps with involvement in farmer representation and governance.

Stuart Bay’s CV re lects a career which combined

developing and extending the family’s farming business, with a farmer governance role irst with NZ Dairy Group, then AFFCO, Dairy Meats, Trustbank Waikato, SAITL and LIC.

His career with LIC spanned the full spectrum of

farmer representation, starting with membership of the regional boards which were superseded in 1988 when herd improvement was centralised to one organisation known, in those days, as the Livestock Improvement Association.

He then went on to being a director before being appointed deputy chairman and inally chairman.

“I’ve been honoured and privileged, during

this time, to have the support of the farmers and sharemilkers in my ward who consistently endorsed my involvement throughout 24 years of governance.”

Mr Bay’s retirement comes on a high for the farmer

owned co-operative – not only due to the record result for 2010/2011 but for achievement of key objectives during his leadership.

“There is a huge amount of satisfaction to be gained from being involved in an organisation which has achieved a lot because we have remained committed to a philosophy expressed in the mission statement developed by our forbears in 1939 – to improve the net income (pro it) of New Zealand dairy farmers.

“In my term of of ice I have been privileged to be

involved in some of the most radical advances in the dairy industry – which have delivered, and will continue to deliver, huge bene it to farming families, the industry and the economy for years to come.”

Mr Bay said it was dif icult to isolate “the most

satisfying moments” of his career but said the introduction of the irst breeding index focused on pro it; genomic selection, trading of shares among farmers, and doubling the size of the business over the past ive years were hard to surpass.

First breeding index in the world focused on pro it

“LIC introduced Breeding Worth (BW) at a time when the rest of the world’s dairy nations were evaluating a cow’s worth based on her total production.

“The tendency overseas was large animals which

produced equally large volumes of milk, but in New Zealand we focused our energies on an animal (and a way of evaluating her) based on the pro it she generated.

“BW provides clarity to the country’s National

Breeding Objective enabling farmers to breed pro itable animals which will last in the herd.”

Genomic selection

“The introduction of the irst commercial team of genomically selected dairy sires marked one of the most signi icant evolutions, ever, in animal breeding.

“The launch was an outcome of a hard-won

argument (many years ago) with the then NZ Dairy Board, which opposed our investment in the new science of marker assisted selection.

“The fact that we persevered, and that our

shareholders supported us, enabled a science and technology which will deliver millions of dollars of additional bene it.

World irst - trading among farmers

Mr Bay said it was very gratifying to lead a board which introduced a dual share structure in 2004.

“Our dual share structure enabled farmers to have

real ownership of their co-operative – a move no other herd improvement in the world had ever done although a few dairy co-operatives are now moving in that direction.

“For the past eight years our shareholders have had choice as to whether they want to invest in the future of the company and reap the rewards of capital growth and dividend stream, having a measure of that success when they inevitably leave the co-operative.”

Growth over the past ive years

Mr Bay said it had been gratifying to see the realisation of the vision developed ive years ago when Mark Dewdney was appointed as CEO.

“We have doubled the size of the business in that

time and delivered a diverse range of products and services for customers and, as a result, have achieved record revenue and dividends to our shareholders.

“The company – like the industry – is in great heart

and there will never be a better time to look ahead and plan the Board succession which will ensure that the co-operative goes on to its next phase of growth.”

Stuart Bay - standing down as chairman and board member of Livestock Improvement Corporation.

16

Ravensdown windfall for farmersRavensdown windfall for farmers

New! ADR 500 Effluent Screening Plant

Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-operative said it is handing farmer members a $57 million

windfall after posting a pre-tax operating pro it of $71.6m for the inancial year ending May 31.

The $57m distribution (compared with a $17m payout in 2010) to shareholders was made up of a cash rebate of $15.10 for each tonne of fertiliser purchased ($13 last year) and a fully-imputed bonus share issue of 18 shares a tonne valued at $26.86 (nil last year).

Ravensdown chairman Bill McLeod said they had delivered an outstanding inancial result for shareholders.

It was the highest distribution of cash and shares the cooperative had made in 14 years, and re lected the continued increase in the value of each shareholder’s investment in Ravensdown, which had lifted over the past 10 years by $64 a tonne to $184.

Mr McLeod said the good result was rooted in good commodity prices for meat, wool, dairy and arable produce encouraging farmers to spend more on fertiliser to improve production.

Total revenue for the cooperative increased by 12 per cent to $933m, and sales of fertiliser across the New

Zealand and Australian markets increased by 14 per cent to 1.492m tonnes, with a signi icant portion of the Australian supply manufactured in New Zealand.

Total assets grew strongly to $786m, an increase of $95m on the previous year.

Mr McLeod said the co-operative’s expansion into Australia made historical balance sheet comparisons more dif icult.

“Our May balance date is in the middle of the Australian fertiliser application season, resulting in stock levels being much higher at this time of year than when we operated only in New Zealand,” he said.

The company’s expansion of businesses across the Tasman had created a base “from which we will deliver growth and inancial return for shareholders in the longer term”.

But he also noted that Ravensdown’s

operations in Western Australia and Queensland experienced dif icult trading conditions.

“In Western Australia the droughts continued, breaking only after the end of our inancial year. This had a negative impact on performance there,” he said.

“In Queensland we had the opposite situation where we had the worst rainy period that growers could remember, resulting in a lot of sugar cane not being harvested and little fertiliser being applied”.

During the year Ravensdown bought 50 per cent of Direct Farm Inputs, a fertiliser operation in south-east Australia.

Mr McLeod said eff orts to ensure stock had been purchased to meet increasing demand had resulted in a reduced operating cash low of $13m compared with $131m for the previous year.

Ravensdown spent $3m to improve the ef iciency and environmental impact of the Ravensbourne works in Otago, and to upgrade stores in New Zealand and Australia.

It had also established Ravensdown Shipping Services to improve international logistics.

- NZPA

Ravensdown has delivered an outstanding result for shareholders.