dairy news australia april 2012

THE BIG CHEESEValue-addingsurplus milkPaGE 18

WA farmers lock horns with Harvey Milk PaGE 3

4 in 10 farmers vote against levy PAGE 4

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april, 2012 ISSuE 24 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

TaSMaNIaWaNTS YOuDemand outstrips supplyPaGES 8-9

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NEWS // 3

Northern Victorian farmer Rick Cross is pleased with his new Kubota tractor, having used Massey Fergusons all his life. PG.30

Western Victorian farmers Jason and Abby Burleigh added toys to their calving shed with good results. PG.26

The Marks family in northern NSW take pride in their pasture grown in a 3500mm rainfall area. PG.20

NEWS ��3-15

OPINION �� 16-17

aGRIBuSINESS ��18-19

MaNaGEMENT �� 20-25

aNIMaL HEaLTH ��26-29

MaCHINERY & PROduCTS ��30-33

MOTORING ��34

Twenty photos have been shortlisted from 60 entries in the Best Dairy Farm photo competition of the 2012 Great South West Dairy awards. Organisers received a record 80 nominations across the five major categories, including employer and employee of the year. The awards night will be held at Glenormiston College on april 26. photo: Brendan Eccles.

GORdON COLLIE

daIRY faRMERS in Western Australia have reconvened their col-lective bargaining group to negotiate with Harvey Milk over supply con-tracts they say are an unfair exercise of company power.

New contracts effectively locked farmers into supplying for two years, said the bargaining group chairman Mike Norton.

Harvey Fresh wanted to assure their milk supply and prevent farm-ers being cherry picked by rival pro-cessors.

Norton said the contracts were one sided, offering farmers only an indicative price for six months at a time.

“They announce a summer and winter price, but they reserve the right to change it,” he said.

“It’s a convoluted process to get out of these new contracts.”

Their validity has been ques-tioned in a legal opinion provided by the WA Farmers Federation.

There had been no response yet from the company to a letter of con-cern written by the WA Farmers Dairy Section.

Some farmers were noting when they signed the contracts, they were doing so under duress.

Norton, a Harvey Milk supplier from Capel, said he had not signed one of the new contracts.

The collective bargaining group was revived to comply with Federal Trade Practices legislation at a meet-

ing held in Boyanup on March 26.All farmers had been written to as

part of a datebase update and about half of the Harvey Milk’s 72 suppliers were registered members.

Norton said farmers had previ-ously enjoyed a good relationship with Harvey Milk which had signif-icantly increased its processing vol-umes in the last few years.

“I am confident that common sense will prevail and we can work though this issue with the company and come up with a contract struc-ture that is suitable to both par-ties. The quicker we can do this the better.”

Norton said the new contracts were eroding confidence of produc-ers which was already at a low ebb.

“We can’t afford to lose any

more suppliers. WA production has dropped about 8% in the past 12 months and contracts like this just don’t help,” Norton said.

WA was now down to about 160 dairy farmers and another proces-sor was already trucking four road trains of milk a week across from South Australia.

Norton said there had been ongoing talk in the west of Chinese involvement in the industry.

A major dairy of about 1000 cows has been purchased by Chinese interests with others believed to be under negotiation to supply a new milk powder plant.

But there was no excitement among farmers about the milk prices the Chinese would be prepared to pay.

WA farmers in contractbattle with Harvey Milk


4 // NEWS

THE daIRY levy will increase by 10% over the next five years despite the opposition of 40% of voting dairy farmers.

From July 1, dairy farmers will con-tribute .00352 cents a litre - a rise of $320 per one million litres of milk pro-duced.

The results of Dairy Poll 2012 were announced last month and show 60.13% of the total votes validly cast were in favour of an increase in the Dairy Ser-vice Levy.

This comprised 54.05% of votes in favour of a 10% rise and 6.08% in favour of a 15% increase. The no levy option received 39.87% of the vote.

The levy funds a range of industry services including on-farm research and development into pasture productivity,

cow productivity, management of grains and farm systems.

Other services include indus-try protection and promotion, issues management, market analysis, health and nutrition research and initiatives to attract, retain and develop people across the supply chain.

About 42% of farmers voted, with 30 million votes eligible. There was a valid return of 50.86% of the available number of votes.

Dairy Australia chairman Max Rob-erts said this was an encouraging voter turnout that compared favourably to voter numbers in similar polls by other Rural Development Corporations.

“Voting for a levy increase this time was a much harder ask for farmers than in 2007 when 32% voted against main-

taining the levy rate, which was the rec-ommended option on that occasion,” Roberts said.

“We are satisfied with these num-bers.”

It was a nervous wait for the results for the Australian Dairy Farmers and Dairy Australia boards, as farmers voiced their displeasure about not having a status quo option.

Farmers believed an increase of 10% was too much in the current uncertain economic times, with some voting no when they would have voted for status quo if the option was available.

Nullawarre farmer Michael Spitse and Noorat’s Edward Conheady gath-ered a petition of 126 signatures from Western Victoria late last year calling for a status quo option.

The petition was presented at the Dairy Australia AGM last year.

Conheady, a prom-inent industry figure who operates major operations at Noorat and Garvoc, said farmers were still recovering from a 40% drop in the milk price 2.5 years ago.

He said most farmers would fund DA but they couldn’t afford to pay more right now.

Dairy Australia will forward the results of the ballot and its recommen-dation to increase the levy rate by 10%, in line with the result, to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Senator, Joe Ludwig.

“A formal determination will then

be made as to the next levy rate.”

Australian Dairy Farmers president, and chairman of the Dairy Poll Advi-sory Committee, Chris Griffin, said the increased levy revenue will allow Dairy Australia to continue the scale of invest-ment and services required to guarantee the future success of the dairy industry.

Voting was conducted between Feb-ruary 3 and March 16, while 51 Dairy Poll meetings were held around the country in January and February this year.

40% say no but levy to rise

daIRY auSTRaLIa will continue to investigate new ways of engaging with its levy-paying farmers, says managing director Ian Halliday.

DA has been accused of poor communication towards its farmers and State representative bodies both before and after the recent levy poll.

Despite a wealth of information on the DA website, information sent by post, an extensive extension program and Regional Development Programs in each major dairying area, some farmers believed they weren’t getting value for their levy.

This contributed to the 40% no vote in the recent poll.

NSW Farmers Dairy Committee chair, Terry Toohey, while welcoming the successful vote, said the number of voters and those that voted against the increase should be noted by Dairy

Australia. “This reflects some of the sentiment we have heard through our membership within the NSW Farm-ers,” Toohey said.

“Dairy Australia must improve its communication to grassroots members, it must develop the programs and provide for their needs on farm, or there may be some questions at the next vote.”

The Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation says the 10% increase is manageable, but Dairy Australia needed to improve its relationship with farmers.

QDO president Brian Tessmann told ABC Radio there are problems.

“There are probably some communication issues with Dairy Australia,” he said.

“I think they would have to admit that communication with the farm gate, both two-way, getting information back

from the farm gate and with people like the advocacy bodies like QDO, needs to be improved.”

Halliday said the DA website was well regarded – the People in Dairy website had 100,000 hits and

60,000 documents downloaded – but they would investigate new ways of promotion.

“There will be opportunities with smart phones, greater use of emails and even the NBN to help promote our messages,” Halliday said.

“We have been reducing the number

of hard copies sent out because people don’t have time to read them. We may alert people through smart phones to the information on our website.”

Halliday said the best form of communication was “one on one” but

that this was a two-way street. The DA board conducted 52 levy presentations in the lead-up to the poll and less than 10% of farmers attended.

“People came up to me after the presentation and said they were going to vote no but that the

presentation had changed their mind and they would vote 10%.”

Halliday said DA and the RDPs would investigate how they could engage better with farmers.

“It’s not just about communication, it’s about engagement,” he said.

Halliday said the DA board was

satisfied with the result as it enables them to deliver their five-year plan and have reserves for unknown issues that will face the industry.

Toohey said despite a full year since Coles initiated its $1 discount milk strategy, and the continuing pressure this campaign has placed on farmers, it was reassuring that farmers were willing to dip into their own pockets.

“This increase will allow the industry’s research, development and marketing body to continue the investment and services function for the betterment of the industry,” Toohey said.

With decreasing government fund-ing, pressure from markets and increas-ing compliance costs, Toohey said it was important that dairy farmers had a strong, relevant industry body that could provide that support to industry.

Vote over, hard work begins: Halliday

THE BIG CHEESEValue-addingsurplus milkPaGE 18

WA farmers lock horns with Harvey Milk PaGE 3

4 in 10 farmers vote against levy PAGE 4

LEVY SPLIT

*

april, 2012 ISSuE 24 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

TaSMaNIaWaNTS YOuDemand outstrips supplyPaGES 8-9

001.indd 1

4/04/12 1:21 PM

Halliday said the best form of communication was “one on one” but that this was a two-way street.

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NEWS // 5

GORdON COLLIE

NORTHERN daIRY producers are braced for further erosion in farm gate returns as the fallout from supermarket milk discounting continues to reverber-ate more than 12 months on.

“There have already been cuts in farm contract prices this year and the pressure is really on,” NSW Farmers Dairy chairman Terry Toohey said.

Milk processors were also being severely squeezed by the unsustainable supermarket tactics.

Processor Lion, formerly National Foods, has made billion dollar write-downs in its asset values and, with the loss of home brand supply contracts, would be looking to reduce its milk intake.

Toohey said it was likely in new con-tracts from July that farmers would be offered a reduced percentage of tier one milk – effectively a cut in earnings even if the price per litre remained the same.

“I expect we will end up back in arbi-tration again,” said the Casino farmer who supplies Lion through the Dairy

Farmers Milk Cooperative (DFMC).“It has happened as we said it would.

Farmers in NSW have had their returns cut by $15 million since the supermar-

kets dropped the price on home brand milk last year.

“And it looks like continuing. With no action following the Senate inquiry

there is not much prospect of things improving in the short term.”

DFMC chairman Ian Zandstra said farmers and processors were doing

it tough as the value of dairy product brands had been hammered by the major chains.

Zandstra said producers in Queensland and also NSW were also suffering from a steady move of milk product processing towards Victoria which was also putting pressure on prices.

“And we can expect more prod-uct brand devaluing to come with the launch of a new mid-price cheese label by Coles,” Zandstra said.

“In the past the industry has relied on the premium product brand returns to support prices.

“Consumers might be enjoying cheaper home brand milk in the short term, but ultimately they will pay for the long term damage being done.”

Selling milk for $1 a litre was not viable and the tactic was to use milk as a loss leader to attract supermarket cus-tomers, he said.

“The low returns and bleak out-look is really affecting morale and con-fidence in the dairy industry. Farmers are having to hang on and do the same job with less revenue. It’s very tough.”

Northern farmers preparefor tier one milk reduction

PROCESSORS WILL contribute $1.125 million for the proposed restructured Australian Dairy Farmers, enabling a similar amount to be used at a State level.

State farmer organisations will vote on the implementation of a new-look Australian Dairy Farmers at the end of the month.

If passed, it would come into effect on May 1.

Changes to the constitution, which would see two types of ADF members – state farmer organisations and individual farmers – would require 75% member support.

Current members are the six State farm groups but support from all groups has not been guaranteed.

The West Australian Farmers Federation tendered its resignation of ADF, effective in 12 months, in December while the SA Dairy Farmers Association did the same late last month.

South Australian Dairyfarmers Association president David Basham told ABC Radio the new structure for the national lobby group would give SA farmers, who produce 6% of the nation’s milk, limited representation.

The restructure would reduce the number of ADF board members from 15 to five, of which four would be dairy farmers.

“We just don’t think that four-man board is the appropriate representation,” Basham said.

“Farmers need to have the ability to know someone that is representing them.”

Basham’s concerns centre on the change from 14 members on a national board to a national council with 14 members, which feeds information to a five-person national board, including one independent director.

The first directors will be Chris Griffin and Noel Campbell from Victoria, Peter Evans from WA and Roger Swain from Tasmania. An independent director has been advertised.

ADF CEO Natalie Collard said the smaller board would focus on strategy and oversight of ADF operations.

The National Council would have

representatives from the State groups and would be tasked with providing input on strategic direction and policy matters.

The proposed Policy Advisory Groups would be open to all farmers, who would be selected for expertise and interest.

Collard said the cost of bringing the current 14-member board together meant it met only four times a year and rubber stamped decisions that had already been implemented.

Under the original plan, farmer memberships of the national and state organisations would have been fully funded for the first two years by processors and partially funded for a further two years.

Under the new proposal, the processors directly contribute to the Australian Dairy Industry Council for advocacy and policy work done on behalf of the whole industry.

This work, including funding the fight against the supermarkets last year, would be funded by processors while the $1.125 million funded by State farmer organisations and investment dividends would be used for farmer-related activities.

Collard said this would include returning money to the State organisations to help them increase membership, as well as a project fund of $300,000 per annum, where each state can apply for funding from between $2000 and $40,000.

Processors increase ADF funding

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6 // NEWS

INTERNaTIONaL MILk prices in a global auction rose for the first time in two months earlier this month.

The first global Dairy Trade (gDT) auction of the month – and the first to include Arla and Murray Goulburn – saw the gDT Trade Weighted Index rise 1.5%, with an average sell-ing price of $3277/tonne.

The Trade Weighted Index covers a range of 30 products and contract periods on offer. It was the first rise in the index since mid-January.

The largest rise in price were for cheese, anhy-drous milk fat, and milk protein concentrate, with small falls for skim and whole milk powder.

Dairy values overall at the twice-monthly auc-tion rose 1.5%, only their second rise of the year, reflecting rebounds of more than 13% in prices of cheddar cheese, milk protein concentrate and rennet casein from the last session.

However, skim milk powder prices fell 0.8% to their weakest since December 2010.

Whole milk powder prices dropped 2.8% to their lowest since August 2010, and down 30% from a peak in March 2011.

The index has fallen around 30% since hitting a near four-year peak in March last year as global commodity prices have retreated.

Murray Goulburn offered lactose, a new product for the platform. Murray Goulburn, offering lactose through the auction, sold product for June delivery at $1.930 a tonne.

Arla, a Danish, Swedish and German dairy farmer-owned co-op, has factories in 14 countries.

GDT said with existing platform members Fon-terra and Dairy America, it now offers product from all major dairy exporting regions: Europe, America, Australia and New Zea-land, with three sellers of skim milk powder deepen-ing liquidity.

Fonterra holds two auc-tions a month, with the next one on April 17.

Full details of the auc-tion are at: www.global-dairytrade.info

Falling milk prices take gloss off auction rise

aBOuT 145 dairy farms in northern Victoria and southern NSW were affected by the recent floods, with at least 60% of those underwater for at least 24 hours.

Farmers are now deal-ing with mastitis and lame-ness and have started resowing pastures, fencing and repairing laneways.

Grants of $25,000 have been issued by the State and Federal Governments to farmers in the Moira and Shepparton Shires in northern Victoria.

These can be used to re-sow permanent pas-tures, annual pastures and crops.

However, flood-affected farmers in the

Towong, Indigo, Campaspe and East Gippsland shires have been left to fend for themselves as they strug-gle to re-sow drowned pas-tures, rebuild fences, farm tracks, bridges and other farm infrastructure. The Victorian Farmers Federation has asked both governments to extend the availability of the grants.

“It’s silly and frustrat-ing that farmers miss out because of lines on maps,” VFF president Andrew Broad said. “Farmers have repeatedly told us these grants are the most valuable assistance governments can deliver, rather than offers of con-cessional loans.”

Further information on

grants for flood affected farmers can be found at www.ruralfinance.com.au

The flooding in north-ern Victoria, the River-ina and northern NSW is already having an impact on the hay market.

The Australian Fodder Industry Association said the supply pressure in NSW for lucerne hay may

be felt for some time as the flooded lucerne stands cannot be sowed back to lucerne until 2013.

It said the flooded stand will need a crop of cereal to break the weed threat that would choke young lucerne seedlings, were they sown now.

Water receding from flooded lucerne river flats throughout the Riverina and northern Victoria is revealing stands that have been totally destroyed.

Those with stands on higher ground have been more fortunate, only losing small percentages of pad-docks.

With large acreages of lucerne suddenly taken out of production, supply will be affected, the AFIA said.

Many growers affected had told the AFIA they still had two cuts to harvest for hay production.

Some summer crops have also been lost to excessive rain in the north coast of NSW and around Gympie, Qld.

The AFIA said the short term need for fodder fol-lowing localised flooding in Queensland has started to settle but producers are struggling to make high quality lucerne hay this summer.

Emergency funding call asflood clean-up continues

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NEWS // 7

LIz COTTON

HELPING aSSIST dairy farmers to make economical and evidence-based treatment decisions for their herds could lead to valuable financial and herd health outcomes.

Final year veterinary student Katherine Snell, Merrigum, the winner of this year’s $10,000 Greenham Dairy Scholarship, has recently returned from Michigan in the United States where she worked at one of the country’s largest dairies, Green Meadow Farms.

One of the most interesting features of the 3000-head dairy – also the largest Holstein stud in the US – was the on-site comprehensive hospital and treat-ment facility for cows complete with 16 intensive-care pens, which “allowed for insights into effective and economical herd treatment options”.

“During my visit, I was able to follow a cow through from initial presentation, take her response to treatment, see her return to the barn she came from and monitor her production,” Snell said.

“This gave a valuable insight to response to treatment and also if the actions had been an economical decision for the producer, as it was still a family owned business.”

Snell said the same thinking could be applied to Australian dairy herds.

“Often the value of the cow and milk prices leads farmers to choose high end treatments, especially if there is a good chance of the cow returning to full production.

“However, this is not always the case, there are some cows that will have a poor or no response to treatment and an economical decision for the producer would be to cull or sell the cow as soon as possible.”

Dairy hospitals are becoming an increasingly prominent feature in a number of large-scale dairy farms in the US.

Green Meadow Farms’ facility employs full-time veterinary staff to perform caesareans and treat metabolic diseases, lameness and mastitis.

“Due to the nature and scale of the dairy, which was a high input/high output system completely reliant on

good management techniques and fully operational feeding systems, any small change to the cow’s diet or environment could potentially cause a huge upset to the cow’s metabolism and she would go downhill very quickly,” Snell explained.

“The cows were monitored a lot closer in the barn system, compared with more extensive pasture based systems, which allowed the workers to detect problems in the early stages.

“Area managers were trained to watch for common diseases for each stage of lactation.

“Along with the housing conditions, there were more toxic mastitis cases that required urgent medical attention.

“It was a 50:50 success rate with these with cows on fluids, pain relief and often prolonged stays in the hospital.”

The herd at Green Meadow Farms is dry lot-fed year-round and milking

is 24 hours a day by two teams working in 12-hour shifts.

The dairy employs up to 80 people including managers, each with a team of staff for mid-lactation, maternity,

calving, calf rearing, feeding, dry cow transition and young stock.

Calving year round and using fixed-time artificial insemination after a pre-synch Ovsych program, the herd produces 77,111kg of milk solids per day.

Snell, 23, is due to complete her

Bachelor of Veterinary Biology and Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, in July.

She hopes to use part of the scholarship to return to North America to attend the annual conference of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners to be held in Montreal, Canada in September, and also hopes to go to Europe for a study tour.

‘‘It’s good to be at the forefront of the industry, to see what other countries are doing

and look at how we may be able to integrate some aspects into Australia,” she said.

She hopes to practice in rural Australia, particularly in large-scale dairy areas and said working as a large animal veterinarian, specialising

in cattle and the dairy industry was “natural progression” from growing up on her family’s dairy farm near Merrigum.

“Australian dairy farmers are very forward in their thinking and adopting of new technologies.

“I find dairy farmers are always keen to have you on farm and discuss with you the workings of their enterprise, and often take great pride in doing so.

“It gives a great sense of satisfaction to know that you have not just helped out with their business, but also with a part of their livelihood.”The Greenham Dairy scholarship is open to those between 17 to 45 years who are immediate family members and employees of anyone who has sold cattle to HW Greenham and Sons at Tongala, and who wish to undertake formal study relating to the dairy industry.

Young vet brings US insights home

The Michigan, US, dairy farm Snell worked on had an on-site comprehensive hospital and treatment facility for cows complete with 16 intensive-care pens.

Katherine Snell, on her family farm at Merrigum, Victoria, recently won the $10,000 Greenham Dairy Scholarship.

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8 // NEWS: TaSMaNIaN ExPaNSION

Tasmanian Dairy Business of the Year.

The Archers own prop-erty at Smithton, which operates on a 50:50 agree-ment with a share farmer, and have recently entered into their third share-farming agreement on a newly converted farm at Symons Plains.

Share farming is an ideal way to expand a stake in the state’s growing dairy industry, says Grant.

“It gives you a chance to grow your business without having to make a huge investment, and at the same time you can make a good return,” he said.

The award-winning farm at Cressy had been cropped since 2002 before being recommissioned for dairying in 2008-09 as a 50:50 share farm.

When they became involved, the Archers found a property with poor soil fertility but thanks to a regeneration project that included upgrades to lanes, the dairy, fenc-ing and pastures, along with the introduction of centre pivot irrigation, their fortunes were quickly reversed.

In 2011 they were able to achieve a 20% return on capital, thanks largely to a high stocking rate which has now grown to 3.7 cows per hectare with good seasonal conditions and improved milk prices.

Over the past three sea-sons the farm has been able to increase produc-tion from 150,288kg of milk solids to 217,005kg/MS. More than 90% of the farm has access to irriga-tion.

Production per cow and per hectare has consis-tently increased over the past three years.

Along with the high stocking rate, the farm now employs a 16-hour milking rotation. Archer said this has resulted in considerable savings in labour, maintenance and running costs but no draw-backs in production.

“The cows are the main beneficiaries. They seem happier and have more energy,” he said.

About 75% of the cows’

diet is pasture-based and Grant said growing and utilising good pastures was the key to the farm’s suc-cess.

Grant sees the award as an important impetus to dairying in the north-ern midlands area. “It puts the area on the map as a potentially strong dairying area. It shows the strength of dairying and will hope-fully bring more to the region.

“The midlands water scheme will open up a lot of new opportunities,” he said.

The Symons Plains farm has also been con-verted from cropping to dairying, thanks to help from four centre pivots. It is now milking 880 cows and progressing well and production is currently 7% ahead of budget.

“The owner wasn’t happy with the long-term sustainability of cropping so decided to change to dairying, which is where we came in,” Archer said.

“We’re providing the cattle, machinery and labour. We’ve got a man-ager and assistant manager on each of the farms. It is important to have people skills and have the right people in the right jobs. There is a bit of a shortage of quality people to run a large operation so there are a lot of opportunities at the moment.”

About 1/8th of the farm will remain dedicated to cropping.

The Archers’ own farm at Smithton continues to produce good results, and they enjoy being on the other side of the share farming ledger.

Archer was previously involved in a share farming arrangement on his par-ents’ dairy farm, which he eventually purchased.

He maintains a good share farming agree-ment is a good way for young farmers to progress towards ownership.

“You have to have the principals of farming in place to be successful,” he said. “Being willing to compromise and have an understanding of each par-ty’s wants and needs is the most important thing.”

RICk BaYNE

GRaNT aRCHER is doing his bit on three dif-ferent fronts to help the expansion of the dairy industry in Tasmania.

Grant and his wife Kim are now involved in three separate share-farm-ing agreements, includ-ing one arrangement near Cressy that earned them the 2011 Tasmanian Share Dairy Farmers award and the business as a whole recently was named the

Archers expand through share farming

Grant archer, who with his wife Kim, is involved in three separate share-farming agreements.

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NEWS: TaSMaNIaN ExPaNSION // 9

Tasmania needs 20 new farms annuallyRICk BaYNE

Dairy processors are pour-ing millions of dollars into infrastructure in Tasmania and irrigation systems are opening up new dairying opportunities…now more farmers are needed to take advantage of this growth.

Industry leaders say the state will need to supply 40% more milk within the next four years to meet processor demand, which means up to 20 new dairy farms per year will need to come on board.

Already some cropping and beef operators are seeing the financial benefits of converting to dairy and the industry is encouraging others to follow suit.

The northern Midlands and north-east areas of the state are seen as most likely to host future dairy opportunities.

DairyTas CEO Mark Smith said growth needed to sustain the dairy processors’ expansion could not be achieved within current dairy areas.

“We are achieving growth of 3-4% on an average dairy farm but we need 7-8% to keep the processing companies operating at sufficient capacity,” Smith said.

The introduction of irrigation in northern Midlands and north-east regions has helped to turn non-traditional dairying areas into land suitable for dairy expansion, he said.

“Without irrigation it wouldn’t be possible,” Smith said. “It is a bit drier and hotter and the soil isn’t as fertile as land further south but with irrigation it is quite viable.

“Already we have examples of farms around Cressy that have been successfully converted from broad acre cropping and livestock to dairy.

“This has been done in partnerships between owners and managers with dairy experience and they are showing what can be done with the land. The development of water resources has opened up some exciting opportunities.”

DairyTas Chairman Paul Bennett said the influx of new and expanded processors was a shot in the arm for the Tasmanian dairy industry and dairy farmers needed to respond to the challenge by supplying more milk.

“It is the first time in my time in dairying where I can choose which supply company to go to, but there’s not really a push to get extra cows in here,” he said.

Bennett said the invest-ment by processors was good for the industry and needed to be matched on the land.

“It’s good as it drives competition for prices but the processors need to see a return on their invest-ment and need to be oper-ating at 80-85% capacity,” he said.

“They have elected to come here because they realise dairy is a natural fit in Tasmania. I’d certainly like to see another 40 or 50 dairy farms come in.

“We’ve seen a few start-ups in traditional sheep territory in the Midlands, so we have the prototype there for others to follow. They see good opportuni-ties in dairy.”

However, Bennett warned that many older dairy farmers were looking to exit the industry.

“We have probably 50 farms on the market at the moment, so we need to replace those farmers and at the same time encour-age more into the indus-try.”

Tasmanian Premier, Lara Giddings said a new AgriTas training college and $1.5 million to construct new power lines would allow for the creation of more dairy farms.

She also opened a new $4 million Cape Barren dairy at Woolnorth, which was a prelude to the Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) company’s future expan-sion plans in the region.

Last year VDL announced a $180 million investment to treble pro-duction at what is already Australia’s largest dairy farm.

Other dairy invest-ments include:

■ Fonterra’s $6.5 mil-lion gas conversion at Spreyton and $12 mil-lion upgrade of its

Wynyard cheese plant ■ National Foods invest-

ing $150 million expanding and mod-ernising its Burnie and King Island specialty

cheese plants ■ Tasmanian Dairy Prod-

ucts plans to build a $60 million milk powder plant in Circu-lar Head

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10 // NEWS: MdBa

THE VICTORIaN Farm-ers Federation has ques-tioned the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA) consultation process after it agreed to hold a public meeting in Adelaide. VFF president Andrew Broad said he was con-cerned that populist opinion was driving the MDBA’s decisions, with the Adelaide meeting requested by Australian Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young. “The VFF repeatedly asked for more public meetings to be held in Victoria, par-ticularly in Echuca, which is the heart of the Victo-rian part of the Basin,” Broad said. Broad said he had made a personal request to MDBA Chair Craig Knowles for a public meeting in Echuca, and that the VFF had also

provided formal written requests to the Authority.

The Shire of Campaspe was also strongly pushing for a meeting. However, the MDBA only agreed to provide the Echuca community with “open house” consulta-tion.

“We have been ignored for the sake of votes,” Broad said.

“Water-dependent communities like Echuca are facing an uncertain future due to the Basin Plan and shouldn’t be over-looked at the expense of an area surrounded by mar-ginal seats in Parliament.

“Why should we trust a consultation process where the opportunity for basin communities to meet with the MDBA Chair is traded off against public opinion?”

MDBA putspolitics overcommunity

THE NaTIONaL Irrigators’ Council (NIC) is calling on the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to release the promised multiple benefit study being conducted by the CSIRO to provide

stakeholders time to analyse its findings.

NIC CEO, Tom Chesson, said the MDBA had rightly recognised that more work needed to be done on valuing the benefits of the Basin

Calls for release ofeconomic analysis

Plan and held the CSIRO project up as addressing the shortfall.

“Last November the MDBA released a social and economic analysis that recognised ‘inherent’ limitations in existing work on the benefits of the Basin Plan but said the CSIRO project was underway to improve knowledge,” Chesson said.

“Four months later and we are still waiting.

“How will stakeholders have time to analyse the findings of this study before the close of the submission period?

“More importantly, how will the MDBA have time to analyse the study and consider its findings in the preparation of the final Basin Plan.

“The MDBA is continuing on its merry way, preparing the Basin Plan with incomplete socio-economic analysis based on the presumption that the benefits of the Basin Plan outweigh the costs.

“But most of those

‘benefits’ are what is called ‘non-use’ values which, to put in laymen’s terms, is that nice feeling you get when you think of a free flowing Murray River and has absolutely nothing to do with economic productivity or community wellbeing.”

Chesson said the NIC encouraged MDBA board member Diana Gibbs to make good on her promise that more economic studies would be released.

“Ms Gibbs reportedly told ABC News in January that she had ordered more economic studies and more work that hadn’t been made public would be ‘coming on stream’ in February – which has now passed with no economic studies released.

“It is time the MDBA was upfront and provided us all the information they have – even if it is in draft form – so we can judge for ourselves if there are benefits to be had from stripping productivity out of our regional communities.”

StockfeedContinued strong global demand for dairy products is driving a trend to more intensive dairy systems, which usually means additional feed inputs. To ensure that bought-in stockfeed is adding to profitability, not just costs, requires a deeper understanding of feed costs and feed utilisation. In the May issue, Dairy News will report on this growing sector within the industry.

next issue: may2012


NEWS // 11

ONE-WOMaN daIRY dynamo Ferial Zekiman claimed the country’s top cheese title, ‘Grand Cham-pion’, for her iconic hand-made Maffra Cloth Aged Cheddar at the Dairy Australia 2012 Austra-lian Grand Dairy Awards (AGDA), held in Mel-bourne last month.

Nineteen Champions and two Grand Champi-ons were awarded in front of members and support-ers of the dairy industry from around the country.

Using the milk from her Holstein Friesian herd at Tinamba, in the heart of Gippsland’s dairy country, The Maffra Cheese Com-pany creates the excep-tional range of cheddars and other cheeses that have earned them an envi-able reputation among artisan cheese-makers. The cheese is ripened under cloth to allow a thin rind to form and is then carefully matured for 18 to 24 months.

Judges said it had a moist and crumbly pro-file with slightly sweet and slightly fruity upfront fla-vours, balanced by com-plex savoury after-tones. The 2012 AGDA saw 115 cheeses judged in nine classes with 218 other dairy products such as butter, cream, milk, ice-creams and gelato, des-

serts and yogurts judged in another 11 classes.

Bead Foods won the title for Grand Cham-pion dairy product, for its Gippsland Dairy Pure Double Cream, which also won the same title in 2009.

AGDA’s chief judge, Neil Willman, praised the scope of this year’s awards. “There are winners from all around Australia, from top-quality dairy produce to the very best cheeses available, produced by small family enterprises to large manufacturers,” Willman said.

The 2012 AGDA judging panel included industry experts who underwent rigorous days of judg-ing to decide which prod-uct in each class would be awarded one of 19 Cham-pion gold medals and receive the highly regarded AGDA recognition of qual-ity.

From these 19 Cham-pions, the highest scoring in each category was then chosen for the prestigious title of Grand Champion Cheese product and Grand Champion Dairy product. All winners now have the right to proudly display their AGDA medal for the next three years.

The 2012 AGDA panel of judges was assisted by guest international judge Professor Eric Spinnler

Gippsland cheese maker wins top award

from the Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sci-ences – who emphasised the quality of milk being produced by Australian

dairy farms while apprais-ing all the entries.

“Australia produces some of the finest dairy products in the world,” Professor Spinnler said. Ferial Zekiman with her award

australian Dairy Farmers president Chris Griffin gets his chops around a champ.

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NEWS // 13

CHINa’S ECONOMY is losing momentum but it’s not bad news for dairy exports.

Rabobank head of financial markets research Asia Pacific, Adrian Foster, expects China’s economy to grow 8% over the next two years after peaking at 12% in 2010. He says 11.7 million people are still moving annually to cities in China, opening new markets for dairy products.

“Just keep in mind 650 million Chinese people are yet to move,” he

told the Dairy Business Conference in New Zealand last month. He spoke on ‘State of Play- a global perspective.’

Foster says the Chinese economy faces two big problems: over-supply of property and indebted local government.

“But we should keep these risks in perspective and think about the outlook,” he says. “My view is the combination of the global backdrop, the cyclical risks confronting China’s economy and the underlying factors

JERSEY auSTRaLIa will partner with the Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in a bid to fast-track improvement of the breed.

The move will include a number of initiatives including the Jer-nomics project — a large-scale analysis of genotypes from Jersey bulls and cows across Australia.

Jersey Australia CEO Scott Joynson and his members are excited about the potential of genomic technology to deliver cutting-edge breeding tools that will fast track improvement of the breed.

“We have been involved with the CRC from the sidelines for the past few years,” Joynson said.

“But becoming a supporting participant provides us with the ability to ramp up our involvement and work directly with the Dairy Futures CRC team to improve the attributes of the Jersey breed through genomic technology.

“Our members are voting with their feet and to date have supplied

more than 700 semen samples and 4000 plus cow tail hair samples for analysis.”

Dairy Futures CRC CEO Dr David Nation said the project was already on track to deliver genotypes of more than 3500 Jersey cows and 700 Jersey bulls.

“Genotyping will start during March–April with preliminary breeding values (PDVs) available through ADHIS in May,” Nation said.

Joynson said ABVgs were just the beginning of the industry gaining some exceptionally useful breeding tools that will allow development of an ideal cow for inclusion in a mixed herd.

“Through genomic technology we will be able to deliver exactly the right type of animals to the mix,” he said.

Dairy Futures CRC invests in large-scale research bioscience projects to deliver improved pasture and animal options.

Dairy CRCto analyseJerseygenetics

The project is on track to deliver genotypes of more than 3500 Jersey cows and 700 Jersey bulls.

supporting their trend growth momentum will resolve themselves with growth of circa 8% year-on-year in their economy this year and next.”

He also brushed aside concerns on the US and EU economies. “The

headlines are overstating the negatives.”

Since Greece’s bailout, attention is turning to Italy, the EU’s third largest economy. But Foster believes there’s nothing to worry about.

“Recently the

European Central Bank has provided effectively unlimited liquidity to the eurozone’s financial system and this has seen risks subside noticeably, and will over time support growth in the broader economy. I don’t think a financial crisis is brewing in the EU.”

On the US economy, Foster sees signs the economy is picking up. But until the labour market shows marked improvement, interest rates are likely to remain low for two years.

China slowdown not all bad

Adrian Foster, Rabobank.

“The Chineseeconomy faces two bigproblems: over-supplyof property and indebtedlocal government.”

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14 // NEWS: WORLd

GORdON COLLIE

a RaNGE of innova-tive dairy products from the large multinationals to small specialist play-ers caught the attention of judges at the 2012 World Ag Expo in California.

When it came to select-ing the top 10 from the hundreds of new releases across the agricultural market, recognition went to three dairy products – the DeLaval automatic milking rotary, the Hoof-Tec complete footbath solution and Micro Dairy Logic’s electronic rumina-tion tracking technology.

De Laval introduced its new high capacity auto-matic milking system developed in an inter-national collaborative research effort in Austra-lia.

The company has been a key player in the Future Dairy project at the Uni-versity of Sydney Camden campus and the robotic system has won numerous international accolades since being launched.

Commercial sys-tems are already operat-ing in Australia, Sweden

and Germany, but it is expected to be two years before the first system is installed in the USA.

Louisiana company Hoof-Tec was recognised for its integrated footbath system which features a pre-mixed liquid blend of anti-microbial copper, acids and hoof condition-ing salts and minerals.

Company director Rosemary Smithyman is a passionate advocate of dairy foot health and offers a complete treatment ser-vice with a water-driven micro injection pump ensuring accurate foot-bath formulation.

A fresh footbath of around 200 litres will treat 350 to 500 cows with a typ-ical regime of one milking three days a week.

Hoof-Tec markets across North America with the company keen to gain international penetration, including Australia and New Zealand.

Texan company Micro Dairy Logic received an Ag Expo award for its ai24 SCR HR-Tag.

The electronic neck tag monitors cow rumination patterns – a key indicator of animal health.

Outlook strong but volatileGORdON COLLIE

daIRY faRMERS around the globe will ride a wave of strong but volatile prices for the next five years with markets driven by steady annual growth in demand around 2.5%.

Despite apparent sustained high prices, farm margins are set to remain under pressure with most farmers earning only a modest

return on assets at best.This was the big

picture presented at one of the major dairy farm shows in the US last month at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California.

The massive dairy trade show drew farmers from across North America and around the world to assess the latest and greatest in technology and attend a range of specialist seminars.

A senior agribusiness

analyst with Rabobank, James De Jong, says strong demand growth had seen a convergence of prices with US farmer returns now effectively permanently above support levels and closely aligned with markets in Oceania.

Demand growth for milk powders in Asia was now the key dairy market driver and would continue to be the dominant influence in the medium

turn as populations and incomes grew.

The sinking US dollar was making American dairy farmers more competitive, with the result that US dairy exports had risen sharply, to above 8% of production.

While US milk powders had traditionally traded at a discount, farmers were exporting more to cash in on unfilled demand. The

major export products, whey and milk powder, were now both now running above 450,000 tonnes a year.

De Jong was more pessimistic about the global cheese market, still dominated by Western culture.

“Markets for cheese in the West are mature and consumption is declining. The cheese market will underperform with uneven prices and only

Hoof-Tec’s rosemary Smithyman at the World ag Expo.

modest demand growth in Asia,” he says.

In the US, farmer returns were under pressure, particularly in high-cost intensive dairy regions such as California. Farmers were also facing increasing regulatory and environmental compliance costs.

Corn prices were at historic highs and there was no prospect of the cost of milk production coming down.

“The price of milk will have to stay at a relatively high level if production is to match growing global demand,” De Jong says.

China will continue to be a major driver of world demand, even though there has been a slowing in demand.

Attempts to ramp up domestic production in China, including the construction of large intensive dairies, have met with mixed success.

Innovation on show at expo

PaM TIPa

CHaNGING NEW Zea-landers’ perception of Fonterra is a key strategy of chief executive Theo Spierings.

He told the Dairy Womens Network confer-ence last week in Rotorua, NZ, that the co-op was seen as greedy and oppor-tunistic.

“We have great strength and great opportunity but media [portrayal of ] Fon-terra is kind of disturbing... Fonterra is not feeding the nation, we are ruin-ing the environment, pol-luting, and we are seen as being greedy and taking the wealth off the country and not sharing it.

“We have to change that [perception of us being an occupier] to a kind of stewardship,” grab-bing opportunities for the future and also “changing our attitudes and how we are perceived.”

After outlining his global and marketing strat-egy, Spierings later said his problem with Fonterra was that it may be doing well, “but there’s kinda no pride.”

Milk for Schools, which last week started with a Northland, NZ, trial, was intended to build pride and “maintain the right to grow.”

“We need to be seen as a co-op that cares – to change that [perception] from occupiers of New

Zealand to being stewards. We have to connect back to our people.”

It started with Milk in Schools because chil-dren were turning away from milk and turning to Coke. Different initia-tives are being put forward on water and hygiene to “bring pride back to our country.”

Fonterra is “almost too big for the country,” Spier-ings says. “What the All Blacks do well we want to improve on.

“With the All Blacks

there was a sense of own-ership by the whole coun-try; the country did not have a financial stake in the All Blacks but it did have an emotional one.

“The general public looks at dairy farming as a lot of money going to a few.”

He does not believe in sharing Fonterra’s capital base with the country, but an emotional base. “There are lot of ways of sharing wealth without touching equity.”

A member of the audience asked how he proposed to take the shareholder base with the company under this strat-egy. “How will you get the

people here energised to get that emotional owner-ship?” she asked.

Spierings said Fonterra needed to connect with central and local govern-ment and the community. But the co-op first needed to clearly work out where it wanted to make a dif-ference in the commu-nity – rather than ad hoc involvement – then get the shareholders onside.

He said a Sky broadcast that week would be part of a phased communica-tion plan. Every month or two another deeper level would be released, phased so shareholders can digest it, with lots of examples. There will be discussion about what to do in nutri-tion, water and hygiene.

Another audience member said although farmers accepted they needed to do Milk in Schools for social respon-sibility, they still thought the public should accept it was coming out of their profit.

Spierings said Fonterra found while setting up the Milk in Schools pilot scheme in Northland they connected with a lot of farmers.

“It’s not charity; our farmers are part of the country. We have to be important players in the country.

“We were losing con-sumption over the whole country... we are losing our children, we have to do something.”

Theo Spierings flanked by Barbara Kuriger and Michelle Wilson at a recent conference in New Zealand.

‘Greedy’ tag disturbs Fonterra

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16 // OPINION

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RuMINaTING

Levy increase needs to fund better communicationTHE aMOuNT of money deducted from every farmer’s monthly milk cheque to fund Dairy Australia will now increase by 10%.

The results of Dairy Poll 2012 were released last month and a fraction over 60% of votes cast was in favour of the 10% increase.

What should concern Australian Dairy Farmers and the Dairy Australia board is that 40% voted for the “no levy” option.

That’s 4 out of 10 farmers that are unhappy with having to pay more for what they receive.

Senior industry figures were concerned during the poll period that the “no levy” vote would be in the majority.

They had been out on the hustings to sell their message and had been told they weren’t happy with no “status quo” option.

The Dairy Poll Advisory Committee knew a “status quo” option would most probably be favoured so did not add one to the ballot paper, effec-tively rolling the dice.

They received the outcome they wanted but ADF and the DA board must now ensure communication between DA and farmers is improved.

Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation president Brian Tessmann has said there are communication issues between farmers and also advocacy groups like QDO.

NSW Farmers Dairy Committee chair Terry Toohey said both the number of voters and those that voted against the increase should be noted.

Toohey said it reflected some of the sentiment from his organisation’s members – communication on what programs should be implemented, and overall communication should be improved.

Dairy Australia can’t be called a closed shop. There is an enormous amount of information for farmers on its website

and most of this information is also posted to farmers.It funds extensive research and development programs as well as exten-

sion programs such as InCalf and Cool Cows.During the levy poll, board members and managing director Ian Halliday

crossed the country selling what a farmers’ levy provides. They explained the programs that have been implemented; the behind-

the-scenes work DA provides to Australian Dairy Farmers when they lobby for the dairy industry.

And yet, there is a communication issue. So something has to change.More than one farmer has said they receive so much information in the

mail box these days – from mail houses, AI companies, supply companies – that most go straight in the bin.

Some farmers enjoy spending time on the internet while some don’t.DA needs to improve its communication with its members or the next

vote is likely to be even closer.It’s hard to know what the new strategy should be but they now have a

10% increase to help them find it.

EdITORIaL

Got Milk, Can-Do Campbell?The Queensland Dairy-farmers’ Organisation was quick to congratulate the Liberal National Party for its unprecedented win in the recent Queensland election�

QDO President Brian Tessmann said the win had raised hopes in many sectors for a government more in tune with the needs of rural industries and regional communities�

Tessmann and the QDO had a bucket list of requests it would like the new Camp-bell Newman-led Govern-ment to tackle but, when it comes to the crunch, the farm group wants to ensure the security of Queensland milk for the local popula-tion�

There are a lot of groups currently waiting to see the new Premier and his minis-ters so the QDO need to do something to grab their attention�

Perhaps a crate of milk with an “imported from NSW” logo would do the trick?

Surely nothing would make a proud Queenslander like Can-Do

Campbell more irate than that�

Cage fightTop marks to the Victo-rian Farmers Federation for organising a panel discus-sion on animal welfare standards featuring chief protagonist Glenys Oogjes from Animals Australia�

Oogjes, the RSPCA’s Maria Mercurio and VFF Livestock President Chris Nixon will discuss how consumers’ welfare expec-tations could affect food production over the next decade�

Animals Australia was behind the footage from Indonesia that caused a halt in the live export industry�

It is also behind the national advertisements calling for changes to the process of transporting and

killing bobby calves�VFF President Andrew

Broad wasn’t gilding the lily when he said there will “obviously be a number of differing viewpoints in the room”�

“No one will be tip-toeing around the issue� For both sides, it’s a highly emotive topic�”

If you want to get some-thing off your chest, register for the VFF conference in Bendigo on April 19-20� Don’t hold back, we’re sure Oogjes won’t�

Careful what you wish forMany in rural and regional Victoria could not wait for the day when the State Labor Government, which in the eyes of many did not care for those outside Melbourne’s outer suburbs, was turfed out�

It happened, but it looks like the alternative may not be the saviour for regional and rural Victoria after all�

The Victorian Coalition will slash the Department of Primary Industries work-force by 20%�

Its claims that front-line staff won’t be cut mean little when you think they are supported by co-workers stationed

behind desks – the impact will still be felt�

Careful what you wish for (2)The NSW State Labor Government was toxic� There was no other word for it�

However, the new Coali-tion Government also has farmers offside, bowing to mining interests as quickly as its predecessors did�

Last month the O’Farrell Government broke one of its key election promises to protect parts of NSW from mining and coal seam gas exploration and extraction�

NSW Farmers President Fiona Simson said regional NSW was stunned, saying a new draft policy could allow invasive activities such as fracking and test pilot production of coal seam gas to continue on strategic agricultural land without the need for an aquifer interference approval�

Simson says this could damage the state’s aqui-fers�

“They appear to be continuing a proud tradi-tion of selling out the long term interests of NSW in the hope of a quick buck�”

As we say, be careful what you wish for�

MILkING IT...

This was the preferred mode of transport during the recent northern Victorian floods.


OPINION // 17

JaN daVIS

“fOOd SECuRITY” is the current buzz phrase for what should be the world’s number one priority.

The trouble is that “food secu-rity” means different things to dif-ferent people – and, as a result, more time seems to be spent arguing about what the term means than on actually addressing the issue.

To the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, food security exists when “all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food pref-erences for an active and healthy life”.

The Tasmanian government has a slightly different view of this.

Last month it released, amidst some fanfare, the Tasmanian Food Security Strategy.

The strategy is the work of the Tas-manian Food Security Council, a gov-ernment body appointed (as best I can tell) by the Premier.

According to the Premier’s press release, its key objective is “giving Tasmanian communities the skills and resources to produce healthy and nutritious food …The strategy focuses on local solutions to increase access to affordable and nutritious food for all Tasmanians, but in particular to those most at risk … Organisations such as FoodBank, Second Bite and Produce to the People also play a vital role in col-lecting food that would otherwise go to waste and distributing it to those most in need.”

You might find it surprising that the little I know about the Tasmanian Food Security Council has been gleaned from Google.

You might also find it surprising that I learnt about this strategy only when the press release was distributed.

You might even find it surprising that pretty much the only mention of farmers in the document is in reference to farmers’ markets; and that the only substantive reference to agriculture is a statement that says agriculture and food policy ‘intersect’ in some areas.

Unfortunately, I’ve given up being surprised by the widespread naivety amongst people about where their food comes from.

I am a simple girl at heart, and this all a bit aspirational and academic for me.

I would have thought that in order to have “food security”, you would first need to establish a secure supply of food – and, unless you are one of the people who think food comes from the super-market, this by definition involves farm-ers.

Clearly, this is not a generally held view.

A recent survey showed that Austra-lian student and teacher knowledge of food and fibre production has declined to worrying levels.

Seventy five percent of students thought cotton socks were an animal product; and 45% could not identify that everyday lunchbox items such as a bananas, bread and cheese originated from farms.

The TFGA accepts that the state gov-ernment recognises the pivotal role that

agriculture is playing and will continue to play in terms of economic develop-ment in this state.

However, it needs to focus more clearly on ensuring there is a clear rec-

ognition in the policy sense of the inex-tricable link between agriculture (and farmers) and food.

Without this, not only will we not be able to capitalise on the many oppor-tunities to grow our industry, but we’ll struggle to even maintain what we have.

In fact, we have advocated the estab-lishment of an Office of Food Policy within a restructured Department of Food and Agriculture as a means of trying to address these issues.

The World Health Organisation has a “three pillars” approach to food secu-rity:

■ food availability (ensuring there is a reliable and adequate food supply)

■ food access (being able to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet)

■ food use (using it properly in terms of storage, preparation and opti-mum nutrition)These are big questions that we must

all address. We do have to think globally and act

locally. Australian farmers are efficient pro-

ducers of food and fibre; and in many areas we export more than we use domestically.

However, there’s no guarantee that will always be the case.

Australians have never been hungry – and we take our food for granted.

We expect to have the world’s best quality food available 24/7 at prices often below the realistic cost of pro-duction.

That’s not a given in today’s tough

business climate, where our farmers are burdened with more and more costs and lower and lower returns.

Food security is much broader than ‘encouraging people to grown their own vegetables, keep chooks, go to farmers’ markets, or get involved in urban for-aging’.

The bottom line is that, if you don’t have food, it is not much good formu-lating policies centred on how people can afford it.

If it’s not there, you can’t eat it. Who produces food? Farmers.

There used to be a bumper sticker around some time back that said ‘If you’ve had a meal today, thank a farmer’. And we should. Jan Davis is the CEO of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association.

Food security more than a buzz phrase

More time seems to be spent arguing bout what the term “food security” means than on actually addressing the issue.

There's no guarantee australian farmers will always export more food than we use domestically.

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18 // aGRIBuSINESS

GORdON COLLIE

WHEN THE Queensland dairy indus-try was in the throes of de-regulation in the late 1990s, Dick Schroder was labeled a rebel for seeking to sell his own milk direct to local consumers.

One of the first movers to chart his own destiny, the founder of Cooloola Milk measures his success by the fact that he is still in business more than a decade later.

In the past year he has taken on a new challenge to diversify his product range.

The industry veteran has joined forces with an up and coming young cheese maker Erin Jones to launch the Mary Valley Cheese Company.

While the initial focus of the new venture has been on a range of artisan soft cheeses, the longer term goal is to expand into volume hard cheese pro-duction to soak up seasonal milk sur-plus from his own 300 Jerseys and the three other family herds supplying Cooloola Milk.

Schroder said he could see the writ-ing on the wall long before the legis-lative cocoon which controlled milk marketing in the north began to unravel.

The third generation dairy farmer and milk cartage contractor said he had spent years planning before the advent of partial de-regulation in 1999.

He had an on-farm processing plant in mind when he built a new dairy on the family property at Dagun, just south of Gympie.

“I thought that deregulation could be managed, but it proved to be so much more devastating for the industry than I thought it would be,” he said.

Plenty of obstacles were put in his way as he set about marketing his own milk, including the pass-ing of special State legislation to impose a levy on his fledging business of 27cents a litre.

“I was saddled with this for 18 months before the Queensland Dairy Authority was finally disbanded,” he said.

While Schroder was confident that

he could prevail selling a fresh, whole-some product to a loyal local customer base, he said the early years establishing a toehold in the market were the hard-est in his career.

He takes some pride in the fact that he is still in business and now sell-ing Cooloola Milk as an established brand in the population growth corri-dor extending from Harvey Bay to the northern suburbs of Brisbane.

Cooloola milk and short shelf life products are retailed through a wide range of independent outlets and a supermarket chain keen to position itself as a supporter of local business.

“After our early years developing and a period of consolidation we are ready for another growth phase,” Sch-roder said.

He is about to enter the yoghurt market in addition to making a range of soft cheeses in the new manufactur-

ing facility attached to the modern milk processing plant just down the road from the dairy.

“We are doing trials with a new gour-met yoghurt which still needs a bit of work to get it just right,” he said.

Schroder said his father Ted, who is

now 90, had been a lifelong Jersey cattle enthusiast.

The original family dairy in the Nambour district started in the 1920s and developed some of the best Jersey bloodlines in Australia.

Looking for some new breeding options in the 1970s, the family began sourcing genetics from a herd in the United States which had related blood-lines to their own original Jersey Island stock.

The herd has essentially operated a closed breeding program since the late 1980s and while Schroder no longer has a registered stud, he said the range of cow families established over gener-ations was a real asset when it came to quality milk production.

The herd was relocated to the Dagun district, just south of Gympie in

1973 and their land area has since been expanded to 400 hectares, improving production security.

“Dad always wanted a place where he could grow lucerne. Our previous range country property was too dry,” Schro-der said.

While the feed bulk comes from 40 hectares of irrigated ryegrass, having access to extra backup pasture has taken the pressure off and the venture is not reliant on silage.

“It costs money to operate a bigger land area, but the benefit is you have more control,” he said.

Cows are batch calved with the majority coming onto fresh ryegrass in March-April, in an effort to closer align milk production to the demand curve – milk consumption is highest in the winter months.

“We are able to achieve fairly high milk production without flogging our country out. But the focus is on compo-sition with good protein levels impor-tant for flavour and taste.”

Protein levels range from 3.8-4% with 9.3-9.4% solids and 4.4-4.7% but-terfat.

“We’ve been consolidating the busi-ness for the past few years and are now ready for another expansion phase.

“There is plenty of potential to sell more Cooloola Milk in this region, in reality our sales are just a drop in the ocean.

“Cheese making will continue to be important, particularly making ched-dar in the longer term, because we just can’t seem to match production to sales without generating surplus milk which needs to find a home.”

GORdON COLLIE

MARy VAllEy Cheese is carving out a niche market for quality product in less than a year on Queensland retail shelves�

Young cheese maker Erin Jones is relishing the opportunity to show-case her flair for making soft cheeses,

a skill which she described as more art than science�

The product range from the factory which now employs five staff includes triple brie, camembert, washed rind, crème fraiche, fromage blanc and an Italian black truffle brie�

Food miles are a foreign concept for Mary Valley Cheese as Erin can watch the Jersey herd through the

factory window as they make their way up the laneway to the dairy�

While the range of cheeses is aimed at the boutique market, the business has not even begun to touch its potential�

“There are endless possibilities for mould ripened cheeses� Consumers are looking out for a quality local product,” she said�

However a shift in focus to hard cheese will be required to fulfill the objective of soaking up seasonal surplus milk�

Erin was originally from South Australia and had made a career start in the wine industry when the chance came up to join the newly formed Barossa Valley Cheese Company at Angaston�

She was prompted to move to Queensland to take on the challenge as head cheese maker at Kingaroy Cheese in the South Burnett�

Dick Schroder was already supplying Kingaroy with Cooloola Milk and after seven years, the opportunity came to bring the Kingaroy cheese range to the coast and incorporate it into the new Mary Valley venture�

Mary Valley Cheese finds niche in Qld

Milk marketing pioneer takes on fresh challenge

State legislation imposed a levy on his fledgling business of 27 cents a litre for 18 months after deregulation.

Dick Schroder Erin Jones

Schroder's Jerseys enter the dairy for milking.


Fonterra fast-tracks second dryer

aGRIBuSINESS // 19

dESPITE a persistently high Aus-tralian dollar, the global milk supply environment is heavily influencing the direction of global markets at the moment.

Today we’ll look at the latest global developments and potential downside impact on farmgate prices in the next few months.

To put some perspective around global dairy production, this season Australia will produce about 9.5 billion litres, but the EU will produce around 125b litres (13 times Australian milk production), the US around 87b litres (9 times Aus) and New Zealand around 19b litres (twice Aus).

The key factor in global supply relating to market prices is export availability – or what proportion of milk production actually is sold on the global market.

The EU and US export around 10% of milk production, New Zea-land around 95% and Australia 45% - so domestic market consumption in the EU and US is critical to prevent-ing a supply glut, while production growth in NZ goes straight to the global market.

Australian milk production started the 2011/12 season slowly with very wet conditions in parts of Victoria.

For the majority of the season, pro-duction conditions have been the best they’ve been in a number of years

although heavy rains and flooding in late Feb/early March has disrupted growth in some areas.

Nevertheless, most cows in flood-affected areas were still milked and positive conditions in many parts of Austra-lia are supporting pro-duction growth of 3-4% this season.

Across the Tasman, NZ milk production has streaked ahead on good production conditions in many regions.

For much of the season, pasture growth conditions have been ideal and milk flows this year could increase 8-10%.

Given the significant investment in drying plants in NZ (see story below) most of the additional milk is expected to flow into WMP and SMP production with some overflow into cheese and butter.

The increased production outlook is also reflected in growing supply vol-umes on globalDairyTrade (gDT), but is also negatively affecting prices as buyers hold out for potentially lower prices later in the year.

Markets have generally factored in production growth in Australia and NZ, and manufacturers will have locked in a significant proportion of their sales,

so $5.20-$5.30/kg milk solids remains a fair target farmgate price for the current season.

However, the biggest threat to the new season pricing environment is a jump in dairy commodity supplies from the North-ern Hemisphere.

The two ways this could occur are via sharp milk production growth or a sharp reduction in

local consumption increasing export availability.

Despite economic woes, EU and US dairy consumption has continued largely unaffected.

In fact, US food service sales have been quite strong, evidenced by Dom-ino’s pizza chain store sales for Q4 2011 up almost 7% for the USA and in a survey by the National Restaurant Asso-ciation, 56% of US food service stores reported January 2012 sales were higher than the same time last year.

In the EU, cheese consumption in France, Germany and the UK has also increased modestly (between 0.4%-2.0%) which helps offset the 3.2% increase in EU milk production during December.

US milk production for the first two months this year is up 5% to 14.6b litres, a large proportion of which was pro-

cessed into butter and milk powders. Non-fat dried milk (NFDM) pro-

duction during January increased more than 30% compared to the same time last year.

US butter sales have received a small boost from retail promotion activity (prior to Easter and Passover) and strong exports contributed to a 7% decrease in total US NFDM stocks during January.

Global markets have largely accepted that there will be increased production from Australia and New Zealand this season.

Generally, strong milk produc-tion from Oceania (Australia and NZ) pushes market prices lower, but robust

demand despite the weak economic environment has moderated price falls across a range of products.

The question is whether North-ern Hemisphere farmgate prices have eased early enough to discourage strong growth this season.

At the moment the risks to farmgate prices are weighted to the downside, but it’s too early to quantify price forecasts for the 2012/13 season.

Dairy Australia plans to release its 2012/13 milk price forecast in the Situ-ation and Outlook report due in mid-May. Norman Repacholi is the senior interna-tional industry analyst for Dairy Aus-tralia.

SudESH kISSuN

fONTERRa IS set to triple capac-ity at its new Darfield, central Canter-bury, processing site within a year of it opening.

The cooperative last week con-firmed work on a second dryer will start next month, taking daily capacity from the 2.2 million litre/day sched-uled to come on stream in August this

year, to 6.6 million litres/day in 2013.“Once completed Darfield 2 will

be one of the largest, if not the larg-est plant in the world,” Fonterra trade and operations manager Gary Romano said.

The $300 million project will be Fonterra’s single largest investment for a plant. Romano says it will be sim-ilar in size to Edendale’s dryer 4, built for $212m and commissioned in Feb-ruary 2010.

Fonterra’s board gave the green light to the Darfield 2 project last week, including warehousing and rail access.

“Since we first announced plans for Darfield in 2009 we’ve seen even more increases [in milk production] in the region than anticipated,” adds Romano.

“At this rate the first dryer will be full within a few years so we need to act now to help meet the existing

demand and further growth.”Darfield is Fonterra’s first green-

field processing development for 14 years. The cooperative’s next nearest large-scale plant is just over 100km to the southwest at Clandeboye, South Canterbury.

That’s been at capacity for several seasons forcing some peak milk from Canterbury to be tankered hundreds of kilometres to Edendale, Southland.

“The location of Darfield means

our tankers don’t have to travel as far for collections.”

In its consent application to Selwyn District Council and Canter-bury Regional Council, Fonterra said the second dryer would reduce tanker travel by about 10,000km/day at peak, over and above the 20,000 km/day saved by the first dryer’s construction.

There would also be substantial sav-ings in outward goods road travel as product would be railed to Lyttelton.

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20 // MaNaGEMENT

GORdON COLLIE

WaRWICk MaRkS and his wife Kaylene and son Andrew take pride in the pastures which are at the heart of their dairy enterprise at Fernbrook on the western edge of the Dorrigo Plateau.

While high country farming with annual rainfall up to 3 1/2 metres has its challenges, the red volcanic soil grows the sort of grass which high perfor-mance dairying demands.

“The pasture is as good as you will find anywhere. It has to be managed right. When it comes to feeding dairy cows, they must have the best of every-thing,” Marks said.

The family has been farming in the region since 1906 and has built up a herd of quality Jersey cattle over more than 70 years.

Now Andrew has come back home to con-tinue the tradition after qualifying as a diesel mechanic and gaining a Diploma in Agriculture.

Their fully developed 240ha property carries the 200 head Winvarl pedigree milking herd and a few beef cattle. The Jerseys have rich cow family pedigrees with detailed breeding records going back generations.

Their herd is a mix of international bloodlines with the original breeding nucleus from Victoria and extensive use made of Canadian and American genet-ics over the years.

He believes there are still some potential gains on the genetics side and is planning to begin an embryo transfer program using elite females.

They suffered a heavy loss of some of the top production cows in Australia in a freak of nature five years ago. A herd of 170 cows in one paddock were shelter-ing under a tree when lightening stuck, killing 70 animals.

“It’s taken a long time to recover from that setback,” Marks said.

Their best cows with prize genetics can be productive for 8 to 10 years and with about 60 heifers raised each season they maintain strong selection pressure.

Sound feet is an important selec-tion criteria with foot health and gen-eral herd health a constant challenge due to the high rainfall.

They have extensive concrete lane-ways and bitumen roads to keep the

cows out of the mud as much as possible.

Their somatic cell count averages around 130,000 and they need to keep it under 200,000 to maximise milk pay-ments.

“We get high rainfall events and while the soil is free draining and dries out fairly quickly, lame-ness can be a problem and cell counts can go through the roof if they are not watched closely,” Marks said.

The Jersey milkers have been pro-ducing better than 5% butterfat and 3.9% protein and average about 6500 litres of milk each lactation.

“You could push milk production higher, but the components would drop. They are an important part of our income with bonus payments from our processor Norco worth about 9 or 10 cents a litre,” Marks said.

The property has a history of regu-lar lime use going back at least 50 years

which helps maintain their soil pH between 5.6 and 5.7 for optimum pas-ture production.

His father Neville carried out exten-sive liming trials with the Department of Agriculture at rates ranging from 1 hundred weight to 20 hundredweight an acre.

“He settled on the half tonne annual application which worked well and we have continued on with it.”

Applying more regularly at a lower rate gave the best result as the steep country was prone to leaching after

heavy rain. The lime helps to get value from fer-

tiliser applications, mostly superphos-phate and potash with some nitrogen when required.

They use their own five tonne spreader which gives them flexibility during annual pasture renovation.

Paddocks are mulched and over sown with a 20kg mix of rye and clover from February onwards to build a good bulk of feed ahead of the cold July-August period when there is no growth.

They have an irrigation plant which

has strategic benefits during the Sep-tember-November period which can be dry. But they have not needed to use it for the past three years.

Surplus pasture is used to make about 700 round plastic wrap bales of silage each year. The silage is chopped and fed through a mixer wagon which Warwick said minimised wastage. They are looking to construct a permanent pad to feed near the dairy.

“We maintain a top production herd on two foundations – good feeding and breeding,” Marks said.

Meeting the high rainfall challenge

who: Warwick, Kaylene and Andrew Marks whErE: Fernbrook whAT: High rainfall dairy

Warwick and andrew Marks inspect their pasture on their Fernbrook property.

Warwick Marks with some of his herd of 200 high pedigree Jerseys. andrew Marks renovating pasture.


MaNaGEMENT // 21

LISa aNd Eddie Dwyer have always taken a holis-tic approach to calf rear-ing. The couple, who milk about 250 cows between Hawkesdale and Macarthur in southwest Victoria, rear about 120 calves each year.

“It starts right back before calving for us,” Lisa said.

“You have to work hard at it beforehand. The pre-calving stage is the impor-tant first step in rearing healthy calves.”

Transition feeding pre-calving is a big part of the Dwyer’s system and they also use sexed semen on heifers to avoid big bull calves.

Lisa was involved in putting together Rear-ing Healthy Calves – how to raise calves that thrive and believes most farm-ers would be practising the nine essential steps with-out realising it.

“The new manual helps explain how each step is important and how they link together. Even though we already have a similar system in place, we picked up a number of tips,” she said.

“But it’s understand-ing calf rearing goes well beyond the farm. What is done on the farm has the potential to impact the whole industry. The health and welfare of our calves is paramount.

“It is incumbent on farmers to keep up-to-date with new information and

practices because the great thing about our industry is we are always improving what we do.”

The Dwyers, who milk an autumn-calving herd, are members of the bovine Johnes Disease Calf Accreditation Program (JD-CAP). They run a tight ship and all employees comply with the JD-CAP procedures.

“We prepare our calf shed early in summer and ensure it is very clean well in advance,” she said.

Colostrum manage-ment is also important to the couple. Colostrum from a selection of their most suitable mature cows is frozen, calves are separated from the cows straight away and are fed colostrum in first 4-6 hours of life, with a second dose soon after.

Each stage of the rear-ing process is closely mon-itored and dependent on the health and welfare of the calf and the weather. Usually calves are moved from the shed to an open yard at three weeks of age and are weaned to the pad-dock at 12 weeks, with ad-lib grain available from day one.

“We also grow summer crops like chicory, rape and plantain for our heifers to graze so they reach their target weight,” she said.

She believes antibiotic residues in sale calves is an important issue for the industry and is strict when

Calf care starts well before birthit comes to the matter on her farm.

“Many people across the industry have been working together to ensure farmers are aware of the implications of antibiotic residues in sale calves.

“Farmers need to ensure they understand the causes of antibiotic residues and how to avoid being responsible for a pos-itive test result.”

Calves are tagged as soon as they are collected from birth. Heifers and sale calves are separated and sick calves are kept in dif-ferent pens. Disbudding occurs at two weeks of age.

“We are also proud of Victorian farmers lisa and Eddie Dwyer have an extensive pre-calving approach to calving.

our sale calves; they are always fed just prior to the truck arriving, which is par-amount,” she said.

Rearing Healthy Calves – how to raise calves that thrive covers all aspects of caring for calves from pre-calving right through to weaning.

Dairy Australia’s Healthy Calves pro-gram leader, veterinar-ian Jamie McNeil, said the guide would help farmers keep abreast of industry best practices and recent changes in livestock stan-dards.

It is available online at www.dairyaustralia.com.au or telephone (03) 9694 3723.

faRMERS COuLd reduce their electricity bill by up to $10,000 each year by identifying their oper-ation’s energy inefficien-cies.

DairySA’s Future Ready Dairy Systems Project hosted workshops last month that showed farm-ers how to reduce climbing power bills.

The workshops were run by agri-business energy audit specialists, Nick Bullock and Chris Harding, who have helped over 350 dairy farmers in NSW through their popu-lar energy auditing service.

Bullock said once dairy farmers are able identify their operation’s energy

inefficiencies, they are in a good position to start reducing rising electric-ity costs.

“Our benchmarking on dairy shed electricity costs across Australia has found there is a large range of energy costs—between $4 per 1000 litres of milk to over $14 per 1000 litres of milk,” Bullock said.

“This means at a pro-duction level of one mil-lion litres, some farmers are paying up to $10,000 more each year than others.

“The first step for farm-ers is to know exactly where they sit within this range, and the potential savings achievable.”

Slash power bills by $10,000

Going with the grain

Feed2Milk is one of the many examples of the dairy service levy at work locally. For more information on this and other levy investments visit www.dairyaustralia.com.au

Water-affected grain poses opportunities but also risks for dairy farmers.

Dairy Australia Feed2Milk program leader Dr Steve Little said summer rains would see some shot and sprouted feed grain in the marketplace.

Farmers should be aware weather-damaged grain is not a major issue for dairy cow nutrition. Most studies in cattle indicate the nutritional value of shot and early sprouted grain equals or even surpasses that of sound grain. “It does not significantly affect animal performance or feed conversion efficiency,” Dr Little said.

Shot and sprouted grain is more rapidly fermented by the bugs in the cow’s rumen, so this may increase the risk of ruminal acidosis in more digestible types of grain such as wheat. Buffers and other measures might therefore be needed to manage this risk.

The test weight of a given type of grain is not a direct indicator of its nutritional value. Expect shot and early sprouted grain to have a slightly lower test weight than sound grain. Farmers are advised to be wary of grain more than 5kg/hectolitre below the relevant 2010/11 Grain Trading Australia (GTA) feed grain standard, as its starch reserves might be depleted and energy value reduced.

Check grain for weed seeds such as heliotrope (Potato weed) which produce toxins. These should be below the maximum number of seeds stipulated in the GTA standards for all grades of wheat (maximum eight seeds/half-litre) and for feed barley (maximum four seeds/100g).

Check weather-damaged grain for moulds. Various types of moulds produce toxins which can be harmful to cow productivity and health. Any mouldy grain (or fodder) should be treated with caution.

Be wary of grain higher than the maximum GTA standard for moisture of 12.5 per cent.

“While it may look okay, it is more likely mould will grow during storage, and it will also be more prone to insect infestation,” Dr Little said. “You can be confident grain drawn from a bulk handling facility or stockfeed company will be below the maximum moisture limit of 12.5 per cent. But if grain has been stored on-farm, buyers will need to check moisture levels.”

Store grain in dry and well-aerated conditions to avoid the growth of moulds.

When feeding weather-damaged grain, it should be introduced into the ration slowly over several days while monitoring for any feed rejection, drop in milk production, milk composition or changes in cow health.

“Ideally, limit weather-damaged grain to 5kg/cow/day until you are confident it is okay.” Dr Little said. “Continue to monitor for decreases in production and any changes to the health of the animals. As test weights of different grains vary, ensure your grain feeding rates per cow are always calculated by weight, not volume.”


22 // MaNaGEMENT

RESuLTS fROM the 10,000 cow project run by the Dairy CRC and Holstein Australia will influence this month’s release of the Australian Breeding Values.

Dairy farmers can now have greater confidence in genomic breeding values when selecting young bulls.

ADHIS extension manager Michelle Axford said the release of information from the extensive project would influence the results for the Holstein ABV(g)s.

Axford said it would

improve the reliability of genomic-based breeding values and provide more confidence.

The Dairy Futures CRC-funded 10,000 cows project has seen more than 70 of Australia’s top dairy farmers work with researchers to boost the reliability of genomic breeding values.

The project has shed light on which bits of DNA are associated with good or poor performance for key selection traits like fertility and production.

Project leader Dr Ben Hayes said farmers

can now have more confidence using young bulls with genomic breeding values. Genetic gain will be faster for critical traits, he said.

“The other key impact is that information for hard-to-measure traits, such as fertility, will be more reliable, so producers can now select for more balanced genetic gain.”

Genomic breeding values were released last year by the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADHIS).

“These values were

developed for bulls that are 2-3 years of age and they are three to four years ahead of a progeny test bull,” Hayes explained.

“However, before the completion of the 10,000 cows project, the reliability of genomic breeding values was significantly less than standard ABVs.”

Results from the 10,000 cow project remove some of that risk.

“What we have been able to do with the 10,000 cow project is gain a better picture of the DNA

that underlies the wide range of performance of Holstein cows,” Hayes said.

“We have a much broader picture of cows across the industry than ever before and by sheer numbers a more accurate picture of how the genes in the Holstein gene pool perform for production, fertility and cow longevity (number of lactations).”

The April ABVs will be released on April 11. Go to www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au for the latest rankings.

CaLf REaRING and management doesn’t need to be complicated, having a simple system is the key, according to southwest Victorian dairy farmers Ed and Geraldine Conheady.

“We have been doing what we do for many years,” he said. “What we do is certainly not fancy, but it seems to work out not too badly.

“The time of year for our calf rear-ing is not ideal – the days are short and it can be tiring, so it is impor-tant not to lose sight of the basics.

“If you don’t get the basics right you make more work for yourself in the long run.”

And simplicity makes sense for the couple who run a 1700-cow business in the Garvoc and Noorat areas. This year they ended up with 500 heifer calves and 200 bull calves.

The value of colostrum is of the utmost importance for the Conheadys, who store colostrum from a few of the more mature cows all the time to ensure a good cross-section of antibodies.

“If the calves haven’t had enough when they come in after birth we give them one or two bottles,” he said.

“The number one pri-ority is to get colostrum into the calves as early as possible. Two days total on colostrum is worth gold. You can always pick those who haven’t had enough six weeks down the track. You can usually tell by their condition and their coats.”

Moving calves into a paddock as soon as possi-ble helps keep bug build-

up to a minimum, he said.“I have found at the end

of six months we have a better calf when they are out of the sheds earlier. As long as they are drinking well, we put them out in the paddocks which have shelter,” he said.

“When they are on pas-ture they have access to ad-lib pellets and oaten hay, which is sweet and encourages them to eat more. It’s also good for their rumen.”

In the end, while it comes down to what suits the individual, Conheady believes it is what you get back in the dairy which matters.

“There’s no right or wrong way. The right way is what works and suits the individual,” he said.

Colostrum critical for calves

Genomic ABVs now more reliable

“You can always pick those who haven’t had enough colostrum six weeks down the track.”

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MaNaGEMENT // 23

system and the gains to be made from perennial ryegrass would also help farmers, he said.

“In the commer-cial sector there is dem-onstrated potential to improve the performance and profitability of the existing perennial ryegrass system,” Jones said.

The trial found alter-nate forage species have specific roles in perennial ryegrass-based production systems, by complement-

ing the seasonal pattern of ryegrass production.

There are opportuni-ties to complement the existing feed base at key periods when home grown forage may be in short supply.

One example was in the perennial ryegrass pas-ture renovation phase or on areas of land not best suited to perennial rye-grass.

Jones said Project 3030 also enhanced the “body

of knowledge” about alter-nate forages, including DM yield potential, seasonal pattern of production, forage nutritive charac-teristics and management guidelines. This informa-tion is critical for select-ing the best forage option to use.

Seven factsheets have also been produced on chicory, tall fescue, winter cereals, millet and sor-ghum, turnips, regrowth brassicas and perennial

legumes. Intelact consultant

Neil Lane, who was also involved in Project 3030, said the understandings from the trial about the whole feed system had been a great leap forward.

“The potential with ryegrass is there to be realised,” he said.

“There is now a much greater understanding of the system and alternate forages. The knowledge generated is about the

whole system and doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

The factsheets are available at www.dairyaus-tralia.com.au/project3030 or www.project3030.com.au

Project 3030 was a collaboration by Dairy Australia, University of Melbourne, Department of Primary Industries, West-Vic Dairy, GippsDairy, Murray Dairy, Dairy SA and the Gardiner Foun-dation.

Ryegrass boosts profitsPERENNIaL RYE-GRaSS still provides many Australian dairy farmers further opportuni-ties to lift productivity and profitability on their dairy operations, a Project 3030 trial has revealed.

The six-year trial in South West Victoria and on partner farms in North East Victoria, Gippsland and South Australia found understanding the funda-mentals of perennial rye-grass management was the most reliable path to increased on-farm profits.

An example of the proj-ect results was the eco-nomic performance of the Project 3030 farmlets at Terang, Victoria, that averaged a 12% return on assets.

This performance put the operations in the top 2% in the region.

The project also found milk solids production per cow was up to 618kg on a diet consisting of 75% for-ages.

In response, a series of eight factsheets on peren-nial ryegrass management have been released by

Project 3030 for the bene-fit of farmers, consultants and advisors including:

■ Grazing management to maximise growth and nutritive value

■ Practical application of grazing principles

■ Closing paddocks for conservation

■ Grazing management specific practices

■ Use of N fertiliser ■ Management of P, K

and S ■ Pasture renovation ■ Management of weeds,

pests and diseasesProject3030 chairman

and Yarra Valley farmer, Tyran Jones, said farmers would be interested in the new data the trial generated, particularly on crops.

How the crops could be included in the forage

Tyran Jones

HELP IS at hand for dairy farmers and their staff preparing springer cows for the coming lactation and joining period.

Dairy Australia’s InCalf program has produced the booklet Springers: repro ready to help farmers improve herd fertility.

Management in the three weeks leading up to calving has a major impact on the herd’s production and fertility and on dairy business profit.

Costing about $20-$60/cow, a transition feeding program can return up to $200/cow.

Dr Barry Zimmermann, who manages Dairy Australia’s InCalf program, said transition from a dry, heavily pregnant cow to early lactation involves major metabolic changes, and feeding a transition diet

for three weeks before calving can make a big difference.

The transition diet may include a commercially prepared lead feed.

Springers: repro ready outlines the important management steps to ensure you make the most of the effort and money invested in a transition program.

“A transition program pays for itself in saved treatment costs, increased milk production and improved herd fertility. But many farmers tell us that the benefit they value the most is reduced stress levels by not having to treat sick and downer cows during the busy period of early lactation,” he said.

The booklet is available from service providers or at www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Farm/Fertility

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24 // MaNaGEMENT

LEIGH SCHuuRING believes it is critical to expand his herd without compromising the quality of his cows.

Apart from choosing reliable bulls, the major initiative he has taken to improve the quality of the herd as it grows, has been to introduce better reproductive technology and increase the focus on reproductive management. Get that right and other things seem to fall into place.

Leigh and Kelly Schuuring currently sharefarm on 293ha at Mella, just “five minutes out of Smithton” on Tasmania’s north-west coast.

They own the herd, which currently numbers around 900 Holstein-cross milking cows; their aim is to level out at around 1000 high production cows.

Last year, working with local veterinarian Dr Craig Dwyer, they introduced Bayer’s reproductive fertility regulators to synchronise all the cows in the herd making them ready for AI on the same day.

Fixed Time AI removes the need for heat detection and, using Bayer’s fertility regulators, they got more cows in-calf earlier, enabling them to deliver more calves in a tighter calving pattern.

“One advantage of this program is that we get three shots at AI in the six-week mating period, rather than just two in the previous program Leigh used,” Dwyer said.

While the basic mechanics of an Ovsynch program are much the same across dairy herds, Dwyer is quick to point out that each herd is different.

To be fully effective, the technology, professional advice and day-to-day management must go hand in hand.

Dwyer sets up the structure of the Schuuring’s breeding program a month or so in advance.

This involves ensuring the heifers have reached a target mating weight (which will vary somewhat for individual animals); feed transition management into early lactation; and endometritis checks and checks for other potential reproductive problems.

Dwyer advises on the program and administers the Bayer reproductive regulators, while the farm staff of four does the bulk of the day-to-day reproductive management tasks.

In their first year on Ovsynch, the Schuurings achieved an 81%, six-week in-calf rate (ICR), which was well up on the 73% ICR with their previous AI program.

This year their six-week ICR has improved again – to 84%.

“This year’s better in-calf rate is really a result of last year’s work,” Dwyer said.

“Once we had achieved a tighter calving pattern through the Ovsynch program, it gave more of the cows a

longer break after calving.“They came into mating in just that

bit better condition,” Leigh added.The improved ICR is in stark contrast

to the fertility trend in dairy cattle that has seen the ICR in the nation’s dairy herds falling by around 1% a year for the past decade, according to Dairy Australia.

Heifer weight is a critical factor in achieving successful pregnancies. According to Dairy Australia’s InCalf program, many heifers are underweight at first mating; they are not reaching their full potential for milk production nor do they get in calf as successfully.

Smaller heifers tend to also calve later and don’t repay their rearing costs until they are in their second lactation.

“The Ovsynch program has allowed us to get a high percentage of the herd calving early,” Dwyer said.

“This gives them extra time to grow; they are heavier at their first mating.

So we’ve seen a positive effect on the pregnancy rate the second time we’ve used the Ovsynch program.”

At an estimated growth rate of 0.7kg per day, an extra week gives a better chance of reaching the ideal weight of 350-370kg for first mating Holstein heifers.

They are also more robust and survive better in the herd.

By achieving a higher percentage of cows in calf, the Schuurings are in a stronger position when making culling decisions; they can cull quite hard in order to keep the best quality and most productive animals and still meet their heifer replacement target.

“It’s a real benefit to be able to keep these heifers as they come into the herd and increase milk production,” Leigh Schuuring said.

With the earlier calving, peak milk production is also reached earlier. The synchronisation programs like Ovsynch and ProSynch enable them to pre-plan

calving in spring to match the peak pasture curve.

“We’re calving when the best pasture feed is around, which means we’re getting the milk in the vat and also saving on extra feed costs,” Schuuring said.

“This year milk production is 11% ahead of the previous year at the same time.”

Schuuring estimates there has been an extra $30,000 in milk production alone from the program.

“There could be more,” he said. “It’s definitely paid for itself in the first calving.”

An additional benefit of a calving pattern in which the majority of calves are born in the first three weeks is that it provides an intense management focus.

Of the 850 cows calved last spring, 80% were born in the first three weeks.

“When you have a longer, drawn out calving period, you get tired, you lose focus and you lose calves,” Schuuring said.

“With a tight calving pattern we’re very focused and we lose very few.”

In recognition of the all-round professionalism demonstrated by Leigh and Kelly Schuuring they were named runners up in the ANZ Tasmanian Dairy Farmer of the Year Awards and were the winners of the Pasture Management Award.

Fixed time AI tightens calvingpattern, boosts fertility

who: Leigh and Kelly Schuuring whErE: Mella whAT: Ovsynch program

leigh Schuuring on his north-west Tasmanian dairy farm.

This year the six-week in calf rate has improved again - to 84%.


EaRLY RESuLTS from New Zealand trials involving splitting dairy herds suggest the practice appears to help improve body condition and pro-duction.

The Lincoln University Dairy Farm herd, now just 642 cows where up to 700 have been milked in the past, has been split roughly one-third, two-thirds.

All 140 heifers went into the small mob from calving, topped up to 230 with low-condition score, mixed-age cows.

Where there’s been a choice of pad-docks ready for grazing, the small mob gets the best and closest to the shed.

Farm manager Peter Hancox said milking took about one hour for them from paddock to paddock.

“They’re at the cow-shed for just 40 minutes. That’s huge for their well being,” Hancox said.

If they struggle to get to target residual, they’re moved on and the larger mob comes in on clean up duties.

The policy appears to be closing the gap between heifer production and the herd average and while heifers started the season with higher body condi-tion scores than last year, they’ve held onto that advantage.

There’s a hint repro-ductive performance will be improved, with 10.8% not pregnant versus 13.8% last year, however the six week in-calf rate is back from 84% to 80%.

As the season draws to a close half the heif-ers have been moved out of the small mob, and more low condition score (below 4) mixed aged cows moved in to maintain the mob at about 200 cows.

“So already we’re thinking of next season,” Hancox said.

DairyNZ body condi-tion scores the herd fort-nightly, rounding down rather than up.

“We call it as we see it. Sometimes the manage-ment team aren’t particu-

larly happy with that but Peter is able to use the information to flick lighter cows into the smaller mob and vice versa,” DairyNZ’s Dawn Dalley said.

Dalley said in gen-eral farms should aim to condition score at four key times: late February; drying off; calving; pre-mating.

“That [pre-mating] is a busy time but it’s an abso-lutely critical one... For the investment of two people for one afternoon you can get all that informa-tion. It’s a little bit more difficult in a herringbone [shed] but we’ve got some ways of doing it.”

If one condition score timing has to fall by the wayside, then the calving one is probably the one to let slip, she adds. The others are crucial to adjust management to help cows

MaNaGEMENT // 25

The policy appears to be closing the gap between heifer production and the herd average.

Dawn Dalley

any cow below condition score 4.0 goes into the small herd for preferential feeding.

Split herd maylift milk yield

reach the target BCS for calving of 5 or prefera-bly 5.5

Hancox said the suc-cess of splitting the herd this year meant the same would be done next year, and even earlier.

“This year we didn’t split the herd until Sep-tember. Next year we’re

looking at August 20. It will be a hassle with all the colostrums cows and reds, but we think it’s worth it.”

For all the tweaks to Lincoln’s system – mowing, split herd, more nitrogen, slightly higher residuals – Hancox stresses the farm’s main focus is unchanged.

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26 // aNIMaL HEaLTH

RICk BaYNE

WHEN NuLLaWaRRE farmers Jason and Abby Burleigh built a new calf shed with an automatic feeder, nutrition and comfort weren’t the only things on their minds.

They also wanted to keep their calves entertained.

A stand-up swing-ing ball system has done just that on their farm in south-west Victoria, introducing a new play option for the 70 calves they rear each year.

Children enjoy play-ing with toys – so why not calves? That was the question answered by Jason’s invention and his contented calves are testimony to its success.

“They play with it all the time,” Jason said. “We wanted something to address bore-dom and to stop them sucking other calves and this works really well.

“They run into it, butt their heads against it, suck on the chains, push it around and generally have a good time,” he said.

The Burleighs initially added a beach ball on the floor of the calves’ shed but while the calves enjoyed it they found it became too dirty. The home-made swinging apparatus has overcome that problem and proven equally popular with the calves.

The next addition will be a soft piece of hose suitable for sucking.

The Burleighs hope their playpen idea will inspire other farmers to install similar items for their calves.

“It isn’t something we had seen before. A vet who saw it mentioned it to someone in the U.K. and now they’ve put in something similar. It’s good for

the calves so it’s good for the farm,” Burleigh said.

The shed was pur-pose-built in 2009 to house the calves and accommodate the auto-matic feeding system.

While the feed-ing system was partly installed as a manage-ment tool and to save labour, the main prior-ity for Jason and Abby was the health and well-being of their calves.

It has kept both calves and farmers out of the

elements and the stock are quick to adjust to the routine.

“After about the third feed they know what to do and go alone. But we haven’t really saved time. We probably spend as much time monitoring the results and cleaning the shed as we used to do feed-ing them in the paddock,” he said.

“But it’s a lot better for us and the calves in this environment. We can be here on a wet and cold day and still have the same shaded environment.”

The Burleighs have been able to increase their calf numbers from about

50 to 70 thanks to the system, which replaced the traditional ‘feed trail behind the motorbike’ method.

“We often say on a wet day ‘do you want to jump on the bike and go out and feed the calves’,” Burleigh joked.

The results have been overwhelm-ingly positive.

“The calves are a lot quieter and more content. Some people said because we weren’t handling them as much they might become a bit feral, but

it’s exactly the opposite. The contact we have with them is all positive. We never hear them bellow,” he said.

Burleigh said the calves are more friendly and approachable, which they prove as they quietly mill around anyone who enters the shed.

The regular feeding has also resulted in healthier calves and a close to zero mortality rate.

“Studies say you should feed them colostrum twice a day at the start so we do that at the start,” he said.

“With the automatic system they eat when they need it and we can monitor it and make sure they are getting enough. We automatically know if we’ve got a sick calf,” he said.

The computer system gives the Bur-leighs piece of mind that all calves are being properly fed.

Set amounts of milk and grain are fed to each calf. They average 3 1/2 litres of milk up to seven days and up to a peak of five litres from seven to 40 days.

They are weaned off around 12 weeks.

“We always feed whole milk, never powdered,” Burleigh said. “We find that is more consistent.”

The farm raises mostly Friesians and normally uses artificial insemination.

While most calf-rearing sheds are converted from other previous uses, the Burleighs designed their shed from scratch with calf comfort and conve-nience in mind.

One of the automatic feeders holds milk, the other grain.

The shed is divided into mirrored halves, and is hosed down twice a day. The floor features scoria underneath with drain pipes with railway lines over the top. This allows the Burleighs to bring in a front-end loader for cleaning without having to remove the scoria.

Burleigh said the $50,000 invest-ment had been worth it.

Calf season for the Burleighs usually runs from mid-March.

Burleigh is a fourth-generation dairy farmer on the land. He and Abby took over the property from his parents Noel and Gail last year. Abby started full-time on the farm last year after working for a Warrnambool car dealer.

The ball’s in their court

who: Jason and Abby Burleigh whErE: Nullaware whAT: Swinging balls

Far left: after the third feed the calves know what to do and go alone.

left: The shed was purpose-built in 2009 to house the calves and accommodate the automatic feeding system.

abby and Jason Burleigh installed swinging balls to address boredom and stop calves sucking each other.

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aNIMaL HEaLTH // 27

RICk BaYNE

SOME 40% cent of calves born on dairy farms in Western Victoria have a lack of antibodies to fight disease and almost 10% have no antibodies at all, a study has found.

The problem could be substantially eased if farm-ers started feeding their calves colostrum twice a day, the study has also found.

The study conducted by The Vet Group with fund-ing from WestVic Dairy tested blood protein levels from more than 1000 calves on 100 farms to determine their level of antibodies.

With an estimate of almost 45,000 replacement heif-ers expected to have low antibody levels in the Western District, reducing the prob-lem could save the dairy industry $15-$20 million annually.

The Vet Group veteri-narian Zoe Vogels, who conducted the study, said the results show that farm-ers should “assume none from mum” and always give extra colostrum.

Dr Vogels said calves were born without anti-bodies to fight disease and need to absorb the anti-bodies present in first-milking colostrum. Those with low antibodies face an increased risk of dying.

“A lot of calves left to drink colostrum from their dams will have no antibod-ies at all,” Vogels said.

“For whatever reason, poor mothering, poor calf vitality, they do not drink enough or indeed any colostrum. All calves should be hand fed an extra feed or two of first-milking colostrum in their first day of life.”

While most calves in the district are hand fed extra colostrum, the survey has shown that collect-ing calves from the calv-ing area at least twice a day to give them colostrum

will improve calf antibody levels even further.

“The ability of a calf to absorb colostrum anti-bodies across the intestine decreases pretty quickly once they’re born.

“They’ll be able to get the most from the colos-trum you give them if you give it earlier,” she added.

The amount of antibod-ies that a calf needs in its blood is about equal to its body weight in grams.

The survey found that calf breed was related to antibody levels.

Compared to Holstein Friesian calves, Jersey calves and Jersey crosses were half as likely to have low antibody levels, and dairy-beef crossbreds were three times as likely to have no antibodies at all.

Compared to heifer calves, bull calves were twice as likely to have no antibodies at all.

“People purchasing and rearing dairy-beef crossbreds and bull calves should be aware of their increased risk of disease and death and need to take action to minimise the risk of disease through best-practice housing, nutrition and treatment protocols,” Vogels said.

“During the course of the survey, we found that low antibody levels on a farm did not necessarily mean sick or dead calves.

“Some of the herds with poorer antibody trans-fer did not report a prob-lem and, conversely, some herds with the better results had quite signifi-cant calf disease.

“This illustrates the fact

Low antibodies still a major problem

that calf health is a fine bal-ance: colostrum manage-ment, housing, nutrition and treatment protocols all play a vital role,” Vogels said.

As part of the survey, an economic spreadsheet is being developed to help

assess the cost of inade-quate antibody transfer in dairy calves in the cost of disease, death and lost pro-duction.

The study was partly funded through WestVic Dairy’s Small Grants Pro-gram.

Zoe Vogels

Calves should be hand fed colostrum in the first day of life.

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IN UDDER WORDS...

Australian dairy farmers aim to produce healthy animals that perform to their full potential. Ruminants require a complex mix of nutrients to sustain body tissues, body functions and to reach production parameters.

A large number of trace elements play essential roles in many body systems but the most common ones that Australian cattle producers face deficiency problems with are SELENIUM, COPPER and COBALT.

Trace element deficiencies can have production limiting effects, or cause disease:

• Lowered production – of milk and meat

• Lowered fertility – lower conception rates and decreased calving rates

• Depression of immune system – increasing susceptibility to diseases such as mastitis (clinical and sub clinical) and metritis (often associated with retained foetal membranes)

• Developmental problems – white muscle disease, poor growth rates and ill-thrift

Dairy Technical Services Veterinarian Dr. Damian O’Brien highlights that “Marginal deficiencies are the hardest to detect because they often have no obvious signs but are frequently the cause of poor livestock productivity.”

“The autumn period is an excellent time to administer trace element supplements, the change in season can create significant variation in availability of nutrients from pastures, particularly for young stock.”

“There are many forms of supplementation to address trace element deficiencies. Short term supplementation with fortified vaccines, injectable formulations and drenches do not deliver long term supplementation, often only lasting a few weeks. Reliance on short term products often leads to seasonal deficiencies; as these products require regular re-administration and are easily forgotten on busy dairy properties.” he said.

“Only products that supply year round trace element supplementation ensure cattle receive adequate trace elements throughout the year to help optimise growth, health and milk performance.” said Dr. O’Brien.

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Hard Yards Pay Off in the Vat

28 // aNIMaL HEaLTH

IT NEVER rains, it pours!Once again in 2012,

La Nina has caused large areas of Australia to be flooded.

It comes as a cruel blow after so many years of drought, and with the exception of the west, most states have been inundated where the dairy cattle are found.

There are many prob-lems associated with flooding, the most imme-diate ones like lameness and mastitis are quite obvious for all to see, and so the level of response is generally quite good.

But there are some potentially very serious problems which are less immediate and potentially more devastating.

Problems with parasites, (worms, coccidia and fluke) are much more likely to occur after wet conditions, so it is essential that farmers anticipate this and prepare a plan to deal for strategic

drenching. In many areas, April is

the ideal time to drench cattle to reduce the num-bers of worms and hence pasture contamination.

At the recent Australian Cattle Vets conference, a paper was presented that showed that quite signifi-cant losses of production can be occurring even with quite low levels of worm eggs in the faeces.

Dairy producers also need to be aware of the potential for very signifi-cant losses from another disease that is barely on the radar for most dairy herds.

That disease is botu-lism.

There is no specific treatment for botulism, and most animals that go down will either die or need to be humanely destroyed.

Botulism vaccination, in my experience, is very infrequently used in most southern Australian dairy herds, yet the potential for huge losses is very real, and significantly higher after flooding.

I think this is because, to a large extent, the sale of vaccines is controlled by rural stores who sell vac-cines close to cost price, relying on sales volume, discounts, manufacturer rebates and “trinkets” (eskys, porch heaters etc) to decide which vaccine is best for your farm mean-ing there has been less and less involvement of veter-inarians in advising what vaccine is actually best for your herd.

There are a number of reasons why botulism is more likely after flooding.

Botulism is caused by a toxin produced from the vegetative state of the organism, Clostrid-ium botulinum. Clostrid-ium species, often better known for diseases like Blackleg or Enterotoxae-mia, are what are known as spore-forming bacteria.

This means that they can produce a dormant spore which can survive for very long times in the environment.

Clostridium botulinum can be found in soils, sed-iments and the gut con-tents of fish or animals. The bacteria themselves are not really dangerous - it is the toxin that they produce under the right conditions that can be fatal.

Botulinum toxin causes paralysis of muscles and is the active ingredient in botox.

The muscle paralysis is what causes the smooth-ing of crow’s feet when used in tiny doses in the

faces of actors and models. It also causes severe dis-ease and frequently dev-astating losses in cattle which consume large amounts of toxin.

Botulism is considered to be typically a northern Australian disease, seen in the vast cattle properties where phosphorous defi-ciency is quite common, and cattle get botulism from chewing on bones contaminated with the toxin.

However, as dairy farms become more inten-sive, and large amounts of silage is fed, the risk of bot-ulism increases markedly.

The use of mixer wagons exponentially increases the risk of a bot-ulism disaster because contaminated feed is evenly mixed through the

ration and lots of animals can be exposed.

On dairy farms, botu-lism is usually caused by silage that has been con-taminated with the car-casses of dead animals like snakes, rats or turtles.

After flooding the prob-lem is much worse. Rot-ting vegetable matter can contaminate sources of drinking water; sedi-ments are likely to have contaminated stored feed, which due to flood-ing may become signifi-cantly spoiled; and there is a much higher likelihood of dead animals and fish being left behind by flood-water in paddocks which will be made into silage.

I have seen paddocks of maize with hundreds of dead carp, lots of rotting vegetation and heavy sedi-

ment spoilage after flood-water has been through the paddocks. These types of feed represent a huge risk of botulism if cut for silage.

I would encourage all dairy farmers to speak to their experienced local dairy veterinarian about all the risks that flooding rep-resents to the herd.

Your vet is your most trusted source of indepen-dent science-based infor-mation when it comes to animal health questions.

Discuss with them whether vaccinating for botulism should be part of the annual health proto-cols on your farm.Rob Bonanno is president of the Australian Cattle Vet-erinarians Association and a director of the Shepparton Veterinary Clinic.

Botulism risk after floods

ANimAL hEALThrob boNANNo

faRMERS SHOuLd act now to prevent milk fever in cows due to calve in the coming months.

Dr Barry Zimmermann, who manages Dairy Aus-tralia’s InCalf program, said every dairy farmer’s dream is to eliminate milk fever from the herd.

“Milk fever is a nutri-tional disease so it can be prevented, but the trick is in the timing,” Zimmer-mann said.

“It’s too late once the cows have calved. The key to preventing milk fever is suitable nutrition in the three weeks leading up to calving.”

During this time cows need to receive a diet with the right amount of energy, protein, fibre, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and trace ele-ments; and the correct DCAD level.

(DCAD is the Differ-ence between Cations (sodium and potassium) and Anions (chloride and sulphur) in the Diet.)

“It’s quite a fine bal-ance,” Zimmermann said.

“To achieve the cor-rect balance you need to have all components of the pre-calving diet tested for calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and DCAD levels.

“Even if you use a com-mercially prepared tran-sition ration, you’ll need to consider the impact of other components of the springer diet, such as pas-ture and hay.”

Feeds which carry a high risk for milk fever include pasture treated with effluent, high potas-sium molasses, legume pastures and concen-trates or grain with added sodium bicarbonate.

“The benefits of pre-venting milk fever are far reaching so it may be worth working with a nutritionist to achieve the correct balance in the springer diet.”

The most obvious ben-efit is not having the stress and cost of dealing with downer cows but the less visible benefits affect the bottom line and animal welfare.

“For every clinical case of milk fever you see, up to eight other cows may be affected in some way.

“Preventing milk fever also improves milk pro-duction, herd fertility, herd health and animal welfare.”

InCalf transition feed-ing workshops will be held around Australia. Email [email protected] or telephone (03) 9620 7283

Act now to preventmilk fever in cows

Botulism can be a major problem after floods like these seen in northern Victoria.


aNIMaL HEaLTH // 29

SudESH kISSuN

MaSTITIS IS a manage-ment disease rather than a contagious one, says animal health consultant Adrian Joe.

Speaking last week at the New Zealand Large Herds Dairy Business Conference in Palmer-ston North, he said reduc-tion in somatic cell count of 100,000cells/ml was achievable in herds irre-spective of size.

Joe, a PureMilk masti-tis consultant, says aware-ness, attitude and attention to detail will help farmers reduce SCC in their herds.

“There’s money in reducing your herd cell count. The larger your herd, the more money you lose through mastitis. In a 1000-cow herd with average SCC of 300,000cells/ml, a 30% reduction saves $139,000. That’s the equivalent of one new Mercedes for you.”

When treating mas-titis, little things count. Choose antibiotics that give results, says Joe. Staff must also be properly trained in teat spraying and handling cows with mastitis.

Traditionally mastitis has been blamed on bac-teria and cows. But Joe points out the disease was inevitable as bacteria are universal and “whenever you milk cows, mastitis is a consequence”.

“The reality is mastitis

is a controllable disease. The two key risk areas are staff and poor imple-mentation of the well researched and proven control measures.”

Joe says each farm will

have key issues in masti-tis management. “The key is to go for the huge pay-off areas. The emphasis is on attention to detail with less emphasis on speed at which cows are milked.”

There’s money in mastitis control

Joe's five-point plan• Treat clinical cases.• Treat subclinical mastitis and prevent

new infections with dry cow therapy.• Cull non-responders.• regular milking machine testing and

maintenance.• Teat spray.

aLaN HaRMaN

A NEW molecule discov-ered by chemists at the University of Illinois is a potential breakthrough antibiotic treatment for bovine mastitis.

Lead researcher Wil-fred van der Donk, a chemistry professor at the university, found genes that make a molecule with a similar structure and function to the antibiotic nisin.

Nisin occurs naturally in milk and is a product of bacteria in the cow’s udder. It helps keep milk from spoiling and kills a broad spectrum of bacte-ria that cause food-borne illness, most notably liste-ria and clostridium.

Van der Donk says nisin also shows promise as a treatment for bovine mas-titis. As it is already pres-ent in low levels in milk, farmers using it to treat mastitis may not need to discard milk or meat from recently treated animals.

But it has drawbacks. Nisin is produced in an acidic environment, but becomes unstable at the neutral pH levels needed for many foods or pharma-ceuticals. It also becomes unstable at higher temper-atures, limiting its uses.

Van der Donk and his team isolated the newly discovered genes and inserted them into E.coli to produce the new anti-biotic – now named geo-bacillin – in large enough

quantities to study its structure and function.

He says the new anti-biotic, an analog of nisin, also has potential for treating bovine mastitis.

Nisin, and presum-ably geobacillin, work by binding to a molecule the pathogen needs to build its cell wall and then poking holes in the bac-terial cell’s membrane, a one-two punch that quickly kills the invader.

The researchers tested geobacillin against several food-borne and disease-causing bacteria and found it similarly effective or more effective than nisin, depending on the bacteria.

Most significantly, it was three times more active against the main contagious bacteria responsible for bovine mastitis. Also, since mas-titis could be caused by a number of different infec-tions, geobacillin’s broad-spectrum activity makes it an attractive option.

The researchers now plan to test geobacillin against a wider spectrum of disease-causing bacte-ria. Many tests of safety, efficacy and economic production lie ahead, but geobacillin has shown great promise.

The researchers hope its greater stability will allow medicinal applications for geobacillin that nisin could not realise, for bovine mastitis and possibly for human disease.

Cure couldbe all in the genes

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30 // MaCHINERY & PROduCTS

GOuLBuRN VaLLEY farmer Rick Cross is taking it a bit easy around the farm at the moment as he recuperates from a recent hip replacement.

Cross, from Toolamba, just south of Shepparton, surmises, obviously cor-rectly, that his fascination with running ultra-mar-athons may have had something to do with the hip problem.

Rick took up run-ning as a diversion when things were hitting hard in the drought.

Starting off with the relatively short ‘Run for the Kids’ event in 2007 to help raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospi-tal Good Friday Appeal, the passion hit hard and he started serious run-ning “for the sheer plea-sure of it”.

His last big run was the 2010 Coast to Kosci, a 240km foot race from Eden on the NSW south coast to Charlotte Pass, via the summit of Mt Kosciusko.

Rick, Judy and the family milk a mixed herd of 320 cows on the 200ha home farm which was originally part of a large sheep station.

The Cross’ home was the bound-ary rider’s house. They lease a further adjoining 120ha as a run-off block and for fodder production.

Cross’s grandparents farmed on a property next door and his father, Alan, took over this place when it was 64ha to start milking.

Cross obtained an Ag Science degree at Latrobe and worked as a CSIRO biol-ogist in Queensland before the draw of the dairy brought him back home – as he says “long before the drought”.

In 2002 they built a brand new 20-a-side dou-ble-up milking shed, with rapid exits, and bought the business in 2004 from his parents, Alan and Beryl.

During spring last year he purchased a 95 PTO hp Kubota M110XDC through Bertoli Farm Machinery in Sheppar-ton.

“I’ve always had Massey-Fergusons,” Cross said.

“At the time my MF4245 had been under-going a major overhaul in at Bertoli’s, which proved to be fairly termi-nal. We looked at order-ing another Massey but they couldn’t deliver for six months. So Jack Col-lins said why don’t you look at a Kubota?

“We already had a Kubota on loan while the Massey was being repaired and it was a basic, no-frills tractor that was doing a reasonable job.

“Jack took me out to show me a neigh-bour’s Kubota M110 and I was impressed, so they delivered a new one in 10 days.”

Cross said that they bought the upmarket model, with a few extras fitted.

“I find it very stable with a good front end loader. We can easily unload two large square bales, it works beautifully. I’ve been more than impressed.”

The M110XDC is fitted with Kubo-ta’s Intelli-Shift transmission with 16 forward and 16 reverse gears.

An interesting feature for dairy farm-ers is that it comes with Kubota’s ‘Bi-Speed Turn’ system.

This means that when the front wheels exceed a turn angle of 35 degrees

they rotate at nearly twice that of the rear to allow a smoother tighter turn for getting in and around livestock yards and narrow laneways.

“The main thing about the Kubota is that it is a hard-working, basic tractor that is easy to use and uncomplicated,” Cross said.

“Access to the cab is not brilliant, but once you’re in it’s fine. I could see how a big bloke might struggle. Plus the head-lights at night are not all that brilliant.”

He added that Bertoli’s are excellent

to deal with, especially for back-up ser-vice.

They have a Massey Ferguson 5460 without a bucket to do the heavy work of discing and seeding, so the new Kubota is the general ‘run-around’ unit, feed-ing out silage and hay and doing all the bucket work.

Other equipment includes an Econofeeder round bale feed-out unit, a Hardi boom spray, a slasher and a Roterra power harrow.

They grow all their own hay and silage and Cross said the deregula-tion money they received was all about increasing their efficiency in growing fodder – lasering and improving the paddocks and the water supply.

The pasture is ryegrass and clover and they will put in oats and lucerne this year. They use contractors for the round and square bales.

Cross said they have grown maize in the past, but not this year, as there is a surfeit of feed.

Rick and Judy have three boys,

Michael, the oldest at 18 has just fin-ished VCE, Shaun is 16 and Joel, 14. They employ a full-time worker, Hayley Jen-nings, from next door, who has been doing jobs around the dairy since she was 12 years old.

A couple of casuals look after the milking and Michael has been indis-pensable in helping out while his father has been indisposed.

As a director of Bega Cheese, Cross said he is absolutely confident in the future of the industry.

“Out of any ag activity, dairy is the one to be involved in. We plan to expand to 350 cows. It can be difficult at times; you live by risk and learn from it.”

He may have another four months to go in recuperation but is busting to get back into long distance running as soon as he can.Working Clothes will focus on the per-formance of a new machine each month. Send suggestions to Chris Dingle on 0417 735 001 or email [email protected]

workiNG cLoThESchriS DiNGLE

Kubota ticks all boxes

who: Rick Cross whErE: Toolamba whAT: Kubota M110XDC

Goulburn Valley farmer rick Cross switched to a Kubota tractor when his Massey Ferguson broke down and hasn’t looked back.

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MaCHINERY & PROduCTS // 31

THE dENNIS family at Tamrookum installed three Lely Astronaut A3 milking robots on their farm south of Beaudesert, Qld, 18 months ago, adding a fourth more recently.

The family held a field day last month, attended by 20 local farmers.

The Dennis family re-entered the dairy industry in 2007 after an absence of five years due to the on-going drought. “When we re-entered the indus-try we did it on a very tight budget rebuilding our orig-inal 40-year-old herring-bone dairy,” Greg Dennis said.

“The shed and yard system began to hinder productive and reproduc-tive efficiencies as the herd swelled towards 200, forc-ing us to review our alter-natives.

“I started researching milking robots, and was confident it was the way of the future.

“It is the productive efficiency and the techno-logical information that the robot gives that really impresses me.

“The computer also records a health check, weighs the cows, and gives a heat detection reading.

“In particular the heat detection through its activity monitoring impressed me, and this in-turn shortens our calving interval.

“Another aspect is it cuts down the time I spend in the dairy allowing me more time to manage other aspects of the farm.

“The labour issue is also an attraction and it makes my farm time more flexible.”

The cows are milked 2.4 times on average over a 24-hour period and the hygiene is also automati-cally managed.

The teats are washed down after every milking and the lines are rinsed after every 10 cows.

The cow’s daily produc-tion is also captured on computer via a neck collar worn by each cow.

Dennis undertook a level one service techni-

cian course through the Lely Center which took 10 days to complete.

“This gave me a good background and under-standing of how to con-nect all the dots of the system,” he said. “As well, it allows me to do all the routine maintenance to the robots and I can fix 90% of the problems before I ring the Lely tech-nician.

“I have been able to pass a lot of this knowl-edge onto our full-time farm employee, Greg Ward, who is also capable of trouble shooting and is very capable and hands-on with the robots.

“If you do the rou-tine maintenance regu-larly everything in the shed works well.

“Our cows have adjusted to the robots very well and once they are in the shed they go through to get milked, and we have been averaging 2.4 milk-ings daily since last spring, from a herd that calves all year round,” Dennis said.

Over the 18 months the herd has grown from milk-ing 140 Holsteins Frie-sians.

Since then, through the natural rearing of their own heifers, the family has increased their numbers to 180, with plans to rear and milk a total of 240 cows.

“In December last year, we installed our fourth unit, to give us a faster and more efficient operation, and this will speed up the cow flow throughput,” Dennis said.

“We really have confi-dence in the industry, and believe the demand for

milk will hold.”As a result of the instal-

lation of the Lely Astro-naut A3 on the Dennis family farm, Lely has opened its first Lely

Centre at Jimboomba, Qld, with Derek Acheson on-hand to install and ser-vice the operational needs of the robots. Tel. (03) 5484 4000

Beaudesert robots save labour, boost production

The lely astronaut a3 milking robots in operation.

Greg Dennis shares his experience of installing the lely astronaut a3 with invited visitors to the on-farm seminar.

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GOOD NEWS FOR FARMERS!


32 // MaCHINERY & PROduCTS

a NEW Australian-designed and engineered machine will help contractors and farmers turn manure and other waste products into pasture-improving compost.

The Seymour Composter 4000 TravelA won the Tractor & Machinery Association’s Machine of the Year Award at last October’s Elmore Field Days and was demonstrated at the Farm World Field Days in Warragul, Gippsland, last month.

One contractor who has already seen the potential is Jim Vaughan, Trafalgar, Vic. He runs Gippsland Compost Pty Ltd and it was his machine that was used for the demonstrations.

The Seymour Composter is used in a system for making rows of compost from various types of manure and other material that is instrumental in retaining nutrients.

Materials used can include pig, poultry, dairy or feedlot manure, damaged hay or straw and green waste.

The farmer or contractor may include additives such as trace elements or lime to the mix, depending on soil tests.

The Seymour 4000 can process 700 tonnes of material an hour, turning what on most farms has

traditionally been waste material into organically rich compost to help get organic matter back into the soil.

Farmers are discovering that pastures treated with a composted mixture provide major benefits in soil structure and beneficial organisms, resulting in balanced and healthy soil.

The machine passes through the row mixing, aerating and conditioning the product.

It is processed into a uniform blend by adding moisture, and then turned again when the compost heats up to around 60C.

Up to five turns is usual before it is ready to be applied to pasture or worked ground.

The Seymour Composter speeds up composting from an average of 12 weeks to eight weeks by breaking up lumps so that there are no anaerobic pockets.

Vaughan has only been operating Gippsland Compost since the start of this year, so he is just learning the business, although he has worked with farm contractors up until now.

He has just bought a second-hand 115 horsepower Fendt 712 to power the Composter.

The Seymour Composter 4000 TravelA suits a windrow of 1500mm high and 3000mm wide with an

operating speed of 500 to 800 metres per hour.

Working width is 7.4 metres. Seymour Rural Equipment says that an innovative drum and tine design expels the maximum amount of CO2.

The tines are positioned on the

drum so that they pull product from the outside of the windrow to the inside with a fluffing action that lifts and aerates the hot material at the core of the heap.

The machine comes with provision for a water manifold to inject water

into the compost rows to avoid them drying out too quickly.

The Seymour Composter 4000 TravelA can fold for transport and be within the width of a tractor in under a minute, ready to travel at 50km/k.Tel. (03) 5792 1100

aGRI-GENE IS now distributing Prid Delta, a new intra-vaginal progesterone device developed by Ceva Animal Health.

Ceva is a leader in research and develop-ment and sales of veteri-narian equipment with a turnover of 1.2 billion euros and over 2500 staff worldwide.

Agri-Gene said Prid Delta is the result of over 10 years development to ensure flexibility and

retention of the proges-terone device.

The design and shape gives it an increase of sur-face area on the vaginal tract of 34% over conven-tional devices. This pro-vides a faster release of progesterone on insertion and a faster decrease on removal.

Agri-Gene said this has been proven in trials in Europe. Ceva is also cur-rently conducting large trials on five farms in New Zealand comparing

Prid Delta to Cidrs in the Southern Hemisphere.

Results are due by June and Agri-Gene said early results have been encour-aging.

Agri-Gene said Prid Delta has shown in Euro-pean trials over the past three years that by run-ning shorter programs and using PG and ECG, pregnancy rates can be lifted by up to 15%.

Ceva Australia will offer technical advice to Agri-Gene.

WESTERN VICTORIaN fertiliser retailing and spreading business, Grass Growers Vic, has improved urea spreading efficiency by around 30% since adding a JCB 8250 Series II Fastrac machine to their fleet.

Grass Growers Lead Operator Michael Smith uses the 8250 Fastrac predominantly for urea spreading with a linkage mounted 4.5-tonne Amazone spreader, broadcasting urea at 36 m and superphosphate at 55m.

“It is a far more efficient machine to operate,” Smith said.

Having operated JCB tractors for many years, he said it was a logical decision for the business to buy the JCB 8250 when shopping around for a bigger tractor in early 2011.

“A big factor with the JCB 8250 was that, although it is a 10t machine, it handles like a 7-8t tractor in manoeuvrability.

“That is very important to our business because we work on dairy farms where we need to get around a lot of gateways.”

The company’s fleet of four tractor

spreaders cover a 100km radius from their Terang base and Smith said road speed was important when working over such a big area.

With 710-millimetre tyres on the back and 540mm tyres on the front, the Grass Growers’ JCB 8250 Fastrac was capable of travelling at up to 71km/hour.

“Road speed was another factor in the decision to buy this tractor because our drivers can now get around to four or five different farms in a day, despite them being 15-20km

apart,” he said.The JCB 8250 Series II Fastrac is

powered by a Cummins 8.3 litre, QSC turbocharged and intercooled engine and produces a gross 194 kilowatts (260 horsepower) with a power burst of 20hp as engine revs drop to 2000rpm. Maximum torque is 1179Nm at 1400rpm.

Smith said the V-TRONIC continuously variable transmission in the 8250 was brilliant, with a mode for every possible task and a simple design that made staff training easy.

He said the drivers at Grass Growers mostly operated in ‘Flex’ mode when spreading fertiliser and this was highly fuel efficient, using 8-9 litres of fuel per hour depending on ground conditions.

The 8250 Fastrac tractor has a category three rear linkage system with full electronic control and provides lift capacity up to 10,000kg. The optional two category front linkage has capacity for lifting up to 3500kg.Tel. 1300 JCB CEA.

Healthier pastures from waste

larger JCB lifts spreading efficiency by 30%

Pride Delta provides fast progesterone release

The Seymour Composter 4000 Travela in action at Farm World in Warragul last month.

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MaCHINERY & PROduCTS // 33

VaLLEY IRRIGa-TION has released the Bender160, which can be easily fitted for centre pivots.

The USA-based com-pany said for an econom-ical cost, the Bender160 can increase the number of irrigated hectares in a field.

With the Bender160, a grower can easily avoid a tree, building, or other obstacle in the field, allowing for maximum irrigated land, the company said.

The Valley Bender160 easily retrofits to exist-ing centre pivots, though minor structural changes

to the centre pivot are required.

Equipment prod-uct manager, Wade Sik-kink, said the Bender160 is designed to provide grow-ers flexibility to maximise their irrigated hectares in oddly shaped fields with obstacles.

“The innovative design of the Bender160 allows for continual monitoring of the machine angle while bending, which enables growers to control aux-iliary functions and end guns.

“This exclusive fea-ture from Valley Irriga-tion gives growers more options to make sure they

Bender160 covers odd-shaped fields

aGRI-GENE HaS released a new supplement combining minerals and vitamins to boost animal health and production.

Fertility Plus is processed using a process of weatherisation and is available as a free choice ad-lib product or fed through dispensers with feed rations.

The company said the combination of selenium (30 PPM), magnesium (10.5%), zinc (3500 PPM), calcium (15%), vitamins A, D3, E and B, and cobalt, maximise performance and fertility.

Trials were held on 40 donors in a 12 month period prior to release, with 20 donors receiving Fertility Plus and 20 donors not. This was then reversed in the following flush.

The donors were flushed at regular intervals by Dom and Jo Bayard, Global Reproduction Solutions, Goorambat, Victoria, who now use Fertility Plus in their export centre, as well as with domestic clients, due to the positive results.

Agri-Gene said there had also been reports of stronger heat cycles, fewer non cycling cows, improved conception rates, change in coat colour

and smoothness, while cattle also stopped licking the ground, bark or other objects.

The cattle take more than the recommended 60-80 grams per head per day in the first 7-10 days but in every case they then take the correct level, Agri-Gene said. The cost of Fertility Plus is between 12-19 cents per animal per day depending on size and deficiencies.

Fertility Plus does not replace feed or rations and, as the animal’s general health improves it will generally require more feed due to better feed conversion and performance.

Other benefits include higher milk yield, better cell counts and foot health. It also assists in metabolic diseases as well as improv-ing health and weight gain, Agri-Gene said.

If used in conjunc-tion with dairy pellets or rations, Fertility Plus should not be used with high selenium products. However, Agri-Gene said most mixes only have 2-5 PPM selenium and, even if levels are twice this, it will be within acceptable limits in most cases.Tel. Agri-Gene on (03) 5722 2666

Help cows withFertility Plus

are getting the most out of their land and investment in centre pivot irrigation.

“The Bender160 will allow growers to irrigate areas that were not always

reachable with a standard centre pivot.”

Valley Irrigation also offers an exclusive speed-up timer function, which comes standard with

both the Bender30 and Bender160. This feature improves a centre pivot’s water application while bending. Tel. (07) 3879 4159


34 // MOTORING

Simpson celebrations for Patrol owners

WHAT’S ON THE CARDS FOR YOUR PASTURES?

iWRI

189-

3

You can’t always be sure what Mother Nature’s going to deal you. So it makes sense to plan now so you don’t fall short with your feed requirements.

For over 70 years, we’ve been giving Australian farmers a hand in reducing risk by helping them plan and sow for the future.

This commitment is reflected in the new Wrightson Seeds Pasture Guide. It’s packed with proven varieties, planning advice, field services and productivity tips. Now all the information you need to make the most out of your land is as close as your back pocket.

YOU CAN’T PREDICT THE FUTURE, BUT YOU CAN PLAN FOR IT.

Don’t leave your winter and spring pastures to chance, call 1800 421 868 to order a copy of our FREE Pasture Guide.

wrightsonseeds.com.au

iWRI189-3 Dairy News Aprilv3.indd 1 16/03/12 10:04 AM

adaM fRICkER

THE TRICk to driving a Kawasaki Mule down a near vertical slope is to hold your nerve and keep one foot tick-ling the brake pedal, while the other foot keeps enough throttle on to engage the CVT transmission.

Actually, the 45 degree slope just felt like it was vertical from the passen-ger seat as Pukekohe, NZ, dealer Craig Brown turned the wheel and sent us over the edge. Unlike its passenger, the Mule didn’t flinch, it just crawled calmly down to the bottom, never breaking traction or feeling like it was going to run away. Then we turned around and went straight up again, effortlessly, the torque pouring on from just above idle.

In a dry paddock such as we were in, this exercise was perfectly safe, the Mule demonstrating its stability and neutral balance. On a wet day, no vehi-cle would tackle the same slope with-out drama.

The 2012 Mule 610 4 x 4 XC (pictured) is the latest evolution of the well-proven Kawasaki Mule range, which still includes the larger 4010. We first drove these vehicles when they launched a few years ago and at the

time was impressed with their ability to go anywhere.

Our test Mule this time was the looker of range, in black with 26” Maxxis Bighorn II radial tyres and wider 12” wheels that contribute to the mountain goat ability but also enhance the sport-ier look of the XC.

A comfortable ride is delivered by independent MacPherson strut front suspension with 78mm of travel, and a unit swing axle at the rear with 78.7mm of travel. The 610’s relatively small size, plus rack and pinion steering, make it manoeuvrable and nimble in tight spaces.

The engine is a 401cc, air cooled, 4-stroke, OHV, single cylinder thumper set high enough in the chassis to provide good ground clearance and in front of the rear axle for stability. Top speed is governed to 40km/h – a great safety feature if the vehicle is to be used by younger staff or family, and on the farm, 40km/h is plenty. This is not a racing machine, it’s a work vehicle.

The transmission is a belt-driven automatic with a Hi-Lo dual-range transfer case, with a lo-range suitable for steep terrain and heavy loads. The 2WD/4WD is easy to use; you’ll only need 2WD for much of the time. Once

you’re in 4WD and headed into the muck and mire, you’ll have the limited-slip front differential aiding your prog-ress with minimal steering effort, and still have the rear differential lock to call on if you get stuck.

The tipping deck, which lifts to reveal the engine, is a useful 1044 x

900mm and has cargo bed capacity of 181kg. The overall load capacity is 420kg. Towing capacity, including trailer, is 420kg. It also has a decent storage bin under the front ‘bonnet’.

Capping it off is the roll-over protec-tive structure, which meets all official safety standards and gives nervous pas-

sengers something to hold onto when going over 45 degree drops.

We needn’t have worried; the Mule 610 XC is very stable with most of its 458kg weight kept low, and good bal-ance side-to-side and front-to-back. You’d have to try pretty hard to tip it over. Visit www.kawasaki.com.au

New Mule has more kick

The new Kawasaki Mule handles the hills easily and provides stability and balance.

NISSaN 4Wd owners from around Australia are being invited to a unique Outback Party in Birdsville in July to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first crossing of the Simpson Desert by a motor vehicle.

More than 200 Nissan vehicles, dating from the 1960s to the soon-to-be released V8-engined next-gener-ation Patrol and around 600 Nissan enthusiasts, will converge on the cen-tral Australian township over the week-end of July 21-22 for the party, which will be the highlight of a week-long re-enactment of the pioneering event of half a century ago.

Geologist Reg Sprigg, his wife Griselda and their two young chil-dren Marg (then 10) and Doug (aged 7) made their historic Simpson cross-ing in their short-wheelbase Nissan Patrol G60 in 1962 as part of Spriggs’ search for oil.

His successful crossing of the remote desert that contains the world’s longest parallel sand dunes took place just 26 years after Captain Ted Colson with a team of camels became the first non-indigenous person to cross the wilderness.

The success of the trip and Sprigg’s later north-to-south crossing opened up the Simpson to legions of Outback adventurers.

The 50th Anniversary Simpson Desert Crossing in July this year will

see Marg and Doug Sprigg retrace their childhood wheeltracks from west to east driving a similar first-generation Nissan Patrol G60 in company with other current Patrol models.

Well-known Outback adventurer Pat Callinan is making a film of the historic event, while a next-genera-tion V8-engined Nissan Patrol Y62 model will be amongst the vehicles in the welcoming party in Birdsville.

For the Nissan enthusiasts present, the arrival of the Spriggs will be the cul-mination of a weeklong party.

Convoys of Nissan owners will depart from numerous locations around Australia in the week leading up to the culmination of the crossing, arriving and camping in Birdsville by Saturday, July 21.

The arrival in Birdsville of the Spriggs and their small vehicle entourage on the Saturday evening will

be the trigger for the main celebrations, with nationally-famous entertainers performing a memorable Outback concert staged at the Birdsville Racecourse.

The 50th Anniversary Simpson Desert Crossing is a not-for-profit event that is being heavily subsidised by Nissan, with net proceeds donated to Frontier Services, an organisation established by Royal Flying Doctor Service founder John Flynn 100 years ago to support people living in remote areas of Australia.

Because of limited resources in Birdsville, the Simpson Anniversary event is being limited to the first 200 Nissan vehicles.

Those interested in being part of this celebration should pre-register their interest at www.patrol50.com.au ahead of the formal opening of regis-trations in April.

THE fIRST images of Holden’s tough new off-roader – the Colorado 7 4WD SUV – in its Chevrolet guise have been released ahead of the global reveal of the production vehicle at the Bangkok International Motor Show in Thailand.

The all-new seven-seater Holden Colorado 7, based on the Chevrolet Trailblazer, will be the first heavy-duty 4WD SUV to wear a Holden badge in almost a decade.

The Holden Colorado 7 shares its architecture and underpinnings with the new-generation Colorado Light Commercial Vehicle, which arrives in Australia mid-year.

Holden executive director sales, John Elsworth, said the growing popu-larity of SUVs in Australia would ensure the new Colorado 7 had a ready-made fan base when it is launched at the end of 2012.

“Australians are buying more SUVs than ever before, and we’ve seen this demand reflected in the growing pop-ularity of our Series II Captiva range,” Elsworth said.

“The Colorado 7 will be a perfect fit for customers looking for the increased packaging flexibility and lifestyle ben-efits of clever interior storage, seven seats and rugged off-road performance.

“Developed to deliver everything Australians could want from a tough 4WD, with coil-sprung five-link rear suspension and a competitive 3-tonne towing capacity, the Colorado 7 will be an impressive addition to our SUV line-up.”

The Trailblazer will feature on the Chevrolet stand at the Bangkok Inter-national Motor Show from March 28.

Holden will release official Colo-rado 7 product information, specifica-tion and pricing details closer to launch.

First look at Holden’s new Colorado 7

WHAT’S ON THE CARDS FOR YOUR PASTURES?

iWRI

189-

3

You can’t always be sure what Mother Nature’s going to deal you. So it makes sense to plan now so you don’t fall short with your feed requirements.

For over 70 years, we’ve been giving Australian farmers a hand in reducing risk by helping them plan and sow for the future.

This commitment is reflected in the new Wrightson Seeds Pasture Guide. It’s packed with proven varieties, planning advice, field services and productivity tips. Now all the information you need to make the most out of your land is as close as your back pocket.

YOU CAN’T PREDICT THE FUTURE, BUT YOU CAN PLAN FOR IT.

Don’t leave your winter and spring pastures to chance, call 1800 421 868 to order a copy of our FREE Pasture Guide.

wrightsonseeds.com.au

iWRI189-3 Dairy News Aprilv3.indd 1 16/03/12 10:04 AM

www.virbac.com.auCustomer Support 1800 242 100 www.virbac.com.auCustomer Support 1800 242 100

Send all liver fluke packing, including the difficult to control 2 week old stage, with Flukazole C.Flukazole is a registered trademark of Virbac (Australia) Pty. Limited.

Due to your highly destructive behavior and blatant disregard

for productivity, we will be evicting you and the other stages this

autumn with Flukazole C, the most potent triclabendazole based

flukicide available*.

*Internal stages from 2 weeks old.

VBC8315FlukazoleEvictionDairyNews.indd 1 4/04/12 9:14 AM

dairy news australia april 2012

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