dairy news australia october 2015

SUNBURNT COUNTRY

BACK TO BUSINESSJenkins returns to UDVPAGE 13

GENES FOR PROFITImproving your herd PAGE 8

Dairy levy vote change PAGE 7

El Nino? Climate change?Call it what you like.

It’s going to be a long, hot and dry summer . PAGE 9

OCTOBER, 2015 ISSUE 63 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

BACK TO BUSINESSJenkins returns to UDVPAGE 13

PAGE 8

OCTOBER, 2015 ISSUE 63 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

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NEWS // 3

NEWS ......................................................3-14

OPINION ....................................................18

MARKETS .......................................... 20-21

MANAGEMENT ...............................22-23

BREEDING MANAGEMENT .... 24-26

ANIMAL HEALTH ...........................27-29

MACHINERY &

PRODUCTS ....................................... 31-34

Traveston travesty. PG.12

Jenkins back to business. PG.19

Fonterra’s new 10-year venture. PG.14

THE AUSTRALIAN DAIRY Industry Council has cautiously welcomed the successful completion of negotiationsunder the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) announced by the Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb last week.

The biggest global trade deal in twenty years, representing 40% of global GDP, took more than five years to negotiate. In late July, it looked like falling over altogether.

ADIC chair Noel Campbell said the deal for Australian dairy is modest, but positive.

“We can feel pretty confident in saying it was an OK deal for dairy,” ADIC Noel Campbell said.

Like any agreement of this size, which is negotiated behind closed doors, the devil will be in the detail which is not expected for at least

a week. However, Mr Campbell said the industry didn’t anticipate any nasty surprises.

In Japan, tariffs will be eliminated on a range of cheeses covering over $100 million in existing Australian trade, and Australia will be given new preferential access for a further estimated $100 million of trade.

“We’ll see improvements on our economic partnership and free trade agreement with both Japan and the US,” he said.

“We’ll see an improvement in butter and skim milk powder availability and access for the Japanese market,” he said. “And the ratios of Australian cheese to Japanese cheese for blending and processing will also be lifted to 3:1 (Australia to Japan) ahead of the planned 11 year schedule.”

In the US, the TPP will lift quotas on some Australian products,

transferring them out of evaporated and condensed milk in to cheese.

“It’s 4500 tonnes of Cheddar and 4500 tonnes of European style cheese,” Mr Campbell said. “At the end of the day, these amounts are not huge, but it may be enough for processors to go after that market. It’s a start”

Australia will also gain new preferential access into Mexico and the highly-protected Canadian market.

Mr Campbell said there was a way to go before the participating countries were negotiating for a truly free market.

“We’re disappointed the US hasn’t really come to the table in wanting to have free access,” he said. “The pound for pound deal (where the U.S can sell one pound in Canada and then take a pound from Australia or NZ) is a bit of a nonsense with respect to free trade.”

Ratifying the deal will also require the 12

participating countries - Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam - to sign off on the deal in their respective parliaments.

“There’s an understanding that if (an equivalent of) 85% of GDP of countries participating in the agreement sign off, it goes ahead. But if any one of the big players pull out, it doesn’t happen,” Mr Campbell said.

Candidates in the US presidential race, including republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders, have publicly slammed the deal.

Mr Campbell acknowledged the agreement may face similar hurdles at home, with Independent Senator Nick Xenophon labelling the deal a “dud” and the federal opposition indicating they would apply further scrutiny, especially in relation to

pharmaceuticals.He said the ADIC would

review the full agreement when it became available to fully quantify the benefits for dairy but early indications show improved opportunities in key export markets.

Across the ditch, Fonterra NZ chairman John Wilson says the conclusion of the TPP was a small but significant step forward for the NZ dairy sector.

“TPP has been an enormous undertaking,” says Mr Wilson, returning from Atlanta. “While the dairy outcome is far from perfect, we appreciate the significant effort made by Minister (Tim) Groser and his negotiators to get some gains in market access for our farmers.

“Dairy has been very hard to resolve and New Zealand has managed to get some progress against the odds. Our team has done well to lift the deal from where it stood at the ministerial meeting in Maui.”

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4 // NEWS

FODDER AND sugar beets are shaping up to be the next big thing in graz-ing management, with the high yield, low cost option expected to take off in Australia as it has already in New Zealand.

And warm Australian conditions up north lend themselves to even higher yields than those seen across the ditch.

As the next lowest cost option to pasture, beets have become hugely popular in New Zealand over the last 10 years with an extensive research program led by Dr Jim Gibbs at Lincoln University in the South Island.

With Kiwi beets grown for dairy and beef cattle surging to 40,000ha over the last

decade, the specialist expertise developed is now being exported to other countries, with beets already enjoying success from Tasmania to Western Australia and even the Northern Territory.

Dr Gibbs, a former Queenslander, has closely followed trials, now in their second year, at the University of Queensland dairy research facility at Gatton campus.

A large crowd of farmers keen to learn more attended a Subtropical Dairy field day at Gatton last month to inspect a trial crop which had just started break-feeding and to hear about the latest developments.

He said beets had a history of more than 500 years cultivation, but had long been thought toxic to livestock.

As well as developing a

system to safely transition cattle to consuming large quantities of beets, Dr Gibbs said there had been tremendous improvement in agronomy over the last five years, resulting in more consistent, heavier crop yields.

New Zealand farmers in large numbers were now using beets both as a winter feed and as a lactation supplement.

Dr Gibbs said the initial focus had been on strip grazing fodder beets, but a big future is emerging for harvested sugar beets which had a higher percentage of dry matter. The beets were dug out, had their tops cut off and were pushed into windrows and successfully stored in the open for several months.

With big herds up to 3000 cows, walking distance to grazing

becomes a factor in favour of harvesting beets and bringing them to the stock.

The extensive New Zealand experience in growing and feeding beets will be made available to current and prospective users who subscribe to a new internet database

currently being set up called the Fodder Beet Club.

Dr Gibbs said it was crucial that cattle be transitioned to a high beet diet of up to 12kg of dry matter (DM) a day to avoid the risk of acidosis.

The rate of beet feeding

should not increase by more than 1kg DM every second day with all changes to existing supplements made slowly.

After 14 days, cows needed to be held steady for a week at the beet allocation and supplement levels reached, then have

their beet allocation lifted steadily until they were leaving bulbs behind, an indication they were eating to an ad lib level.

“With a successful transition, the classic New Zealand dairy diet is beet and pasture – nothing else,” Dr Gibbs said.

Fodder and sugar beets a dream feed if grown rightGORDON COLLIE

NZ fodder beet specialist Jim Gibbs (centre) with Oakey dairy farmers Darryl and Leanne Priebbenow. PHOTO: GORDON COLLIE

IT may be low cost and high yield, but the fodder beets are not without their challenges in getting established.

Speaking at the Gatton field day, Dr Gibbs highlighted the agronomic practices necessary for establishing the vegetable crop and getting it through the first 60 days.

He said precision planting to achieve the right depth and seed spacing was critical and bed preparation was important to successful establishment.

Beet is not a strong germinator.

Soil moisture is important and seedlings are prone to wind damage. He said the crop lent itself to irrigation with dairy effluent.

Achieving a good early canopy cover was the key to smothering out weed competition.

“Once you get through the establishment phase it’s bullet proof,” he said.

As a bulb crop it did not respond significantly to nitrogen. Key nutrient requirements were sodium and particularly potassium. Boron was a key trace

element.Yield expectations from trials

at Gatton were that 30 tonnes plus dry matter a hectare could be achieved.

This would be an advantage

of more than 30% over yields typically experienced in New Zealand.

The leaf typically contained about 30% of the dry matter with a protein level around 25%. The bulb had a protein level around 10% or less and was low in fibre, but with high sugar content which needed good cow rumen function to digest.

The Gatton trial crop of fodder beet was planted into a fine seed bed in April with a 50cm row spacing and a density of 77,500 plants per hectare.

When feeding off began in September the crop was yielding about 24 tonnes/ha dry matter with 120 cows being transitioned onto strip grazing.

Updates from the fodder beet crop trial on the Queensland Agriculture YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/QldAgriculture/featuredHave you tried fodder or sugar beet crops yet? Share your story with Dairy News. Email [email protected] or on the Dairy News Australia Facebook page.

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NEWS // 5

FARMERS WILL help farmers beat suicide in an innovative new digital project, funded by beyon-dblue through donations from the Movember foun-dation.

The Ripple Effect, a partnership between leading rural advocacy, academic and health organisations was success-ful in receiving a $440,000 grant in July this year to help prevent the suicide of men in farming communi-ties – and it has taken its next big step.

“The Ripple Effect Steering Group was appointed in August, and earlier this week, during Mental Health Week, held its first ever face-to-face meeting of farmers, rural health experts and indus-try partners,” princi-pal investigator Dr Susan Brumby said.

Dr Brumby said The Ripple Effect “is about building a safe, online plat-form where farmers can feel comfortable to share their experience of suicide

– whether this be through losing someone to suicide, having thought about or attempted suicide them-selves, caring for someone who has attempted suicide or been affected by suicide in some other way.

“The point of the Ripple Effect is that through our online digital website, farmers can share their stories of what has helped them, learn from others and take action to make positive changes to their own health and well-being.

“Participation in the Ripple Effect will be anon-ymous and will allow farmers to ask questions and share their experience with their peers either through video, written word or voice, in addition to accessing information about looking after your-self and where you can find support,” Dr Brumby said.

“We understand that rural communities experi-ence severe disadvantage when it comes to inter-

net speed and connectiv-ity – so we will adapt our platforms to cater for this wherever possible.

“We are proud to announce our steering group really does bring together representatives from the farming com-munity who have a lived experience of suicide with some of the leading Aus-tralian experts in rural health, research and digi-tal design.

“The Ripple Effect is about farmers helping farmers. We know through our own experience, that no one tells a story about life on the land, its ups and its downs better than farmers themselves. This is why the Ripple Effect will be the first grassroots digital platform where farmers will have direct input into the content and the way in which they share their experience of suicide and mental health recovery.

“We believe through a collaborative approach we can help turn the nega-

Farmers will fight to stop ripple effect of suicide

IN BRIEF

Ag counsellors for Vietnam, Malaysia and Middle EastTHE Federal Government has announced three new agricultural counsellor positions in Viet-nam, Malaysia, and the Middle East, as well as additional counsellors in Bangkok and China. ADIC chair Noel Campbell said the counsellors will help the industry make the most of recent trade agreements as well as open up access to emerging markets.

Dr Gemma Chuck joins WestVic Dairy boardTHE Vet Group’s Dr Gemma Chuck has been ap-pointed to the WestVic Dairy Board in an indus-try service provider role, replacing Paul Clarke. The veterinarian, and Dairy News Australia columnist, said she is looking forward to working alongside like-minded people to progress the dairy industry for a sustainable future. “My expe-riences in the veterinary industry and university roles have allowed me to provide extension services to dairy farmers in this region. With the WestVic Dairy team, I would like to build on these experiences to really make a difference,” Ms Chuck said. WestVic Dairy is run by a board of directors, which is made up of six farmers and two industry service providers who meet eight times per year.

WAFarmers milk heads to ChinaWAFARMERS has announced it will be send-ing its branded milk to China, along with locally-produced honey. The group has formed a partnership with the company Lifeland, owned and operated by CEO Sha Yi, who has lived in WA for a number of years. WAFarmers president Dale Park said group has worked for a long time on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. “This gives us the opportunity to understand the Chinese market fi rsthand,” Mr Park said. The fi rst shipment of WAFarmers milk and honey is expected to leave this month.

Celebrating rural womenAPPLICATIONS for the 2016 Rural Women’s Award are now open. The award is open to all women involved in primary industries. State and Territory winners receive a $10,000 fi nancial bursary to implement their award idea. Each state and territory winner will participate in leadership development opportunities such as the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) course and will be supported to de-velop an individual integrated leadership plan. Applications close on Friday, October 30, 2015 and can be downloaded from www.rirdc.gov.au/rural-women’s-award

tive ripple of suicide into a positive ripple of support,” Dr Brumby said.

The Ripple Effect is a partnership between, National Centre for Farmer Health, Deakin University, Sandpit, Vic-torian Farmers Federa-tion, AgChatOz, Mental

Health Fellowship North Queensland and Western District Health Service• Anyone feeling distressed should call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 for counselling support.

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6 // NEWS

AUSTRALIAN DAIRYFARMERS and the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV) have called for a “show of strength” against a union campaign, backed by the federal opposition, which threatens to derail the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA).

More than 300 farmers came together at regional roadshows across the state, making a resounding call for the ChAFTA to be ratified by the end of the year.

The roadshows started in Warrnambool, touring through Colac,

Timboon, Tatura, Cohuna, Leongatha and Warragul.

ADF president Noel Campbell said the dairy industry needed to have its voice heard to make sure the “game changer” deal happens.

The ChAFTA took 10 years to negotiate and is worth a projected $11 billion to the Australian dairy industry. Mr Campbell said there was urgency to the campaign for the deal to be signed this calendar year to ensure there is a reduction in tariffs later this year and another in January.

He said the first priority for farmers should be a letter and email campaign to local and ALP MPs, but taking to the streets is also on the agenda.

“If needed, get on a bus and go to Melbourne and get your friends and neighbours and the whole community behind you. It’s about making a noise,” he said.

“I’m not saying go into the streets and go up against the police but make sure the community knows how important it is. Delaying this trade deal means lost jobs and lost opportunities for farmers.”

UDV manager Vin Delahunty said contrary to union reports, the FTA would protect jobs in regional Australia and that the union campaign was “not based on facts”, while Mr Campbell also dismissed the campaign saying Chinese companies would have to follow due process on 457 visas and first seek local labour-adding “agriculture generally does not use many workers on 457 visas”.

However, he admitted the union campaign had gained traction.

“It is clear this campaign has gained significant community following. I hear a lot of talk back on suburban-based radio and I’d have to say it’s probably 10 to one against the ChAFTA.

“That’s being very negative for us so we’ve got to tell Victoria the real facts.”

In response to a question, Mr Campbell said it was hard to say how many cents per litre (or kg/MS) more farmers would receive under the deal.

However, he said there would be significant long-term benefits for the industry.

“It’s a significant issue if you want the confidence to invest on your farm, and it would take some of the shock out of losses that we make at certain times.”

Mr Campbell told Dairy News he was not confident the deadline could be reached in time, especially given many cross-bench senators have expressed

their opposition to the deal.“It’s really quite frustrating from an

industry perspective. We would like to think it could be resolved by the end of the year, but it’s getting harder every day as we get closer to the end of the year.

“We were hoping with the change of Prime Minister that we might see an opportunity for the parties to come together but so far that doesn’t appear to have happened.”

He said the ADF would continue to pursue a positive result and urge the ALP and cross-benchers to put politics aside “and support something that is clearly in the nation’s best interest”.

Industry and farmers call for show of strength

■ All dairy export tariffs to China would be removed within four to 11 years.

■ Volume limitation safeguards will only apply to whole milk powder.

■ 600-700 new jobs in the dairy supply chain per year.

■ Will cost $800 million in tariff charges over 10 years if the deal isn’t done.

■ Stand to lose $76 million if the deal isn’t signed by end of 2015.

■ Aus dairy market share in China has declined from 11% in 2007 to 5% now.

■ NZ market share has grown from 21% to 41% in 2014 on the back of an FTA.

■ China is the largest importer of milk products in the world.

■ Imports have increased more than 45% i n the past five years.

CHAFTA AT A GLANCE:

Noel Campbell speaking at the Warnambool roadshow.

“ANYTHING THAT will be of benefit to our business, you’d be mad not to support it. It shouldn’t have to come to a protest rally in Melbourne. There’s no reason why people should be against it. When it’s explained that the labour situation is going to be exactly the same as it is now, I don’t

see that there’s any problem.” – Brendan Kenna, Kolara

“THERE’S NOT a line-up of people looking for jobs milking cows. I can’t see how it’s going to put anyone out of a job. There are plenty of jobs out there now that can’t be filled. It’s one

of those silly campaigns fuelled by misinformation.”

– Jack Kenna, The Sisters

“I’M ALL for it. It will provide better security for us into the future and will give us an advantage in the global

market. I reckon it’s worth fighting for.”

– Rebecca Hodson, Nullawarre

“IT WOULD be a win-win for all Australian farmers, not just dairy but for broader agriculture as well.

It’s about the whole of Australia benefitting. I don’t think the campaign about labour is anything to worry about. Any Chinese businesses coming to do business here would have to abide by the same conditions as we do. It’s nothing but a scare campaign.”

– Linda Roache, Woolsthorpe

Dairy News Australia a sked some of the farmers at the ADF/UDV roadshow event in Warrnambool what the China Australia Free-Trade Agreement meant to them.

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NEWS // 7

FARMERS WILL spend less time voting on their dairy levy in the wake of moves to streamline the process.

Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) is urging support from dairy levy payers for recommendations to opt for a poll only when a change in the levy is being sought.

The move would save at least $750,000 but farmers would still have to vote if levy changes are being proposed.

Farmers could also force a poll on any issue by bringing together at least 15% of levy payers.

Other farmer groups and individual farmers told Dairy News they support the ADF’s move, though some have reservations about the 15% base for initiating a poll and questioned why it cost so much to run the polls.

ADF has suggested the change, based on the recommendations of the independent Dairy Levy Poll Process Review panel, commissioned following

Dairy Australia’s 2014 annual general meeting. The panel concluded there are big cost-savings and operational efficiencies gained by making this change.

“After the last poll in 2012, the clear message from Australian dairy farmers was that the efforts and funds dedicated towards the poll process could have been better spent delivering dollar value to dairy farmers,” ADF president Noel Campbell said.

“It makes absolute sense, and the six-member panel recommendation was unanimous: we only vote when a change is proposed.”

Mr Campbell said the panel recommendation included a “failsafe” mechanism.

If farmers believe a poll is necessary, they can initiate one by bringing together a group of levy payers representing at least 15% of levy votes. This would activate a Dairy

Effi ciency, cost savings at heart of proposed dairy levy poll changes

Australia general meeting where 50% of voters would need to resolve to hold a poll.

“This proposal is not about removing Dairy Australia from scrutiny. This is about a direct saving

of at least $750,000 that can instead go directly to industry benefit,” Mr Campbell said.

“That’s why ADF supports it, and why we believe dairy levy payers should also

support it.” The industry must

endorse to the Federal Government the changes to the levy poll, which would require amending the Dairy Produce Act and its regulations.

“That means achieving consensus, and ensuring we’ve consulted widely and well with levy payers on this matter, and also conducted a simple vote to demonstrate the merit of the proposal. This has to be

wrapped up before the end of this year.”

ADF will provide farmers with the opportunity to discuss the recommendations at regional meetings over the next two months.

SOUTH Australian dairy farmer James Stacey says he supports the cost-saving move but worries the 15% requirement for forcing a poll is excessive.

“I understand why they don’t want to be doing reviews if it costs $750,000, but you’d have to ask what that $705,000 is being spent on as it seems a helluva lot of money,” Mr Stacey said.

“That’s $120 per dairy farm business. How much of that is doing roadshows?”

Mr Stacey is concerned that getting 15% of farmers to support a levy vote is “very unrealistic”.

“At the current number that’s 900 farmers. I think there needs to be a genuine mechanism available if a section of levy payers are unhappy with the performance of the business and I think that should be closer to 5%. To get 15% of farmers on an issue is almost a political campaign in itself.”

Victorian farmer and Wannon UDV president Craig Dettling said he supports the move to cut polls unless changes are planned.

“It costs a bit to do,” Mr Dettling said. “We have to balance up how much it’s costing versus making sure dairy farms feel they are being consulted.”

However, Mr Dettling also has concerns about securing 15% of farmers to force a vote.

“That seems to be quite a lot. You only need to get 100 signatures if you want to run for a directorship,” he said.

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8 // NEWS

DAIRY AUSTRALIA’S 2016 post-graduate scholarship program for farm business management university grad-uates is now open to applicants.

The scholarship offers two Austra-lian students the opportunity to study a one year Postgraduate Diploma in Agriculture Commerce in New Zea-land at leading dairy education cam-puses, Massey University or Lincoln University.

Recent scholarship winner, Benja-min Vagg (pictured) from Leongatha,

Victoria said the experience of study at Massey University had taken his knowl-edge to another level.

“I can think on a much larger scale now and not just in a farm sense, but also business direction and governance and I have a more business manage-ment frame of mind now,” Mr Vagg said.

Dairy Australia’s farm business capability program manager, Neil Lane, said the scholarship is part of the indus-try’s fundamental commitment to

grow capability in farm business man-agement across the sector.

“The level of scholarship is signif-icant at $30,000 for the year and rec-ognises that candidates are making a significant personal investment by undertaking further study when options to enter the workforce or con-tinue in a current role are strong,” he said.

Mr Lane said the scholarship is an exciting opportunity for graduates to further develop skills and experience in

farm business management “to a level that will ultimately benefit the wider Australian dairy industry.”

The scholarship, first launched in 2012, was developed in collabora-tion with the New Zealand Centre of Excellence for Farm Business Manage-ment, which is a partnership between DairyNZ, Massey University and Lin-col n University.

As part of the postgraduate pro-gram, Australian students study core papers in Agribusiness Management

and Farm Business Management and can select a further two core papers that reflect their own area of interest and expertise.

Applications close Friday, Novem-ber 6. Visit http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/fbm-scholarship.

Scholarship opportunity will sendtwo students across the Tasman

A FOCUS on demonstrating the link between high-merit genetics and profit will see 25 herds across Australia closely monitored over three years.

The $3.3 million project brings together a world-class team of animal genomics experts in a significant collaboration of the dairy industry.

Titled, ImProving Herds, the project aims to make herd decisions easier for dairy farmers by demonstrating how to use data to improve herd performance and increase farm profitability.

The 25 farms, which are currently being finalised from a number of submissions, will test how

profitability is affected by focused bull selections and genomic testing of females.

A further six farms will be used to test the impact of data-driven decisions on profitability.

The project will be led by eminent geneticist, Associate Professor Ben Hayes, from the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR), who said the project’s aim was to “unequivocally” demonstrate the value of using hi-merit genetics to improve on farm profit.

With only 50% of Australia’s dairy herd recorded, the project also aims to show farmers the financial benefit of taking the time to herd record.

“Herd recording is

a wonderful thing for geneticists, because we get this information coming in that we can use for genetic evaluations, but we’d like to have more information coming in,” he said.

However, he said it could be tough to sell the idea that farmers herd record just for the sake of scientific research.

“So we want to also demonstrate the value of herd recording to profitability.”

Associate-Prof. Hayes said another component of the project is to show how selection decisions can have positive environmental outcomes.

“We have already seen that the selection that has gone in dairy cattle over the past 30 years has actually reduced the amount of methane that

cows produce per litre of milk,” he said.

Farms participating in the project will open their books to rigorous scrutiny and this will be assessed against the genetic merit of the sires used in relation to the Australian Breeding Value’s Balanced Performance Index (BPI).

The Gardiner Foundation estimates the current opportunity cost of unrealised potential gain associated with herd improvement to be $25 million in Australian farmers’ profits.

Chief executive Mary Harney said: “We are pleased to enable ImProving Herds – it is an imaginative, bold and focused project which aims to lead to significant profitable growth for the

Australian dairy industry.”Associate-Prof. Hayes

said it was critical the research translated into simple, efficient tools that allowed farmers to make quick, data-driven decisions to increase herd profitability.

A new decision-making software tool is expected at the end of the three years.

Project partners include

Dairy Australia, Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADHIS), National Herd Improvement Association of Australia (NHIA), Holstein Australia and the Victorian Government.

Associate-Prof. Hayes said three things had come together to make the project possible including the improvement in the

reliability of the ABVs, a reduction in the costs associated with genomic testing, and the data used to develop the ADHIS’s Genetic Progress Report.

“We just didn’t have those tools before but now we do and we can extend them,” he said.– More in Breeding Management, p.26

New project to show link between better cows and bigger profitsMADELEINE BRENNAN

Associate Prof. Ben Hayes speaking at the launch of the project with ImProving Herd’s strategic steering committee chair Craig Lister and genomics and biotechnology researcher Dr Alison L. Van Eenennaam from the University of California. Picture: Gerard Hayes.

DAIRY NEWS ON THE GO

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NEWS // 9

Poor rainfall and high temps for season aheadGORDON COLLIE & MADELEINE BRENNAN

FARMERS ACROSS the country are gearing up for what the Bureau of Meteorology says will be a dry, hot summer.

And with temperatures across the country soaring in the first week of Octo-ber, and Total Fire Bans declared on some days already for part of Victoria and Tasmania, it looks like being a long one too.

The Bureau of Mete-orology said September rainfall was below aver-age for most of Australia, including Tasmania and a broad swathe of the main-land extending across agri-cultural South Australia, nearly all of Victoria, much of New South Wales west of the ranges, through southern and western Queensland, the major-ity of the Northern Terri-tory, and most of Western Australia.

September rainfall for Australia was third lowest on record and was amongst the 10 driest Sep-tembers on record for Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Speaking at a dairy field day late last month, University of Southern Queensland climatologist Dave McRae told farm-ers the El Niño weather event, which was border-line in June, is now firmly entrenched and should peak in December. The negative influence of El Niño on parts of Austra-

lia’s weather patterns was expected to decline during April and May but may not dissipate entirely.

“There is a 50:50 chance the El Niño will break next autumn, but that means there is also a distinct risk it could con-tinue,” Mr McRae said.

He said most weather forecasting models were putting anything like normal summer rain in the unlikely category.

The BOM said Octo-ber to December is likely to be drier than average across the southeast and northeast, with parts of central Australia likely to be wetter than average. Warmer days and nights are likely for Australia, except the northern trop-ics.

A strong El Niño is usu-ally associated with below-average winter–spring rainfall over the eastern half of Australia, with 17 of the 26 events since 1900 resulting in widespread drought for Australia.

With warmer than average sea surface tem-peratures in the Indian Ocean, a drier month is likely Australia-wide.

Across Australia’s dairy regions, many spring crops have failed to achieve the growth needed for silage.

Northern Victorian farmer Andrew Hipwell told Dairy News locals were cutting their losses and making silage from

pasture that was “only a foot high.”

ADF president Noel Campbell said a lot of grain crops would now go into cereal hay.

“This can be an oppor-tunity for dairy farmers in respect to cereal hay prices, but it still indicates we’ve got an issue.”

Queensland Depart-ment of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) dairy specialists Ross Warren and Ray Murphy said there are several things to con-sider to make the best of a lean rainfall season.

Mr Warren said that even in a dry year, storm events could be expected and farmers should be ready to take advantage of any opportunities pre-sented. “Have your coun-try ready. Be ready to apply nitrogen at rain events,” he said.

“Remember in tight

seasons, cash flow is king. It could be a good time to cull some cows, taking advantage of high

beef prices and put some money in the bank.”

Feed supply could be made go further with

fewer heifers while still feeding milkers well.

“It you are facing a dry season, sorghum is a

better option than maize as it needs less water and is a lot more resilient,” Mr Warren said.

ACCORDING to the Country Fire Authority, the number one fire safety objective is: ‘Plan for and undertake fire safety, asset protection and asset recovery activities, with safety as a priority.’

Under legislation, landowners and managers have a responsibility for the safety of all people living, working on or visiting their property.

Landowners and managers are advised to consider safety, environmental and legal issues and long-term sustainability with safety as a priority.

The CFA urges anyone in a high fire risk area to develop a written survival plan that takes into account

all people who live or work on their property. There should also be a backup plan in case you are caught in a fire.

A fire survival plan should be a three-step plan based on:

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■ Response – putting preparation into action

■ Recovery – getting back to normal as soon as possible

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INVESTIGATIONS INTO methane at Ellin-bank Research Farm, Vic-toria, have uncovered some surprising and unexpected outcomes for milk produc-tion and animal health.

S e v e r a l p r o j e c t s m e a s u r i n g m e t h a n e emissions in dairy cows have calculated increased weight and milk production responses.

The methane creates a loss of energy, so reducing emissions enables the energy to be metabolised elsewhere, according to the scientists involved.

“Methane is energy and a greenhouse gas, 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide,” said Dr Peter Moate, senior research scientist at Ellinbank.

“So a dairy cow is equiv-alent to a family motor car in its greenhouse emissions and effect.

“Our research has been like an insurance policy, so that if, in the future, Aus-tralian dairyfarmers are asked to reduce methane emissions from cows, they will have real options to do

that.“And our research is uncovering a sub-

stantial number of practical feeding strat-egies, suitable for the Australian dairy industry, for reducing methane emissions.

“If you save that energy otherwise lost in methane emissions, you should, theoret-ically, be able to convert that into increased production – either body weight or milk.”


10 // NEWS

The cows pictured with the various apparatus to assist research.

Ellinbank Research Station senior scientists Dr Joe Jacobs and Dr Peter Moate are involved in the several research projects measuring methane emissions in cows, against food source, additives, weight and milk production variations. Pictures: Jeanette Severs.

JEANETTE SEVERS

EXPERIMENTS AT Ellinbank on 70% forage-fed cows showed methane emissions were 21.1g/kg/dry matter (DM) intake.

“I’ve measured the methane intensity of Australian milk by mea-suring the cows’ burps and calculat-ing that against milk production,” Dr Moate said.

“In 1980, it was 33.6g methane/kg milk produced. Thirty years later, as the milk production of the cows has increased, it decreased to 19.9g methane/kg milk.”

Dr Moate said better genetics, feeding and pastures caused the reduced measures.

“So farmers are to be congratu-lated for their efforts, being efficient and using the benefits of scientific research,” he said.

“What can Australian farmers

do to further reduce methane emis-sions? Well, obviously (feed addi-tive, 3-nitrooxypropanol) NOP is one option when it becomes avail-able.

“Several others we’ve researched include fatty feed supplements – cotton seed meal, cold pressed canola, brewers grains, homily meal, grape marc. These contain a high amount of fat and feeding those to cows, you are able to decrease meth-ane emissions by 10-25%.

“But it has to be economical – we’re not advocating farmers use these unless it’s economical for them.”

Dr Moate said summer, when pastures were dry, with reduced protein and fat, was an ideal time to provide these supplements.

The sulphur-hexafluoride (SF6)

technique developed by Ellinbank scientists, to measure methane/kg/DM eaten by pasture-fed cows, has been adopted in other research.

A brass capsule is swallowed by the cow, where it lodges in the rumen. The SF6 is diffused as a gas through a teflon membrane on the capsule’s end, at a constant rate of 5mg/day, mixed with the methane in the cows’ rumen and expelled as burps.

Burps were measured using a tube suspended over the animal’s nose which sucked the air through and into a saddle apparatus around its body.

“It turns out the cows produce approximately 21g methane/kg/DM eaten; it applies to all diets where there’s more than 70% forage,” Dr Moate said.

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NEWS // 11

Calorimeter’s are being used to replicate the effects on cows of a mild to moderate heat wave event.

Heat tolerance and milk production linkTEMPERATURE AND humid-ity controlled chambers, or cal-orimeters (pictured right) are being used to replicate the effects on cows of a mild to moderate heat wave event.

Farm records were used to identify cows that maintained milk yield figures on hot days and 48 related heifers were bought for the research project.

Six cows spend four days in

the calorimeter, where oxygen intake, methane and carbon diox-ide emissions and heat production are measured.

The cows are fed crushed corn, crushed wheat, crushed barley and rolled barley, to identify any differ-ences in methane emissions.

Blood tests taken one week prior to entering the chamber and at day three in the chamber identified genetic changes in milk

production, insulin, glucose and non-steroidal fatty acids.

Milk samples were also taken to measure feed conversion and gauge milk secretion ability of mammary glands during heat stress.

The blood tests were also expounding genetic markers for feeding efficiency, heat tolerance and milk production phenotype work that can develop breeding

values and feed conversion fig-ures for the Breeding Value Index.

Dr Jacobs said identifying genetic markers for different pro-duction aspects could help iden-tify cows that maintained milk production or body weight during hot weather.

“This research should be able to standardise a temperature and humidity index, to be applied to other animals,” he said.

AN INTERNATIONAL team of scientists from Ellin-bank and Penn State University, USA, discovered a feed additive included in the diet of 48 barn-stalled dairy cows reduced their methane emissions by 30%.One gram of the feed additive, 3-nitrooxypropanol (NOP), was added to the daily grain feed ration for each cow for 12 weeks.

Methane emissions were measured using the SF6 technique.

“Adding NOP into the daily feed reduced the cows’ emissions of methane gas by 30%,” said Dr Moate.

“About 6% of the food the cow eats is converted to methane gas, which is wasted food and energy.

“Considering cows burp about 600 litres of methane daily, if you save the energy it has to go somewhere – we expected it to go into milk or milk fat.

“The cows given NOP captured the energy and con-verted it into increased body weight by one kilogram per week, indicating more energy was available for the cow when methane production is reduced. Importantly, there was no reduction in milk production or composi-tion.”

Dr Moate has applied for approval to conduct the NOP research on Australian dairy cows grazing pasture, to determine if the methane inhibiting effect was simi-lar. “No other feed additive has had such a big effect on methane, using such a small amount. So there is a real possibility to add that to feed of cows,” he said.

FEEDING HIGH amounts of wheat to dairy cows can substantially reduce meth-ane emissions.

In one experiment, feeding 10kg of wheat/cow/day reduced methane emissions by 50%.

In another experiment, cows fed on a basal diet of pasture and 9kg wheat showed methane emis-

sions reduced by 35%.“Wheat feeding is a

standard on many Austra-lian dairy farms and it’s likely the amount of meth-ane being produced by those cows is less than we previously thought,” Dr Moate said.

Further research about wheat’s anti-methane effect is being undertaken.

NOP increases production

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12 // NEWS

SINCE HE was a child, John Cochrane dreamed of owning a particularly choice block of dairy farming country tucked into a horseshoe of the mighty Mary River outside Gympie in Queensland.

“I remember first seeing the place when I was 11 years old travelling with my grandfather. It stayed in my head,” he said.

‘It was 350 acres and every square inch was floodplain.”

From fourth generation dairying stock, John started his working life as a butcher, but always had a burning ambition to milk cows for a living.

“I was determined. But the only way in was to start small, so I leased my first

farm near Gympie with 32 cows,” John said.

He built a financial base, buying and trading up land and was on his 17th property when the opportunity came up in 1994 to snare the place he had long coveted.

“It was $1.5 million. I wanted it so badly I sold all my other properties and borrowed every cent I could. I was so exposed – you’d never do it today,” John said.

He and wife Margaret set about developing the property and building their future in dairying.

Cow numbers were ramped up to a peak of more than 1100 and a new million-dollar rotary was about to be commissioned when they got the devastating news that their property was to disappear underwater.

With severe drought gripping south east Queensland, the State Government in 2007 announced plans to build the Traveston Dam.

The controversial dam in the lower Mary catchment would be big and shallow, drowning thousands of hectares of productive river flats. A storm of community protest appeared to be to no avail.

“We never saw it coming,” John said. “We were just finishing off the yards ready to move into the new dairy when the dam was announced as an election project. The dam wall was to be just five farms further down the valley.

“We didn’t want to sell,

but the government set about acquiring a lot of land and we had no choice, as the bank’s security was going under water.”

Operating the farm on a leaseback basis, they found

their lives in a holding pattern.

John had always been interested in auctioneering so the decision was made to diversify into real estate, conducting livestock and clearing sales and opening a café-restaurant in nearby Gympie.

Ironically, with the state’s dairy industry in a

state of contraction John found business was soon booming.

“I saw a hole in the marketing of dairy cows – to match them to the right property. It was sad

doing a sale, but there was pleasure in achieving a successful outcome,” he said.

They were still leasing their farm,

not entirely convinced the dam would actually happen.

“It was such a stupid idea locating a big dam here. There were just so many issues.”

While the State Government would not concede it had made a mistake, the decision was taken out of its hands

when Federal Minister at the time Peter Garrett announced in 2011 that the mega project would be scrapped on environmental grounds.

John and Margaret are taking the opportunity to buy back their property from the government, but the long-running dam saga compounded by the collapse in prices to unprofitable levels has left the region deeply scarred.

The landscape of the Mary Valley has been plagued by years of uncertainty.

John said that of 26 dairies affected by Traveston dam plan, only five were still in business.

The couple have contracted out the milking of about 600 cows on a lower-cost farming system based on kikuyu pastures and sod seeded ryegrass

with corn silage. Their herd is predominantly Friesian, but their son Kelvin has taken on the breeding of pedigree cattle with his own stud property at nearby Dagan.

“The potential is there to double production again with a focus on more intensive feeding,” John said.

“But we basically need another market for our product for that to happen.”

He thinks that milk prices would need to improve at least 10 cents a litre to justify capital spending and lift production.

“It might happen one day. Queensland is short 100 million litres of milk a year with product shipped from interstate – something has to give at some point,” John said.

Traveston Dam shatters dreamsGORDON COLLIE

John Cochrane. PICTURE: GORDON COLLIE.

“We didn’t want to sell, but the government set about acquiring a lot of land and we had no choice, as the bank’s security was going under water.”

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NEWS // 13

UNITED DAIRYFARMERS of Victoria president Adam Jenkins is “back to business” after a failed bid to run for state parliament.

Mr Jenkins (pictured) stood down from his UDV role after nominating for Liberal Party pre-selection for the seat of Polwarth.

He was later endorsed by the UDV Central Council to return to the top job after the Liberals instead selected Colac businessman Richard Riordan as their candidate for Polwarth.

However, he has returned with a new deputy after former UDV vice-president Roma Britnell won Liberal pre-selection for the neighbouring seat of South West Coast. Mrs Britnell had also stood down from her UDV role during the pre-selection process and later resigned from the position.

Mr Jenkins was reluctant to discuss his pre-selection nomination but said it was good for dairy and agriculture that farmers were willing to represent rural communities.

“It’s great from whatever side of politics if people are willing to stick their hand up to show leadership and take it to a higher level,” he said.

“That should be encouraged, particularly if you’re going to stick your hand up for agriculture and represent regional Victoria. I think that’s a good thing.”

The UDV Council said it was united in the view that Mr Jenkins has performed exceptionally in the seven months he has been in the role as president and strongly believe that he remains the best person to represent the industry

and UDV members into the future.

Newly-elected vice-president John Versteden said: “We are fortunate to have a person of Adam’s qualities and ability leading the UDV and I look forward to supporting him for the remainder of his presidency.

“Adam will be judged by members at the 2016 UDV Conference where his current term expires and I am sure he will receive a very positive result,” Mr Versteden added.

There is no constitutional impediment to Mr Jenkins resuming his role.

Mr Jenkins said he welcomed Mrs Britnell’s pre-selection but didn’t want to elaborate on his bid or whether he would consider nominating again in the future.

“It’s not worth talking about,” he said.

“I’m very committed at the UDV at the moment. It’s been a good process but it’s back to

business now.”He added that he

was pleased fellow dairyfarmer Mrs Britnell was chosen as the Liberal candidate for the safe conservative seat of South West Coast.

“It’s excellent that Roma was pre-selected,” Mr Jenkins said. “There are not many voices for rural areas and if elected she would be only one of not even a handful of farmers in parliament.”

Mr Jenkins said his first priority in returning to the UDV role was to make sure the China Australia FTA is ratified before the end of the year.

“We have to get our communities to understand the implications of not signing it,” he said.

Nearly 300 people attended VFF/UDV forums across Victoria about the FTA.

“Everyone was willing and able to help and talk

Jenkins returns to UDV roleRICK BAYNE

to their communities about what that access will mean,” Mr Jenkins said. He said the UDV and VFF would consider their next course of action in

mid-October.“We need to wait and

see. If it doesn’t look like getting signed this year, we will take it further if we need to.”

“It’s been a good process but it’s back to business now.”

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FONTERRA AUSTRALIA’S state-of-the-art beverages plant was officially launched last month by Victorian Minister for Agricul-ture and Regional Development Jaala Pulford in Cobden.

The beverages plant will provide Woolworths Select milk across Victoria for the next 10 years.

Director Judith Swales said the new multi-mil-lion dollar plant expands Fonterra’s existing facil-ity, creating around 50 new jobs.

“Australia is a strategic market for Fonterra and our Australian milk pool is the Co-op’s larg-est milk pool outside of New Zealand. Combined, this makes us the largest dairy exporter in the world,” Ms Swales said.

The plant will process and deliver around 115,000 bottles of fresh milk for Woolworths’ Victorian customers every day.

Fonterra opens new Cobden facility

FONTERRA SUPPLIERS Peter and Nicole Delahunty milk 250 Holstein-Fresians on about 162 ha on the volcanic soils at Alvi, about 60km from Cobden.

Mr Delahunty, who has supplied Fonterra for about 10 years, said he produced around 2 million litres a year, of which 1.3 million is contracted. Average contracts are two to three years, the company said.

Mr Delahunty said while

he had always felt confident in the dairy industry despite its ups and downs, the new Woolworths deal helped “flatten out” some of that volatility.

“For me being able to get a contract like I’ve been able to with Fonterra gives me some security in what I’m doing,” Mr Delahunty said (NB: Please keep style here to Mr Delahunty).

“There’s costs around

producing milk out of season, so being able to contract part of that s a great help to my business and allows me to plan what I’m doing into the future, and hopefully I can grow the business a little bit more,” he said.

Mr Delahunty, who will have been dairying for 40 years next year, said he already invested heavily in irrigation systems on farm, to meet the demands of guaranteeing year round milk.

“It’s really your minimum month by twelve,” he said.

Mr Delahunty said he was confident he would continue to supply Fonterra for the next ten years, and hopefully beyond.

“We pride ourself that we produce milk of a high quality, year round,” he said. “I’d be happy for anyone from Woolworths to come on farm and see where there milk is coming from.”

10 YEAR DEAL BOOSTS CONFIDENCE

AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST dairy farm could change hands before Christ-mas. The Van Diemen’s Land Company (VDL) in Tasmania, owned by the New Plymouth District Council, is talking to potential investors, as confirmed by VDL governor Keith Sutton.

“VDL is dealing with a number of parties looking to invest in the com-pany,” he told Dairy News. “VDL expects an outcome to be announced well before Christmas.”

The farms are owned through New Plymouth council’s Perpetual Invest-

ment Fund (PIF), which gradually increased its ownership in the farms to a majority holding over a number of years.

The council’s PIF was created from the $259m sale of the council’s shares in lines company Powerco in 2004.

Established in 1825, VDL is located in the picturesque northwest of Tas-mania, where it owns and operates 25 dairy farms, a dairy support unit and a standalone heifer rearing operation. Including replacements VDL runs about 30,000 dairy livestock.

VDL is one of Australia’s oldest companies, established in London in 1824 by 11 men closely connected with the English wool trade and tex-tile industry.

VDL became part of the New Zea-land publicly listed company Tasman Agriculture Ltd in 1993. This went into voluntary liquidation on October 31, 2001, following a restructuring of its New Zealand Farms, and its share-holders received one share in Tasman Farms Ltd for every share held in TasAg by way of an in-specie distribution.

In June 2004 VDL bought all the shares in Tasman Farmdale Ltd, which owned land in the Circular Head region of northwest Tasmania.

Tasman Farms Ltd, an NZ company, is the majority shareholder in VDL, owning 98.42% of shares on issue.

In late 2007 the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) bid to buy Tasman Farms Ltd. In February 2008 this bid was finalised, the NPDC buying 74.33% of Tasman Farms Ltd. NPDC has since increased its shareholding to 100%.

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AROUND THE REGIONS // 15

Gippsland Korumburra Show another sky high successIF YOU weren’t lucky enough to get to this year’s South Gippsland Dairy Expo in Korumburra, this area shot (right) gives you a pretty good view of the event.

Peter Notman, from Notman Seeds, captured the expo from above with the company’s drone. “We had a great couple of days, with plenty of farmers onsite to speak about their preparation for the upcoming spring and summer seasons,” Peter said. You can also see video of the drone’s footage at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGB4VRaihHs.

And as you can see from our selection of snapshots, Peter wasn’t the only one enjoying himself at this year’s expo. Siblings Ryan, 3, Lara, 7 and Kelsey, 5 from Leongatha South thought it was great fun to ‘drive’ a tractor.

South Gippsland Dairy Expo in Korumburra, this area

a great couple of days, with plenty of farmers onsite to speak about their preparation for the upcoming spring and summer seasons,” Peter said. You can also see video

And as you can see from our selection of snapshots,

year’s expo. Siblings Ryan, 3, Lara, 7 and Kelsey, 5 from

tractor.

Zavier, 2, enjoyed playing with the animals at

the Reid Stockfeed’s tent.

Julie Henshaw, Faye Loughridge, Charelle Mackin and Wendy Nieuwerth from Poowong Pre-School volunteered in the kitchen.

Richard Roew, Rotartet Hydraulics, Wonthaggi with retired dairy farmer Graeme Mabin, Wonthaggi, and Murray Goulburn fi eld services offi cer Joanne Duffy, Leongatha.

Brown’s Fertiliser’s agronomist Melissa Burton,

from Koo Wee Rup, with Jenny Cope, Fish Creek,

and agronomist Sally Pate, Leongatha.

Graham’s Seeds managing director Frank Templeton, Yarragon, with Peter Armstrong, Darnum, and Graham’s Seeds agronomist Nicole Frost.

Jon Reynolds from Provico.

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Like most forage rapes, Pillar has amaturity of around 12-15 weeks fromsowing through until first grazing. Itshould be sown into a fine, firm seedbedat a sowing rate of 3-4kgs/hectare on itsown, or at 1-2kg/hectare if sown with anannual ryegrass.

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16 // AROUND THE REGIONS

Dairy the lifeblood of Stanhope

IF YOU were one of the few cynical people who thought the Legendairy Capital of Australia campaign didn’t really mean anything, you clearly haven’t been to Stanhope.

When Dairy News spoke to local dairy farmer Andrew Hipwell nearly three weeks after the town was named Australia’s first Legendairy capital, he said the town was still abuzz.

“People are still very excited, they haven’t stopped talking about it,” Mr Hipwell said.

“You see the elderly people with smiles on their faces at the moment, walking around town and yelling out, you know, how great it is.”

The small town in the Murray Dairy region, home to just 490 people, is the first to hold the title which has been awarded as part of Dairy Australia’s search for the nation’s most vibrant and resilient dairying communities.

Mr Hipwell said the Legendairy cam-

paign had really helped put the town on the map.

“There’s nothing pretty about us,” he said. “We’re just in the middle of northern Victoria on a small bit of flat ground, but people are starting to see what we do and who we are.”

In a piece of fortuitous timing, the town’s junior Auskickers got an oppor-tunity to be part of the half time activ-ities at the VFL Grand Final at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

“When they ran on to the ground in their maroon and gold they were intro-

duced as the Legendairy Capital of Aus-tralia, and it was just unbelievable for our kids.”

The town will officially celebrate the win with a whole-of-town party on November 12.

In the meantime, Mr Hipwell said people were marking the achievement in a variety of ways.

“One local fertiliser business is going to put aside a corner of their site at the Elmore Field Days to showcase that Stanhope is the Legendairy cap-ital, and the local postmaster is going to design a post mark.

“These are the sort of things the locals are coming up with off their own bat to celebrate it.”

He said Stanhope was a really spe-cial community and the town was close-knit and very resilient.

“The majority of dairy farmers are optimistic; times have been tough but the good times aren’t far away again and our farmers believe that.

“ You listen to reports about China buying soon, I mean, water is a big issue around here, the weather, we haven’t had much rain, but local farmers

around here roll with the times, when times are tough you just get together, and when the good times are there you make the most of them.”

Sport plays an important part in keeping the town together, which means the $2500 in prizemoney will be used to build a playground at the local reserve.

“To be able to build a decent play-ground it will just bring more families to the footy and to local sport, and it will be just fantastic.”

He said it couldn’t be underesti-mated the role the dairy industry – and its farmers – played in sustaining Stan-hope.

“If it wasn’t for dairy, we wouldn’t have a town,” he said.

More than 100 nominations were received in the quest to become Aus-tralia’s Legendairy capital.

A new search will begin in 2017.

MADELEINE BRENNAN

Stanhope Auskickers ahead of their big introduction at the VFL Grand Final.

Stanhope dairy farmer Noel Gray and his dog Archie.

Andrew Hipwell

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AROUND THE REGIONS // 17

NSW

THE DAIRY NSW annual general meeting will be held via teleconference on October 13, 2015. To dial into the teleconference, use the Dairy NSW service number: 1800 062 923. Listen to the automated voice prompt and then key-in the Guest Passcode number followed by the #key: 776057842015# At this meeting, three Dairy NSW board directors’ terms expire this year - two skills based and one farmer director. The Dairy NSW directors meet alternate months with two of their meetings coinciding with the Dairy NSW Members’ Council.

It’s AGM time

Sth AustraliaImprove AI skillsTAFESA IS offering a short course on artificially inseminating livestock for DIY inseminators from October 19. The four-day course includes a mix of theory and practical delivery and covers heat detection, preparation, handling, insemination and record keeping. Cost is $650. The course will be hosted on farm at Donovan’s Dairy, Mt Gambier. Pre-enrolment is essential. Contact Glenda Smith at TAFESA on (08) 8762 8304 to register.

TasmaniaLow interest loans availableDAIRY FARMERS are eligible to access low interest loans as part of the Tasmanian Government’s Agrigrowth Loan Scheme. The scheme supports projects that advance the government’s Agrivision 2050 plan, which aims to increase the value of the

agriculture and agri-food sectors in businesses, from a loan pool of $10 million.

For more information, including program guidelines, call Business Tasmania on 1800 440 026 or visit /stategrowth.tas.gov.au/home/grants_and_funding/grants_and_

loans/loan_programsWe want to hear from

you! Share your pictures, stories and updates from your area with the Dairy News Australia national dairy community. Email [email protected]

Sub TropicalField day precedes AGMSUBTROPICAL DAIRY is holding its annual general meeting on November 10 at the Invercauld House Convention Centre in Lismore (NSW) from 4-6pm. All of the industry is welcome to attend and stay for dinner after the meeting. Preceding the meeting, delegates are invited to the Northern Rivers Resource Efficiency Focus Farm Open Day from 12-3pm, looking at what has changed on the farm almost a year on. Email Brad Granzin ([email protected]) by Friday, October 31.

Western Australia

Free networking event for youthAGCONNECTWA IS heading to Broome to host a free networking event that will give young, passionate people in agriculture the opportunity to meet likeminded individuals.

The networking event is the first of its kind for AgConnectWA, a group dedicated to connecting, representing

and providing support for young people throughout the agricultural industry.

The sundowner will be held on Friday, October 23, at Matso’s Brewery in conjunction with Northern Beef Futures.

The event is free but registrations are essential and can be directed to [email protected] by October 19.

Free employment basics webinarWESTVIC DAIRY will host a free webinar on Wednesday, October 28 on finding the right employees to suit your business needs. The ‘Employment Series’ session, sponsored by DairyNSW, will provide information on recruitment, including how to ensure you have the appropriate employment classification for your employee and what needs to be considered when writing job descriptions.

The one-hour session, presented by Karen Hart, will start at 12 noon. RSVP at www2.redbackconferencing.com.au/Dairy-NSW-28th-Oct-2015

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18 // OPINION

EDITORIAL

MILKING IT...

RUMINATING

Robots finding their placeIF YOU thought robotic dairies were the stuff of science fi ction - or at least something that seemed too expensive to become the norm - think again. According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries there are 34 robotic milking farms in

Australia (with at least another seven being installed) representing a total of 136 robots milking around 9,250 cows and producing almost 50 million litres of milk per year. The average AMS farm has 270 cows milked through four robots, with some farms having up to eight. The AMS operate across a range of farming system types (grazing 82%) feedlot/corral systems (6%) and indoor housed systems (12%) and in every dairy state in Australia. Sadly, many of us may still only have the capital for a fl oor cleaning robot ‘As seen on TV’ for now.

NZ eyes ‘dairy tourism’LOOK out Gandalf there’s a new threat to your tourism mantle: dairy tourism. But it’s not the farm-stay, cheese and vino kind that you might imagine. With a schmick new infant formula manufacturing plant set to offi cially open in

November in Pokeno, north Waikato, Yashili’s Terry Norwood has suggested tours of the plant might draw Asian visitors to the area. “Chinese tourists know the Yashili brand; they will use social media to highlight their factory visits and promote New Zealand,” Mr Norwood said. There’s no doubt the $220 million plant -the company’s fi rst outside of China - is impressive, but Dairy News Australia can’t help but wonder if it’s a little bit of wishful thinking that the facility might be a genuine tourist drawcard. Maybe Peter Jackson could include the facility in his next movie?

Time for a name change?A RECENT study published in Science shows that people who grow up on farms – especially dairy farms – have fewer allergy and asthma problems than others. Researchers report they were able to pinpoint one possible mechanism for the allergy

protection in mice they studied. The research is related to something called the hygiene hypothesis, where a lack of exposure to microbes as a child leads to more allergy and asthma. There’s increasing evidence that farms have the best germs for preventing respiratory problems and allergic reactions later in life. It does make you wonder then, why they call it hay fever?

Fat is backCONSUMERS are returning to full fat milk according to the latest Dairy Australia milk sales fi gures. On a YTD basis, full cream milk sales increased by 4%, while reduced fat and no fat dropped 4.7% and 6.8% respectively, compared to the same period last year. Dairy Australia says the

trend refl ects a consumer shift toward more natural foods, as well as research that shows fat within a balanced diet is not the enemy we once all thought it was when it comes to weight gain and health. If these fi gures are any sign, consumers are obviously letting their taste buds do the talking.

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IN MAY this year, then Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull posed for this picture (right) in the ‘Power Issue’ of GQ Magazine.

It was an audacious move that, despite his protestations at the time, spoke clearly (again) of his intentions to one day be Prime Minister.

Since the last issue of Dairy News, Turn-bull, and his internal supporters, have exe-cuted a cold, calculated and bloodless coup to remove yet another sitting Prime Minister from office; a move which he has since described as “nothing personal. It’s business”.

To the Liberal Party’s (and Tony Abbott’s) credit, the event seems to have so far been pulled off without much of the ruthless sniping that tainted the Rudd-Gillard era. The nation, aided by a media which seems at present to be quite charmed by the new PM, appears ready to move on.

The reason for that also lies in the glaring reality that Australia is in desperate need of leadership. It needs a clear run of stable and functional governance that would enable sound policy and eco-nomic reform to be debated, scrutinised and then implemented. For longer than one political cycle.

In toppling Abbott, Turnbull revealed himself to be cunning. What we need now is for him to be shrewd.

The early signs are promising, as they often can be when a new leader comes to power. The decision to transfer the water portfo-lio to Deputy Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce in agriculture may have been politically expedient but it also should bode well for the sensible execution of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

On September 23, the Prime Minister challenged Bill Shorten to put forward a “concrete proposal” for a political compromise on the China Australia Free Trade Agreement. We can only hope for the sake of the future of the dairy industry that they, or their advi-sors, have been in lock down ever since, thrashing out a solution.

There are so many priorities for the new Prime Minister: reform of the tax and workplace relations systems, driving investment in regional and rural infrastructure, boosting youth unemployment, aiding growth and sustainability in Australia’s agriculture sector, tackling domestic violence – and that’s just the shortlist.

Whether we watch the course of the Turnbull government play out with amazement, bewilderment, anger or a strange combina-tion of all three, one thing is for certain: Australia, regional, rural and metropolitan alike, cannot afford for it to fail.

Turnbull government must deliver quick wins


WORLD NEWS // 19

West African markets beckons Arla FoodsEUROPEAN DAIRY co-op Arla recently signed two new joint ventures in Africa as part of its expansion plan on the continent.

Two strong local partners, Tolaram in Nigeria and Attieh Group in Senegal, will provide the distribution backbone that will help Arla grow and develop its business in West Africa, the co-op says.

The move is part of Arla’s strategy to develop new markets outside the EU to make more money from its farmer-owners’ milk.

Arla’s ambition in sub-Saharan Africa is to grow its annual revenue from $158 million to $800m in 2020.

“This is to be achieved initially through sales of powdered milk and liquid milk, which is in high demand among the rapidly growing middle class in and around the big cities, and eventually also butter and cheese,” it says.

Steen Hadsbjerg, head of the business region in sub-Saharan Africa, says wealthier families are increasingly demanding

safe and affordable nutrition. He says West Africa faces a milk deficit, which Arla will fill with milk powder and other dairy products.

“We are here to build a long-term business, and that requires strong local partners. We [will have] two experienced partners in Senegal and Nigeria,” says Mr Hadsbjerg.

Arla’s powdered milk products in Africa are sold under the Arla Dano brand.

“In Nigeria Arla now has annual revenue of $140m but so far it has been based on various distribution agreements. Now, by placing all its business in the new joint venture company with Tolaram Group, Arla expects to grow its revenue by 2020.

“Nigeria is one of the biggest markets for dairy products in Africa,” says Mr Hadsbjerg.

“For Arla to succeed in Africa we must succeed in Nigeria. The population is growing at 2-3% per year, and people are young, ambitious and increasingly well educated.

“This makes Nigeria a

perfect market for Arla’s Africa strategy, and we expect the new joint venture to start selling in well.”

The venture in Nigeria

will be called TG Arla Dairy Products LFTZ Entreprise, owned 50% by Arla Foods and 50% by Tolaram Group. The company will handle

packaging, marketing, sales and distribution of Arla products in Nigeria. Mads Burmester has been appointed managing director.

ARLA DOES not now sell any product in Senegal,

but by forming a joint venture company with the

Attieh Group, the co-op expects to build annual

revenue of $56m by 2020.

The new joint venture company in Senegal is

called Arla Senegal S.A. and is owned 75% by

Arla Foods and 25% by Attieh Group.

The joint venture will handle packaging,

marketing, sales and distribution of Arla

products in Senegal, and is expected to be

operational before the end of this year.

STARTING UP IN SENEGAL

Arla’s powdered milks are sold in Africa under Arla Dano brand.

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20 // MARKETS

IMPROVED MARKET sentiment has seen dairy commodity prices rise from their recent extreme lows.

Factors such as a deteriorating milk production outlook for New Zealand and reduced Global Dairy Trade (GDT) offer volumes have helped to drive this, but it remains to be seen whether supply and demand will rebalance to the extent required for prices to match or exceed ‘average’ levels in the short to medium term.

Growth in milk production has largely defied the dramatic falls in dairy commodity prices over the past year and a half, and whilst it has slowed in many regions, the wholesale adjustment needed to balance market fundamentals still appears some way off.

At the same time, while global demand continues to grow, the pace has slowed since earlier in the

year. Australia is among the major exporting regions in which milk production continues to expand.

After solid growth of 3.8% in 2014/15, Dairy Australia’s overall forecast is for a 2% increase in national production for 2015/16, with a range of 9.8 to 10 billion litres considered likely.

Though there are wide regional variations, margins remain positive, if significantly tighter, for most farmers, allowing them to maintain or incrementally grow output.

Culling is reportedly tracking at high levels

in New Zealand; a factor expected to contribute to a fall in production over the 2015/16 season, following two record-breaking years.

The bulk of the decline is expected to be in the second half, as per-cow production falls on slowing pasture growth and reduced supplementary feeding to cope with tighter margins.

Growth in European milk production in the months since the elimination of quotas has fallen short of some of the more ambitious projections, but remains a major factor weighing on

Positive signs but fundamentals still haunt the market

global markets. Despite recent margin-

related unrest, production increased by over 400 million litres year-on-year in the six months to June, roughly half the total growth across the world’s four major exporting regions.

The removal of milk production quotas (and subsequent supply growth) has coincided with the closure of the Russian market, with the result that European exporters have been competing hard in traditionally ‘Oceania-dominated’ markets such as South-east Asia.

Strong domestic demand for butterfat and a firm cheese market have seen exports fall sharply year-on-year, and helped to largely insulate the US dairy industry from global price movements in recent months, with margins still

encouraging production expansion.

Milk production in the key South American exporting countries has again dipped below year-ago levels, though recent moves to focus on sales to Russia and China have augmented a largely regional focus to date.

Subdued demand and persistent inventory issues saw total global exports to Greater China fall 17% in volume terms in the 12 months to June, whilst Russia has also seen volumes plummet (down 76%). In Russia’s case, the embargo on major (western) exporters will likely persist as late as 2018, according to local sources, greatly restricting demand from the world’s hitherto second largest single country dairy market.

On a brighter note, global exports to Japan,

Australia’s second largest market for dairy, grew strongly in the 12 months to June, and many South-east Asian countries continue to take advantage of depressed global prices to stock up on dairy products.

However, buyers in some markets (such as the Middle East) now have their immediate needs covered, causing the pace of imports to moderate.

Market access prospects have benefited from an historic period of increased trade liberalisation over the past few years.

Most recently, the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) was concluded on October 5.

The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) has acknowledged the completion of negotiations as delivering modest but

important gains in global market access, including improving on the Japan Australia bilateral agreement, delivering new access into the highly protected Canadian dairy market, and improved access in the United States.

While the benefits of improved market access will be realised in the longer term, in the short to medium term it will be market fundamentals that determine dairy market movements.

Supply and demand need to rebalance sufficiently in order that prices can match or exceed ‘average’ levels, and while sentiment seems to be driving some recent resurgence in demand, the wholesale adjustment needed to balance market fundamentals still appears some way off.

Source: Global Dairy Trade info.

GLOBAL IMPACTAMY BELLHOUSE

Dairy NewS aUSTraLia june, 2012

With season 2011/12 only a few weeks from ending, attention is now focused on 2012/13 milk prices as farm-ers consider strategies for the coming year. In some domestically-focused regions, renegotiated contracts incor-porating lower prices and reduced ‘tier one’ access are undermining farmer confidence and supply stability. For many farmers in export-oriented regions, a lower price outlook relative to the current season not only adds to the challenges of doing business, but seems to contradict the positive medium term outlook of Asia-driven dairy demand growth.

Dairy Australia’s indicative outlook for southern farm gate milk prices – published in the recent Dairy 2012: Sit-uation and Outlook report, is for an opening price range of $4.05-$4.40/kg MS and a full year average price range between $4.50 and $4.90/kg MS. The report considers the wider market pic-ture and summarises the many factors at play; the key theme of the current sit-uation being that of re-balancing in the dairy supply chain.

In regions of Australia focused on producing drinking milk, many farmers face a re-balancing market in the form of renegotiation of supply contracts and reduced access to ‘tier one’ supply.

Shifts in private label contracts and pro-cessor rationalisation have seen milk companies adjust their intake require-ments and pricing to meet the chang-ing demands of a highly pressured retail marketplace. Lower contract prices and a lack of alternative supply opportuni-ties present challenges in a market with limited manufacturing capacity. Despite these challenges, the underlying domes-tic market is stable, with steady per-cap-ita dairy consumption and a growing population providing a degree of cer-tainty beyond the current adjustments.

In the seasons following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent com-modity price recovery, farmers in export-oriented regions have seen solid global supply growth (see chart) - with higher-cost competitors in the North-ern Hemisphere amongst those expand-ing output as their margins increased. This season, favourable weather con-ditions have further enhanced milk

flows. 2012 milk production in the US is up around 4% on 2011 for the year to April (leap year adjusted), whilst early data suggests EU-27 milk production finished the March 2012 quota year up 2.3% on the previous year. New Zealand production is widely expected to finish this season up 10% on last year - a huge market influence given 95% of NZ milk is exported. Argentina is also enjoy-ing solid production growth, but a sig-nificant supply gap in Brazil prevents much of this additional milk from leav-ing South America.

Despite wider economic uncer-tainty, demand has remained resilient as importing countries like China and

those in south-east Asia and the Middle East maintain consistently higher eco-nomic growth rates that support increased dairy consumption. How-ever, the surge in supply has outpaced demand growth in the market.

This situation has seen the scales tip in favour of buyers in dairy mar-kets, with commodity prices retreat-ing steadily over recent months. Butter prices are down some 30% from their 2011 peaks, whilst powder prices have lost more than 20%. Farm gate prices have subsequently been reduced in most exporting regions. The average basic farm gate price for milk in France for example, dropped 12% from 32 Euro

cents/litre in March (AUD 41c/L) to 28 Euro cents/litre (AUD 36c/L) in April. Profit margins are under pressure in the US, and in NZ Fonterra has announced the final payout for the 2011/12 season has been cut from NZ$6.75-$6.85/kg MS to NZ$6.45-$6.55/kg MS (AUD$4.96-$5.04).

Effectively, global dairy markets are rebalancing. Lower prices will both slow production growth and stimulate demand, and as this occurs we will ulti-mately see a price recovery. Key factors to watch on the global scene will be the rate at which milk production overseas slows in response to lower prices, the impact of the current financial worries on consumer confidence, the path of China’s economic growth, and the value of the Australian dollar.

Demand for exported dairy prod-ucts remains a positive and will con-tinue to grow with the middle class in large emerging markets such as China, with changes in diet and with increasing urbanisation - and also in conjunction with global population growth. Locally, the domestic market is supported by a growing population and stable per-capita consumption. Whilst the dairy market is currently a challenging place to be a seller, all signs indicate that bal-ance will ultimately return.

agribusiness // 17

austraLian FooD company Freedom Foods Group Ltd is to build a new milk processing plant to cash in on growing demand in Asia.

The plant, to be built in southeast Australia, will be the first Australian green-fields expansion in UHT in 10 years.

Freedom’s wholly owned subsidiary Pactum Australia will run the plant. Some of its products will be sold in Australia.

The company says given Asian consum-ers’ rising incomes and improving diets, demand there will grow for qual-ity dairy products from low-cost production bases such as Australia, whose milk is well regarded.

The new plant will allow Pactum to meet growing demand for UHT dairy milk, and add to capacity for value-added beverages at its Sydney factory. Pactum is expanding its capabili-ties at the Sydney plant

to provide portion pack (200-330ml) configura-tion for beverage prod-ucts.

The NSW location will provide access to the most sustainable and economic source of milk. Pactum has strong links to the Austra-lian dairy industry and will expand its arrangements with dairy farmers for supply of milk. The new plant will increase scope for Australian milk supply – value-added, sustainable and export focused.

Initially the plant will produce 250ml and 1L UHT packs from a process line capable of 100 mil-lion L. The processing and packaging plant will emit less carbon, use less water, and be more energy-effi-cient than equivalent UHT facilities in Austra-lia and SE Asia. Pactum expects site preparation to begin in October 2012 and start-up by mid-2013.

Pactum makes UHT products for private label and proprietary customers.

Freedom Foods planttargets Asia

Malaysia FTA benefits dairyaustraLian DairY, rice and wine exporters to Malaysia are the biggest winners in a free trade agreement (FTA) signed between the two coun-tries last month.

The deal, signed after seven years of negotia-tions, allows a liberalised licensing arrangement for Australian liquid milk exporters and allows access for higher value retail products.

It guarantees Aus-tralian wine exporters the best tariff treatment Malaysia gives any coun-try. It also allows open access arrangements from 2023 for Australian rice with all tariffs eliminated by 2026.

The National Farmers’ Federation says the trade deal will improve inter-national market access for Australian agricultural goods.

“After seven years of negotiation, the NFF is under no illusion of how challenging it has been to complete this FTA with Malaysia,” NFF vice presi-dent Duncan Fraser says.

The FTA will fill a number of gaps within the

ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA).

“Protectionist senti-ment over agricultural goods is rife and grow-ing across the globe, so in this context it is pleas-ing Australia has managed to forge an agreement with Malaysia that has dealt with some sensi-tive agricultural issues not effectively covered by AANZFTA,” says Fraser.

“While under the AANZFTA agreement most of Australian agri-culture’s key interests had tariffs bound at zero, dairy and rice are two sec-tors where incremental market access improve-ments have been negoti-ated under the Malaysian FTA.

“This trade deal was also particularly impor-tant for sectors such as dairy that have been facing a competitive dis-advantage in Malaysia compared with New Zea-land which already has a completed FTA with Malaysia in place.”

The FTA also sig-nals some administrative benefits for Austra-lian agricultural export-

ers through streamlining of rules-of-origin dec-laration processes and improved marketing arrangements for certain commodities.

The Malaysian market is worth about A$1 bil-lion in Australia agricul-tural exports – including being its fourth-largest sugar export market and fifth-largest wheat export market. With an annual economic growth at about 5%, Malaysia forms an impor-tant part of the ‘Asian Century’ story and the opportunity this presents for Australian agricultural producers, says Fraser.

Despite the comple-tion of this agreement, much remains to be done for Australia’s farmers to tap into the full potential of the Asian region and beyond.

He says the NFF will now throw its attention towards ensuring agricul-ture remains front and centre in completed FTAs with South Korea, Japan, China and Indonesia as immediate priorities.

“These are all markets with enormous growth opportunities and where significant barriers to trade in agriculture still exist, not only through tariffs that restrict trade

but also through technical or so called ‘behind the border’ restrictions.”

The FTA was signed on May 22 in Kuala Lumpur by Australia’s Trade and Competiveness Minis-ter Craig Emerson and his Malaysian counterpart Mustapa Mohamed.

Emerson says Australia will be as well-positioned in the Malaysian market as Malaysia’s closest trad-ing partners in ASEAN, and in some cases better. The FTA will guarantee tariff-free entry for 97.6% of current goods exports from Australia once it enters into force. This will rise to 99% by 2017.

incremental change in milk production (year-on-year)

Export demand remains strong

Sealing the deal: Malaysian trade minister Mustapha Mohamed with Australian counterpart Craig Emerson after signing the deal.

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MARKETS // 21

LAST MONTH we highlighted the amplified volatility the global dairy industry has experienced in recent times. As the current cycle runs its course, there is the predictable discussion about how dairy market volatility can be somehow curbed or at least managed?

In New Zealand, the industry most exposed to price volatility, the discussion has taken an interesting turn with the imminent disappearance of Fonterra’s Guaranteed Milk Price Scheme (GMP) after this season.

The GMP was introduced back in April 2013, and allowed participating farmers to lock in 75% of their production at a guaranteed price, announced at the start of the season. At the time of the GMP launch Fonterra said:

“As well as providing farmers with the certainty they are looking for, GMP also has benefits for the co-op. That’s because we know what a certain proportion of our milk will cost us for the season and this in turn provides us with another selling tool when talking to our customers, some of whom are also looking for price certainty.”

After an apparently successful pilot involving 328 farmers and 15 million kgs of milksolids (kgMS), the scheme was expanded

for the 2014/15 season to 60 million kgMS – with farmers given two opportunities to lock in prices – for 40 million kgsMS, June, and the remainder in December. In June this year, with the commodity market clearly sliding, there were reports that the initial June offering of 40 million kgMS locked in at up to NZ$5.25/kgMS was oversubscribed, with more than 400 farms applying to use the scheme. So far so good, right?

Well, no - in September came a brief announcement that GMP would cease as, according to Fonterra, it hadn’t gained the widespread support of farmers: “While some have used it to smooth out on-farm incomes, others felt it did not treat all farmers equally and fairly.” The GMP covered less than 4% of Fonterra’s 1,614 million kgMS intake, so in a year that it offered the greatest attraction for suppliers, many would have missed out.

The initiative has now

been handballed to the NZX, which has been working on a milk price risk management tool – but with no launch date as yet. So it seems futures and derivatives are at least part of the answer to helping manage price volatility?

The Irish industry – one of the most exposed to global commodity markets in the EU - certainly thinks so. The Irish Cooperative Organisation Society (ICOS) recently called for a fully functioning European dairy futures market to allow farmers, or cooperatives on their behalf, to hedge their milk price positions. However, a trickle of trades in an SMP futures product offered on the Eurex exchange completely dried up in May this year and the trade was suspended. Despite the apparent need, it seems the European dairy sector has little appetite for futures.

Across the pond, the US has a well-established futures exchange covering milk and key dairy products, and while they are a growing exporter, the bulk of milk output is still consumed domestically. It should all be sunshine, lollipops and snooze-ville when it comes to price volatility, right? Wrong. The chart (pictured) tracks the all-milk price for US dairy farmers before and after milk futures were introduced in the mid-90s – the period

since then has featured considerably more, not less, volatility in price. It is almost inevitable surely, if a futures market is to develop enough liquidity it will include players who are not directly involved in the physical market – sometimes with more or less information than those who are! This can potentially give rise to even greater variability in prices that is often not supported by market fundamentals – but the result of pure speculation.

From the other end of the supply chain, major UK retailer Tesco has recently announced it will expand its Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group of direct milk suppliers citing the removal of EU quotas and increased volatility as key factors.

Can volatility be managed?

FRESH AGENDAJO BILLS

While it seems no one benefits from volatility – from farmers to end users – and the discussion seems to peak when the market bottoms, we are no closer to finding that silver bullet. In addition, most discussion around the industry doesn’t even touch on the whole volatility story for farmers who are also dealing with input prices – mostly feed – that are often just as variable.

For many dairy

producers here at home, the answer to effective risk management may be much less sexy than futures and derivatives.

It may be entering into a long-term supply contract where that option is available, and at the same time locking in feed – and knowing with certainty what the margin will be for the next three years. For others it may be the deft use of Farm Management Deposits – which will hopefully

become even more amenable in future – to smooth income over years.

Whatever the tool or strategy, there also has to be the realisation that managing out price risk often means sharing some of the upside, as well as the downside, with partners up and down the supply chain. This requires a significant cultural change for our industry, and the realisation that while you may not always “win”, you may sleep better at night.

FRESHAGENDA’S AUSTRALIAN dairy export index finished September at 170 points, gaining 22.7 points for the month. With the Aus-tralian dollar stable at around US$0.70, all the heavy lifting was done by commodity prices – whole milk powder in particular.

As concerns about New Zealand’s produc-tion outlook grew, buyers returned to the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) plat-form, which has seen four consecutive price rises since mid-August. Whole milk powder (WMP) has been the key driver, as it accounts for the bulk of product on offer, and has

also recorded the stron-gest value increases as buyers moved to secure their requirements at what are still bar-gain prices. This trend has translated to WMP spot prices which rose US$650/t over Septem-ber to finish the month at US$2,700/t.

The recovery in WMP prices has closed the gap between the Australian and NZ price indices as shown below, given its dominant share of the Kiwi export mix.

Meanwhile, spot prices for butter gained an impressive $US400/t for the month to aver-age $US3,200/t. With EU

milk output still grow-ing, albeit more slowly, and most of the surplus destined for SMP stocks, price improvements have been a little more sub-dued. Nevertheless, SMP prices gained US$350/t to average US$2,200/t at the end of September. Finally, cheddar gained US$200/t

to average US$3,300/t at months end.

The welcome recov-ery in prices during Sep-tember has returned the export price index to April 2015 levels, but the question remains – will the trend continue? Visit http://www.freshagenda.com.au/

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22 // MANAGEMENT

ASK AUBREY Pellet’s 10-year-old son Jackson what he thinks of his Dad’s Nuffield Scholarship and he’ll tell you in no uncertain terms: “He was away for ages!”

With partner Jacqui holding the fort on farm, Aubrey’s scholarship, which was sponsored by the Gardiner Dairy Foundation, saw him take several overseas trips in 2014.

It was the pursuit of improved productivity – and profit – that led Aubrey (pictured) to apply for the study opportunity, especially to see the emerging technologies and

system changes that had the potential to transfer well to Australian pasture-based dairy systems.

“Looking outside your own farm gate is essential if you want to improve your current farming practice,” Aubrey said.

And look outside he did: first to the Philippines, China, Canada, United States, the Netherlands, France, and Ireland; followed by a second trip to the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and finally to New Zealand and the United States.

In determining what to focus on during his travels, Aubrey drew from his own experience of dairying 450

cows on about 190ha in Hill End, West Gippsland and the big ticket items that impact profitability: land, herd and labour.

He wanted to look at these inputs and examine how Australian dairy farmers could continue to

do more with less.“Productivity is

obviously not ‘more is better’ but the reality is usually when you produce more you will be more productive.”

As a result, his report focusses on four key areas including improving labour productivity; achieving higher yields from home grown feed; using technology to achieve better management outcomes (known as ‘Precision Dairy’) and improving cow efficiency.

It’s a broad scope, with many different examples to draw from.

Ironically, Aubrey said in terms of the near horizon, he didn’t have

Quest for productivity gains spurs world wide search

WHO: Aubrey and Jacqui Pellett WHERE: Hill End, West Gippsland WHAT: Improving productivity

MADELEINE BRENNAN

to travel far to see the potential for improved productivity through Australian cultivar research.

“We really are leading the world in a lot of things,” said Aubrey. “That’s one of the messages I came home with, especially in the area of pasture-based dairy farming industries.”

He singled out the work being done by the Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre in Melbourne to develop a hybrid ryegrass and new breeding methods using genomic selection.

“There is the potential to improve yield by 10 -20%,” he said. “Once it is commercialised in years to come, we’ll get better and better grasses, faster, and that will be significant.”

He also said the development of an Australian cultivar

selection index by Dairy Australia will be a useful tool.

“It will allow farmers to ask, ‘Where I am in my region, what’s the best cultivar for me, what’s the best profit potential?” (Aubrey currently uses information from the New Zealand Forage Value Index to select pasture breeds.)

In terms of yield potential, he’s also excited by the prospect of fodder beets, which, although used previously in Australia and date back to ancient Greece as a feed crop for cattle (they used to be called Mangels), have only recently come back into favour.

“The use of it in the last five years in New Zealand has grown exponentially,” he said.“There are challenges in managing it, but the yield potential of 35 tonnes per

hectare is hard to resist.”He said he intends to

do a trial on his own farm, but is waiting for some of the weed control sprays to become licensed in Australia.

“It’s a very slow growing crop in its initial stages, so controlling weeds is critical,” he said.

“And you have to be careful from a stock health point of view (they can die from the high sugar content) but from a dairy point of view, it’s not as much of a concern when you are mixing it with other feed.

“It’s something that most Australian farmers aren’t currently doing, and you have to ask ‘why not?’”

Aubrey said other productivity tools, such as robotic tractors and robotic milking systems, hold real appeal for farmers, especially as costs

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MANAGEMENT // 23

JUDGING SIMPLY from the progress Aubrey and Jacqui Pellett have already made on their farm as first generation dairy farmers, the future looks promising.

The Pelletts moved from New Zealand in 2002 to take up a lease farm - the farm they now own.

“It’s pretty hard to invest in a place if you’re leasing because you’re not sure of your tenure,” he said. “So we bought two thirds of the farm in 2007, with the balance five years later, and have invested significantly in infrastructure ever since.”

They added three-phase power, put in extra water tanks, upgraded their water supply and water reticulation and improved fencing.

In that time they have raised their stocking rate, improved per cow production (now at 500 -520 kg/MS per cow per annum) and lifted pasture yield.

They’ve made some pretty big system changes too.

“When we came here it was a spring calving herd, then we changed to a 50/50 split,” Aubrey said. “It worked well, as it was a way of carrying over empty cows quite effectively, but it had its

downsides in terms of two lots of everything: calving, rearing, joining. It wore us down a bit so we decided to only do one calving a year.”

They trialled exclusive autumn calving six or seven years ago and haven’t looked back. The decision was made in part to accommodate winter milk pricing incentives which help offset the higher rates of bought in feed.

“We took the approach that if it works for the farm, in terms

of the soil types, suits our lifestyle and is supported by the pricing structure, then it’s the right approach.”

They grow sorghum for their dry cows to eat during summer, supported by a new spray

irrigator, and also focus on getting the best out of their winter pasture.

“The ability to grow grass during winter has increased,” Aubrey said.

A combination of good use of nitrogen, a winter active perennial ryegrass called “Matrix”and the application of gibberellic acid between mid-May and mid-August, has helped ensure solid growth.

“We’re still on the journey but we’ve come a long way,” he said. “There’s always fine tuning to be done.”

Investing in the future

Aubrey Pellett pictured on his property in Hill End.PICTURE:

MADELEINE BRENNAN.

of the technology come down.

“If and when farm finances allow, I’ll use them in a heartbeat,” he said. “The consistency of what robots can do is so appealing. A robot isn’t late on a Sunday, and doesn’t come in with a hangover. And from an animal welfare point of view, I think robots

have huge potential. Every robotic farm I’ve ever been to, the cows have never looked happier.”

Aubrey said the Nuffield Scholarship has fostered an “open minded learning focus” which he hopes will continue to translate into benefits for his farm and his family.Visit http://nuffield.com.au/aubrey-pellett/ to read Aubrey’s report.

FROM PAGE 23

“We’re still on the journey but we’ve come a long way.”

BOOKING DEADLINE: October 28 MATERIAL DEADLINE: November 3 | PUBLISHED: November 10CONTACT: CHRIS DINGLE T: 0417 735 001 E: [email protected]

EFFLUENT & WATER MANAGEMENTIn the face of tighter environmental controls and rising fertiliser costs, it pays dividends to manage effluent and water flows more tightly. The next issue of Dairy News Australia will cover best practice in this area and will profile new developments and equipment designed to turn a problem into potential profit.

NEXT ISSUE: NOVEMBER

SPECIAL REPORT

ble 87% VG or better on nine progeny,” Mr Huth said. “For me these attri-butes make Somerelle Leader Lassco a true Aus-tralian Holstein Cham-pion.”

The competition recog-nises all-round excellence in production, classifica-tion, breeding and overall contribution to the Aus-tralian Holstein breed, selected by judges Mike Huth, Genetics Australia, Jon Holland, (Hollodon, Victoria) and Jenny Grey (Holstein Australia Breed Development and Confor-mation Committee) .

Meanwhile, the Hore family, Elmar Holsteins, from Leitchville, Victoria dominated this year’s All Australian competition, taking out both the coveted awards, Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor.

The Semex/Holstein

Australia All Australian is a national photographic competition that recognises excellence in conformation and showing in Holstein females that have been successful at nominated qualifying

showsthroughout Australia each year.

The Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibi-tor awards are based on points allocated to each finalist, honourable men-tion, reserve and winners in each category.


24 // BREEDING MANAGEMENT

HOLSTEIN AUSTRA-LIA has announced the 2015 Master Breeders and the winners of its two annual competitions at its Annual Awards Night,

held at Hahndorf, SA last month.

The highly-coveted Master Breeder Award recognises the long-term achievement of herds

that have bred at least 300 registered animals over a minimum of 20 years (see breakout).

The 2015 Cow of the Year award went to Some-

relle Leader Lassco EX-91-3E, owned and bred by Master Breeders Scott and Nirrelle Somerville from Timmering in Northern Victoria.

Guest judge, Mike Huth, Genetics Australia, said Lassco stood out for her outstanding achievements in every category the judges were looking for including lifetime production performance, regular lactations, high components, brood cow performance, show record and influence on the breed as Australia’s Holstein ambassador.

“Lassco sets herself apart as a true champion in her breeding perfor-mance, with an impecca-

Holstein masters awarded

■ Steve and Deanne Hore (Elmar, Leitchville, Vic)

■ Grant Liebelt (Grantley, Meadows, SA) ■ Andrew and Judy Cunningham (Blaweary,

Pelican Point, WA) ■ Garry and Bev Carpenter (Garerley, South

Riana, Tas) ■ Sonya & Andrew Jensen (Kentish Downs,

Yankalilla, SA) – 2nd MB ■ George Wagner (Rengaw, Winnaleah, Tas) ■ Les and Dianne White and Russ and Amy

White (Dilee, Leongatha South, Vic) ■ Russell and Lindsay Guppy (Lynstarr, Kybong,

Qld)

2015 HOLSTEIN MASTER BREEDERS:

This year’s master breeders who attended the National Awards Dinner, held in Hahndorf on September 16 (from left): Bridget Liebelt, Grant Liebelt (Grantley), Dianne White, Les White (Dilee), Bev Carpenter, Garry Carpenter (Garerley), Deanne Hore and Steve Hore (Elmar).

Steve and Deanne Hore, Elmar Holsteins, took out both Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor in the 2015 All Australian competition. Picture courtesy Holstein Australia.

JUDGE AND Jersey Australia President Peter Ness has completed the judging of the 2015 Rising Star Award.

“It was great to be asked to over judge this competition and the quality of all final-ists was impressive – congratulations to all exhibitors in this national class”.

First place was awarded to Coleshill Leaders Noelene, owned by Daryl Cole and qualified at Wynyard Show Tasmania.

“I’ve gone with Noelene in first place due to her impressive angle and openess of rib. It’s this well sprung rib that gives her an eye catching appearance of capac-ity,” Mr Ness said

Homelands Reagans Silvermine, owned by Nikki and Jackie Davies, was awarded second place and also qualified at Adelaide Show led by Jackie.

“She has an advantage over third due to her length from shoulder to hip, which con-

tinues to pin and is evident throughout the body of this stylish heifer,” Mr Ness said.

Attaview Brax Inch ET, owned by Attaview Jerseys and qualified at Warragul Fair led by Ellie Hourigan, came third.

“Obviously a quality heifer that was not quite as long as the heifer in second place but a worthy finalist.”

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Winning heifer Coleshill Leaders Noelene , owned by Daryl Cole.PICTURE: DEAN MALCOLM.

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breeding management // 25

Partnership closes the loop for Tasmanian feeding and breeding service grouptaSmanian agri-cultural buying and selling group, ABSG, has entered into an exclu-sive partnership with ABS Australia to deliver ABS’ proprietary breeding pro-grams, Reproductive Man-agement System (RMS) and Genetic Management

System (GMS).“We’re delighted to

have ABSG as our Tas-manian partners for our proprietary breeding sys-tems,” ABS national sales manager Paul Quinlan said.

“The provision of our RMS and GMS programs will create more oppor-tunities for dairy farmers who want to improve their breeding outcomes.

“ABSG will work with ABS’ existing resellers in Tasmania who will con-tinue to supply ABS semen and ancillary herd ser-vices,” Mr Quinlan said.

The new breeding ser-vice complements ABSG’s existing feeding and nutrition service, which provides herd wide nutri-tional advice and distrib-utes a full range of animal feeds and supplements.

“The partnership with ABS closes the loop, enabling us to help our cli-ents choose the right bulls for their herd and to set their cows up to maximise production with repro-ductive and nutritional systems working hand in glove,” said ABSG princi-pal Jack Beattie.

Through RMS, dairy farmers can set up a tai-lored reproductive man-agement plan that adjusts synchronisation and tran-sition management and gets more cows joined more quickly.

This ensures a tighter calving pattern; fewer missed conceptions and less production lost through empty cows.

“We want to help our clients by setting their cows up nutritionally and getting more cows preg-nant quicker, so they can

ship more milk out the gate at lower cost to them-selves,” Mr Beattie said.

GMS combines physical evaluation, pedigree information and the best genomic information available globally to improve dairy herd genetics ‘one cow at a time’.

The system matches bulls to each individual cow to ensure the genetic gain targets the traits the dairy farmer wants to improve while minimising inbreeding and eliminat-ing undesirable traits.

“With GMS we can set up a system that helps our dairy farmer cli-ents to breed better cows and customise breeding to the traits they want, rather than the shotgun approach,” said ABSG’s Patrick Dargan.

“We can select the bull to suit each cow and develop an overall improved breeding system that will produce more milk. “Genetic manage-ment can produce an even line of heifers that meets their breeding goals and ensure they maximise genetic gain with each generation of cows they bring in to the herd.”

ABS Australia’s tech-nical services manager, Matt Aikenhead will main-tain advice and support to ABSG on the implementa-tion of the RMS and GMS

services. “We’re passion-ate about helping dairy farmers to get to the next level with their breeding,”

Mr Aikenhead said. “These systems are

for those who know they want to make that next

leap forward and need the best systems and techni-cal advice to help them get there.”

“We can select the bull to suit each cow and develop an overall improved breeding system that will produce more milk.” ABSG’s Patrick Dargan.

ABSG principal Jack Beattie.


26 // BREEDING MANAGEMENT

Focus on traits critical to unlocking profit from herdNORTHERN VICTO-RIAN dairy farmer Craig Lister - whose herd was below national Holstein breed average genetic merit in 2003 and is now one of the top herds in the country - said herd improvement through a combination of Australian Breeding Values (ABVs) and genomic testing of females did not have to be a complex insider secret: it was a matter of using all the scientific tools and information available to select and decide the best performing animals in the herd to suit your goal.

In Mr Lister’s case, it was profitability.

“I was trained in busi-ness analysis and it always amazed me how, two cows, given the same opportunity, one cow could consistently turn the same resources into more milk solids yet still get in calf, yet still remain healthy, at a level that the rest of the herd couldn’t achieve,” he said.

The prospect of achiev-ing an entire herd with this type of performance made

solid business sense.“How profitable would

you be, how efficient would you be?” Mr Lister said.

He said the value of focusing on genetic traits could not be underesti-mated.

“Irrespective of how good a pasture manager you are, how good your nutrition management is, or how good a busi-ness manager you are, it’s still the cow that converts the feed, water and labour resources into the results.

“It’s an important step in the chain of our busi-ness and we need to give them the priority they deserve.”

Mr Lister, who will chair the steering com-

mittee for the new $3.3 million research project ImProving Herds, said he selected for traits he knew to be important for profit-ability and then chose not to breed from the lower end under the traditional indices.

“The benchmarking worked we did with (Ginfo project coordinator) Paul Douglas showed that for all the ideas people have about cows, how they should look and what they should do, the key fac-

tors for profitability were selecting for profitability - no surprises there - and if you wanted cows to sur-vive longer you selected for survival and if you wanted cows to get in calf, you selected for fertility. This essentially reassured

us to keep going down that path.”

Mr Lister and wife Sharon were part of the 10,000 Cow project and said the benefits of genomic testing became so evident they now test every Holstein heifer.

MADELEINE BRENNAN

“We don’t necessarily do that to decide which cows to cull, that is one way to go about it, but we just love the extra information it provides from day one, particularly in the traits of fertility and survival, that have been the main advantage we’ve gained from genomics.

“If a cow is deficient in that but stronger in other traits, it means you can know then, not in five or six years’ time, that you have to correct for that cow, for the next generation to be a more profitable member of the team.

“It’s an amazing tool.”He said the variety of skills required to be a success-

ful dairy farmer meant staying at the forefront of herd management through genetics could sometimes be low pri-ority.

“It seems selecting a herd is one of those easy ones that farmers think, ‘oh well, a cow’s a cow, I’ll hand if off to a trusted expert or advisor for selecting my semen and how I’m going to improve my herd’ .

“What I would urge farmers to think about is, even if genetics is not your key area of interest, arm yourself with enough information so you can ask your adviser the right questions: Is the bull in the Good Bulls Guide? Do they rate in the top 100 for BPI? There are pretty simple ways to make sure that even though you’re not concentrating on genetics, that you are making good solid genet-ics gains, consistently.”

ImProving Herds steering committee chair Craig Lister pictured with project lead Associate-Professor Ben Hayes. PICTURE: GERARD HYNES

“Irrespective of how good a pasture manager you are, how good your nutrition management is, or how good a business manager you are, it’s still the cow that converts the feed, water and labour resources into the results.”

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animal health // 27

Why would I store colostrum?

If colostrum is left at ambient temperature, the bacteria present rapidly overgrow. Bacterial overgrowth in colostrum can be the source of infection for some of the calf-scour pathogens, such as Salmonella and E.coli.

Heavily contaminated colostrum can also inhibit uptake of essential antibodies by the calf and therefore increases the risk of failure of passive transfer (where calves do not have adequate antibodies to fight off infection). In the absence of heat-treatment, the first-milking colostrum will be least contaminated with bacteria and ideally should be fed as soon as it is collected. But if colostrum is not fed within two hours of collection, then it needs to be efficiently stored. When would I store colostrum?

On seasonal calving farms, first-milking colostrum will often be fed to new-born calves as soon as it is collected.

Good quality colostrum, measuring greater than or equal to 22% Brix using a Brix refractometer, is often in high demand and on these farms there is not usually excess to store.

However, even in herds with tight calving patterns, there may be periods where calf-drop is busy, followed by a quieter period before

another busier period. This is a common scenario where synchrony programs have been used.

Good quality colostrum produced from cows during the quieter period can be efficiently stored for use during the impending busy period. Likewise, in year-round herds and in seasonal or split herds where the calving pattern is more prolonged, storage of colostrum is an integral part of a successful colostrum management program and consequently calf viability.

Heifers will often calve before the milking herd.

Heifers can produce good quality colostrum but they generally produce low volumes. A ‘colostrum bank’ consisting of good quality frozen colostrum collected from the previous calving period, allows adequate colostrum to be fed to calves born to heifers during this period.

This is of particular value for heifers in calf to sexed semen where good quality colostrum is

required in large volumes for every calf born.

Bull calves also require colostrum but if there is a limited supply of good quality colostrum (>=22% Brix) then this should be preferentially fed to heifer calves. How can I store colostrum?Short-term

In the short-term, colostrum can be successfully stored in a refrigerator at 4oC. When there is excess available, colostrum should be refrigerated as soon as possible after collection.

Multiple small containers, such as milk bottles or Perfect Udder bags, are preferred as smaller volumes of colostrum will reach the desired low temperature more rapidly than a single large volume of colostrum, such as colostrum in a 20 litre bucket. If larger volumes in buckets are unavoidable, ensure these have a lid and are thoroughly cleaned after each use.

Colostrum can become heavily contaminated from collection buckets and feeding equipment

Stainless steel collection buckets are preferred as they can be effectively cleaned.

A benefit of the Perfect Udder bags over milk bottles is that colostrum can be fed directly from the bag, via a tube or

teat. There is no need to transfer colostrum to another feeder. This alone reduces the risk of contamination. Colostrum kept in a refrigerator at 4oC will have a shelf-life of approximately two days.

To prolong the shelf-life of refrigerated colostrum to five to seven days, a food preservative can be added as soon as the colostrum is collected

Potassium sorbate is a food preservative used in the human food industry and has been successfully used on many farms in south-west Victoria

It works by inhibiting bacterial growth but “will not make contaminated colostrum clean again”. It must be used in conjunction with refrigeration at 4oC

The use of potassium

sorbate alone is not only ineffective but also a waste of money. Potassium sorbate with refrigeration can be very useful during quieter calving periods where a busier period is subsequently expected

Its use avoids the need for long-term storage

For more information on where to source potassium sorbate, please contact your veterinarian. Long-term

In the long-term, freezing colostrum is currently the only viable storage method. It is best to freeze good quality colostrum as soon as it is collected, when there is a known excess available. This will allow for the cleanest possible colostrum to be frozen and stored. Colostrum can be stored in small

containers or Perfect Udder bags. Avoid using large containers with a small surface area to volume ratio as these will not thaw very rapidly. A larger surface area allows better heat exchange to thaw colostrum prior to feeding. Perfect Udder bags are ideal for this purpose

Regardless of the container used, all colostrum should be stored in a deep freezer. The small freezer compartment at the top of some fridges will not suffice for this purpose as the colostrum is not cooled quickly enough to prevent bacterial overgrowth. Freezing colostrum does destroy some of the beneficial white blood cells. However, it is considered that the benefits of this method in terms of preservation of

antibodies and prevention of bacterial overgrowth far out-weigh this negative effect. Freezing colostrum should not be used routinely during the calving period as alternative, more convenient methods are available for short-term storage.

Freezing is particularly useful at the end of calving where supply often exceeds demand. A ‘colostrum bank’ can be acquired for the next season when there may be a shortfall in supply. In a deep freezer, frozen colostrum will last approximately 10-12 months.

It is important to write the date of collection on the container so that out-of-date colostrum can be discarded. This also applies to colostrum stored in the refrigerator.

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Temperature is everything when storing colostrum

Colostrum must be frozen if stored long-term.

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28 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Heifers must reach puberty to cycle and get in calf.

Getting yearling heifers in calfGENETICS COMPANY LIC asks: have you fine-tuned your approach to yearling heifer mating?

No matter what the payout is, the fundamental principles remain the same. Heifers must reach puberty to cycle and get in calf. Puberty is driven by liveweight in cattle (about 47% of mature liveweight on average); check their weights, record Minda to see how they are tracking, check growth rates and check to see if they are all cycling.

Heifers take about 10 days longer to cycle once they calve down as 2-year-olds. Mate yearling heifers 7 -10 days ahead of the main herd to help them next year.

Service bulls need to be sound and suitable. A difficult calving or a slow calving pattern as 2-year-olds can set heifers back

badly.Sufficient numbers

of high quality healthy bulls is a must for natural mating of heifers.

■ Select bulls carefully to be easy calving and fertile

■ Reject aggressive bulls and monitor bull performance in the heifer mob

■ Yearling bulls: use 1:20 heifers; 2-year-olds 1:30

Underground heifersThere may still be

time to flush them up, as a group or as poor individuals. Very small heifers are a poor investment. It may be more economic to cut your losses now on the poor performing tail-enders.Check the feed plan with your grazier

Some synchrony programmes can advance reaching puberty, if the

line is undergrown. Talk to your vet.

Keep them growing. They need to catch up before they are 22 months if they are to survive and thrive in the herd

Don’t let animal health disasters rob you of pregnancies; create a sound heifer health plan to keep them growing and pregnant.Replacement heifers

Replacement heifers are a big investment, in most cases costing over $1200 to rear through to a milking cow.

Review your replacement rate and replacement quality; invest the money in the best genetic merit animals.

Rear the number that suits your business needs and future plans. If grazing is limited, it may pay to put the money into fewer higher quality animals.

Non-cycling cow optionsA COW is labelled a non-cycler if it has not had an observed heat before mating starts, says LIC.

Non-cyclers reduce herd repro-ductive performance and farm profitability by dragging down sub-mission and conception rates and achieving fewer days in milk in the

following year than their cycling herd mates.

In most herds, the types of cows that become non-cyclers tend to be the same from year to year.

Non-cycling in cows show up as follows:

■ young, first and second calvers,

especially if poorly grown ■ thin cows ■ late calvers ■ health issues ■ breed (Friesians are more

susceptible) For cows cycled but not detected,

plan to improve heat detection.

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ANIMAL HEALTH // 29

IT HAPPENED last year. Actually, “it” has hap-

pened each year for a number of years. So “it” will probably happen again this year.

What is “it”? Will you be affected by “it” this year?

Each year we see a number of farms where a mating synchrony pro-gram has been accom-panied by an outbreak of clinical mastitis – either during the mating pro-gram, or immediately after.

Milk cultures from these herds nearly always show environmental bac-teria to be the cause.

It seems that large groups of cows milling around when on heat sig-nificantly increases the risk of environmental mastitis, especially masti-tis caused by Strep uberis.

And it’s not hard to understand why.

Most of this masti-tis results from exposure of teats to contamination containing these environ-mental bacteria.

Whilst there are plenty of obvious sources of envi-ronmental bacteria on a dairy farm, it seems these groups of highly active cows are often able to create their own pool of “muck” to slop around in.

To reduce this risk, plan ahead and avoid pad-docks with low or wet areas.

Watch out for leak-ing water troughs, and take particular care with shade areas. Commonly, shade areas under trees are already heavily con-taminated areas. These areas should be used judi-ciously at any time, but be especially careful when you have a group of highly

active cows.Even consider moving

highly active mating groups of cows during the day if they start to create high risk “muck holes” in a grazing area.

Not only does mud and faecal contamina-tion greatly increase the number of bacteria on the teat skin, it can also lead to drying and cracking of teat skin, providing a great environment for bac-teria to survive and mul-tiply.

Dry, “caked on” mud is also likely to compromise your teat disinfection.

Whether wet or dry, this muck on teats can also significantly alter the dynamics of milk-ing, potentially leading

to more cup slip and cup crawl – both are significant mastitis risks.

Whilst preventing extra contamination of teats is clearly the first option to reduce the risk of a masti-tis outbreak, the next step to consider is your pre-milking teat preparation during this period.

A pre-milking wash and dry program for teats in this group of cows can be used for these periods, either as a preventative measure, or as part of your initial response to a masti-tis outbreak. The addition of pre-milking teat disin-fection may also be appro-priate for some herds.

Finally, monitor cell counts closely and ensure there is a regular process for early detection of any clinical cases – the ear-lier you treat, the better the success rate, and the lower the chance of fur-ther spread.

In summary, a little pro-active thought and planning may help you to avoid the pain of an unwanted and expensive mastitis outbreak.

Will mastitis happen to you this spring?ROD DYSON

A pre-milking wash and dry program for teats in this group of cows can be used for these periods, either as a preventative measure, or as part of your initial response to a mastitis outbreak.

• Rod Dyson is principal vet-erinary consultant and team leader at Dairy Focus, based in Tongala, Victoria.

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The new benchmark in Calf Milk Replacers

A FARM near Koroit in south-west Victoria has reclaimed more than 30ha of land after installing a new open drain system.

Riverside Dairies, which runs three farms in

the region, has addressed a long-term inundation problem on an out paddock at Kirkstall by simply excavating deeper drains.

Farm manager Peter Rochester (pictured) said the low-lying flats used to hold 150-200mm of water

every winter.“We really couldn’t

go on to it over winter; it was just too wet,” Mr Rochester said.

“On a normal winter there’d still be water there now near the end of September.

“It was like a little

shallow lake. It would dry out eventually over summer but all through the winter there’d be six or eight inches of water across the whole flats area.”

Riverside Dairies enlisted Tim Beets from TG Drains who used

contour mapping to check the land and then excavated a new deeper drain system with extra cross drains.

Mr Rochester said the contour mapping was used to determine if the existing drains – laid by former owners many years


30 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Deeper drains open wet land to pasture

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ago - were deep enough and in the right spot.

“They found that the existing drains are probably in the right spot so we don’t have to move them, but they weren’t deep enough,” Mr Rochester said.

“The culvert was too high so the water wasn’t draining quickly enough.”

TG Drains deepened the main drain by about 700mm for about 1.6km.

They also installed three new cross drains to ease the flooding problems.

Although it hasn’t been a particularly wet winter, Mr Rochester said the deeper drains that were excavated in March-April were working.

“The land that went under water is probably improved that by 20-30%. It’s growing grass this year where it would normally be wet,” Mr Rochester said.

The farmer hasn’t planted new pasture this year on the heavy black flats.

“We’ll just see what happens,” Mr Rochester said. “There’s existing pasture there and a bit of native grass and it’s growing well.”

The land is used to run about 400 young stock

and 80-90 dry cows.As it’s not part of the

main farm, the owners didn’t want to spend too much money and hadn’t seriously considered underground drainage.

“Because it is essentially an out-paddock or a beef property, there’s a limit to what you want to do. It’s just an open drain system; we don’t have any sub-surface drainage, to drain the surface water away and get 30-40ha back to use over winter.”

Mr Rochester said the new work just updated the existing open drain system.

“What we had before just didn’t work very well.”

He expects the cost of installing the new deeper system to be paid back within four or five years.

“They have been good this year and they will be even better in really wet years. The fact that we can get the water off a bit quicker means we can utilise the land.”

Mr Rochester is also subdividing the paddocks and fencing the drains to make sure the cows don’t make a mess of it.

“We’ll put plantations on one side of the drain so we’ll have access if we ever have to clean them. They should look good,” he said. The dry land has also helped to overcome a problem with rushes.

“Wherever the water was lying we’d be growing rushes,” Mr Rochester said. “We slashed the rushes but when you remove the water they’ll dry off anyway.”

The farm usually receives about 812-837mm of rain each year.


MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 31

WHEN GREG Sheppard wanted a disc seeder with six inch (15.24cm) row spacings for his sowing program, he had a bit of trouble finding a machine to do the job.

The 6” spacing gives better ground cover, less chance of weeds coming through, and helps to get ryegrass to persist through the summer.

However, “there is not a ‘single disc seeder’ on the market that will get down to those row spacings while following the contour of the paddock”, he told Dairy News when we visited in late September.

Greg and his wife Nikki milk 500 cows on their 566ha property at

Whitfield in Victoria’s King Valley. They also lease a further 40ha. It is a self-replacing herd averaging 8000 litres/year and about 600kgMS.

The farm has been in the family for about 125 years and Greg’s parents, Brian and Reta, and Brian’s brother Neil are still involved, having been dairying since 1956 when they started off hand-milking Jerseys.

The sowing is predominantly annual and perennial pastures with some cereal crops and their previous seeder was on seven and a half inch (19.5cm) spacings.

So they approached Darryl Serafin of Serafin Machinery at Griffith

NSW who manufacture the Serafin ULTISOW trailed disc seeders. They purchased their SCG6040 machine in February this year, prior to the seeding season.

“The government’s minimum tillage sowing grant helped,” explained Greg.

The machine has a 6m operating width

with 40 discs and had to be converted from the original 36 discs. They bought the bare bar, and local contractor, Scott Flanigan, who also bought a similar machine at the same time, fitted the three seed boxes which are really converted fertiliser bins. Mr Sheppard said that they have a more compact design with the two larger 1600 litre bins mounted side-by–side and the smaller 400 litre bin in front.

“They are made of a transparent material so you can see how much seed is still inside.”

Platforms on the machine can carry extra bags of seed to allow in-field refilling.

They installed Borgault distributors for the seed and Smallaire at Horsham assembled the fans and heads.

“We installed Seed Vue

air seeder venting units on the top of the air lines to show if you have any blocked heads. And an oil tank ensures stable fan speed.”

The seeding operation is managed by a TopCon Eagle E15 rate controller mounted in the tractor cab and Greg said it is very

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easy to calibrate. “You just put a bucket

under the chute; let it run for a set time, weigh the bucket and input the measurement into the controller. It adjusts it as you go.

“The folding design makes it easy to get

through gates and to move on the road, it only takes 20 seconds to fold.”

They pull the machine with a 205hp John Deere 7530 with auto steer, and so far they have worked up 580ha. Eight hectares of that was cereal, the rest pasture. They had fertiliser and oats in the

big bins and ryegrass in the small bin.

“The oats germinate first and we graze it off, then the ryegrass comes through,” Greg said. “We are continually looking at our windows of opportunity.”

The Sheppards employ three part-time milkers

and two full-time workers who take turns to operate the seeder.

“Once we ironed out all the bugs it turned out to be quite simple to run. It is very manoeuvrable, it turns on itself, and the four sets of wheels means that it is stable. If you are pressed for time with a

crook bearing or a flat tyre, you can just keep going.”

Greg said the machine has live down pressure which helps seed placement in hard ground.

“Darryl Serafin designs and builds the machines and has been good to work with.”

They grow about 342ha

Seeding solution delivered

(800 acres) for pit silage and a contractor with a self-propelled chopper was scheduled to come in the next week to start cutting. A 1.9m Silocut block cutter is used for getting the silage out of the pits. They bale their own hay with a Welger baler bought in 2010 and a McHale HS2000 wrapper

follows on behind the baler.

Other machinery on the farm includes front and rear Taarup mowers, a Giltrap feed-out wagon, Krone 5XL loader wagon, a 9m Lely tedder and 8m rake. There is an Amazone Ultra spreader, and a 24m GoldAcres trailed machine looks after the spraying. A K-Line 4m Multidisc is used for summer sowing which is rolled in with a FarmPro tyre roller.

Brian says they are active in the local farm management groups and Greg thought that the future looks positive: “but that is milk price dependent. We are fortunate here that we are less reliant on the weather with a 1100mm average rainfall.”

WHO: Greg Sheppard WHERE: King Valley, Victoria WHAT: Serafi n ULTISOW

FROM PAGE 31



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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 33

AS A hobby farmer with a distinctly non-executive-paying job and a tenuous-at-best business case for any piece of machinery I purchase, I often find myself unable to buy a machine for every job.

Actually, that probably puts me in a similar position to all but the most luxuriously well-capitalised farmers and contractors.

Anyway, if you want to do the job yourself, this obviously means the unpalatable choice between borrowing someone else’s machine (post driver, for example) and the financial pain-for-short-term-fun of a dry hire.

Easily my most productive dry hire machine over the last few years has been a Caterpillar 301.4C mini excavator. The little Cat weighs in just over 1.4 tonnes, wields 24 horsepower, and can lift around 700kg if conditions are right.

I know I’m going all ‘compact grunt’ on you again dear reader, but bear with me. Despite its diminutive nature, this ludicrously small pocket rocket isn’t just useful for digging sewer pipes in downtown Brunswick.

Frankly, it’s about as much Grunt as you can tow behind a dual cab ute.

And that factor is important. No point turning up to Kennard’s hire on a Saturday morning with the Triton and gesticulating at the nearest 20 tonne dreamboat – not going to happen.

I’ll concede that 1.4 tonnes is, at face value, embarrassing by comparison. Each time I’ve hired a mini excavator, I’ve quietly wished for the 1.7 tonne they always tell me they have in stock. But, like all the ‘Golf or similar’ hire cars that turn out to be Hyundais, I always seem to end up with something a little less exciting.

But unlike the hire car experience, each occasion reminds me of the old adage (shamelessly adapted) that ‘it’s not how much grunt you’ve got, but

what you do with it that matters.’I don’t know how, but fuelled with

about a litre of diesel and a healthy dose of ambition, the little Cat has never let me down.

It has smartly chiselled its way through rock hard clay to lay 300mm pipes and excavated wholesale volumes of dirt from new drain lines. It has laid hundreds of metres of poly pipe for water mains, having the delicate touch to sneak the trench through fences with no fuss.

On one ambitious occasion, it clubbed, ripped and pushed its way through a forest of dead chestnut trees.

I should note that the machine involved was returned to its rightful owner without a scratch – in my mind a further compliment to its abilities. Who needs a pair of D11 dozers and a chain when you have a 1.4 tonne mini excavator and half a day of hire time left to burn?

There’s nothing like that cocktail of time pressure, ambition, a quest for value, and someone else’s machine to get things done. That 1.4 tonnes of the best packaged grunt I can find, certainly doesn’t go astray either.

Little Cat gets the jump on big job

GRUNTJOHN DROPPERT

DAIRY AUSTRALIA’S farm business management tool DairyBase can play a key role in lifting business skills in the dairy industry says western Victorian dairy farmer Mark Billing.

Mr Billing and his wife Sam milk 450 cows on 240 hectares near Colac.

The couple have always had a business focus, monitoring expenditure on their operation and measuring the value from the dollars they spend.

A host of a recent dairy farmer discussion group, Mr Billing’s discussion focused on introducing DairyBase to 45 farmers and he hopes more farmers around Australia will get to grips with their farm business management by using DairyBase.

“It’s true what they say – you can’t manage it until you measure it. I think DairyBase will play a huge role in the industry,” Mr Billing said.

“Quite simply it helps farmers figure out what makes their business tick.

“It’s also fairly easy-to-use and intuitive with pop-ups to guide you when you are entering your data.”

DairyBase is a secure online tool that enables

dairy farmers to measure and compare their farm business over time.

After entering their farm data into DairyBase, farmers can create confidential and comprehensive farm reports to help them understand the overall farm business performance.

Mr Billing said by using DairyBase farmers could calculate their cost

of production which he viewed as crucial.

“Whether it’s a good or bad figure, I think people should know their cost of production because when you know that, you know your business and you can make the required changes.

“For us we know what our cost of production is and that means when the milk price is announced at the start of the year we know what our profit margins will be.”

DairyBase can help to answer a lot of questions about a farm business, he said.

“Realistically you need

to know your business and if are you maximising the money you’ve invested.

“If you know your business, you can calculate what the effect will be if the milk price goes from $5.60 to $4.60, how you will fare in the short term and how that might change things for your business in the long-term.”

In the past, farm business analysis had highlighted key areas of focus for the Billings’ operation, including lowering the amount of bought in feed, growing more grass and getting more

effective value from staff. Mr Billing encouraged

farmers to sign-up to DairyBase, which is funded by the dairy levy at no additional cost to farmers.

“Once the farm data is entered it’s about what they can do to get value out of the analysis. People can look within their companies or consultants,” he said.

Have you tried DairyBase? Let us know your thoughts on its useability and effectiveness. Email [email protected]

Web tool helps maximise farm performance

Farmers learn more about DairyBase at a workshop in Colac. PICTURE: DAIRY AUSTRALIA

“Once the farm data is entered it’s about what they can do to get value out of the analysis. People can look within their companies or consultants.”

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THE WAIT is over: after many months of speculation and grainy over-the-hedge spy shots, John Deere has released details of the new addition to its nine series stable – the 9RX.

Owners of this large prime mover will be able to choose wheeled (9R), twin track (9RT) or now the new four track, centre pivot version (9RX). There are four models, powered by the latest Tier 4 engines -- the smallest 470hp, the largest a mighty 620hp.

The smaller 470 and 520hp

units make use of a 13.5L John Deere Powertech engine, the larger 570 and 620hp models use a 15L Cummins QSX plant. Both offer high torque and constant power throughout the rev range.

Transmission is via the e18-full powershift transmission with ‘Efficiency Manager’. This auto-matically matches engine load and target speed to shift to the correct speed in the transmission for best performance and fuel economy.

From the transmission, drive power is transferred to large diam-eter drive sprockets and large heavy duty drive lugs to Camso Duradrive 3500 or 6500 belts which transmit

the power to the ground. The 30 or 36 inch (72.6cm or

91.44cm) wide belts are supported by optimally spaced idlers and mid-rollers which ensure great grip and minimal slippage.

Up on top, the operator sits in the Commandview cabin sup-ported by a new four-link mechan-ical cab suspension giving up to 10cm of movement – much more comfortable.

To help the driver get the best performance out of the machine, there is well known JD technol-ogy such as Auto Trak for guid-ance, JD Link for connectivity, and a new Active Command Steering

system (ACS) for easier headland turns and line holding ability at road speeds.

A new hydraulic system can sup-port up to eight selective control valves with 235L/min flow; this can be beefed up to 435L/min for high demand applications.

“The new 9RX brings to the market John Deere’s 20 years of experience gained with the 8RT and 9RT tractors,” says John Deere product manager for the 9 series, Jerry Griffith. He also notes that customers say the new tractor is easier to manoeuvre and has power to get the job done.www.deere.com.au

Deere mover now comes as four-track

CFMOTO AUSTRALIA has launched their first ATV under 500cc. The move will see the manufacturer produce smaller capacity ATVs for the first time and compete in the mid-size ATV segment (250cc-400cc) which accounted for around 40% of national ATV sales in 2014.

The company’s CEO, Michael Poynton, says the introduction of a mid-size ATV has been in the pipe-line for some time now and expects the X400 will make an immediate impact once it hits dealership floors this month.

“We’ve sold more than 12,000 CFMoto’s in just over five years and have a pretty good grasp on what our cus-tomers want from us. The X400 is the result of listen-ing to customers then working with the development team at CFMoto to produce an ATV with a smaller body size which is easier to manoeuvre without compromis-ing on key features required to get the job done,” Mr Poyton said.

“With these ATVs starting from $5990 ride away, farmers can now have a powerful liquid cooled EFI 400cc engine with strong Canadian CVTech transmis-sion with two and four wheel drive modes for a price point previously only ever seen on much more basic 250-300cc 2WD ATVs.”

The company said it’s this promise of value for money that has seen it “smash ATV sales records since entering the scene in 2009”.

The X400 is offered in two models, a standard model and a limited edition (LE) model.

CFMoto takes aim at mid-size ATV market

MARK DANIEL

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