Dairy News 28 June 2016

PATHWAY TO TOP

Coca Cola to challenge Fonterra? PAGE 4

Leadership training PAGE 22

USE YOUR HEAD Wear Shark PAGE 31

JUNE 28, 2016 ISSUE 359 // www.dairynews.co.nz

WIRELESS FARMING “4G enables me to monitor things better and make better decisions.” – Tony Walters, Waiuku. PAGE 20-21

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

NEWS  // 3

LIC shareholders wary of losing core business SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FARMER CO-OP LIC has to win over a sceptiGroundwork for duck season. PG.12

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NEWS ������������������������������������������������������3-15 OPINION ���������������������������������������������� 16-17 AGRIBUSINESS ������������������������������18-19 MANAGEMENT ������������������������������ 20-23 ANIMAL HEALTH �������������������������� 24-25 EFFLUENT & WATER   MANAGEMENT ������������������������������26-30 MACHINERY &   PRODUCTS ��������������������������������������� 31-34

cal shareholder base before opening its automation business to outside investors. The genetics/farm management company’s directors and management, during a recent roadshow with shareholders, argued a case for spinning off an agritech company that could attract outside investors. However LIC’s proposal hasn’t gone down well with most shareholders, who worry about losing ownership and control of core businesses like Minda and herd testing. At a roadshow meeting in Morrinsville this month, the biggest concern was the board’s proposal to split what farmers regard as the co-op’s core business. The proposal is that LIC would remain a 100% co-op owning artificial breeding, the FarmWise database and genetics. The agritech company, initially a wholly owned subsidiary, would own automation, Minda, herd testing, GeneMark, animal health and the international business: it would invite suitable investors. Cambridge farmer David Wallace won applause for telling the meeting that seperating AB from

LIC chairman Murray King.

herd testing and Minda makes no sense. “I plead with you not to do this. But I’m very happy with the agritech company looking after automation and other things; that is not our core business,”

Wallace said. Wallace says herd improvement has three pillars: AB, herd testing and Minda (software enabling farmers to maintain information from herd testing). “So you have herd improvement that relies on information on herd testing and that information comes via Minda. To seperate herd testing and Minda out of AB doesn’t make sense; that has been our strength.” Wallace thanked LIC for adding billions of dollars in extra revenue to farmers and urged it to continue adding value onfarm. He says if tensions arise between LIC’s co-op shareholders and the investment shareholders, then the co-op should buy back all investment

NO APPETITE AMONG FARMERS TO INVEST LIC DIRECTOR Gray Baldwin supports the LIC directors’ proposal to split the company into two entities. He told the Morrinsville shareholders that the proposal provides a “fantastic opportunity” to grow value onfarm. Baldwin says huge farm value will be created by Minda automation and herd testing. “The thing is that we have to fund it,” he says. “Bluntly, the reality in co-op land is that farmers will protect their farm -- myself included -- before their co-op. So when pressure arises, the ability to raise capital to do all those exciting things is not there.”

shares over time. LIC chairman Murray King told the meeting the biggest problem facing LIC was “tension” between the two classes of shareholders. Co-op shareholders want LIC to add value onfarm; investment shareholders want higher dividends and the share price to rise. LIC has 10,640 shareholders, of whom only 67% own investment shares. With the current dairy downturn, LIC is finding it difficult to raise capital from shareholders to further develop its automation products. King says capital raising remains a key challenge. “I can’t see too many people here raising their hand to give LIC much needed money. Everyone is busy managing their own show and keeping their own business above water. But we need to grow; if we don’t grow we will go backwards.” Tatua chairman Steve Allen cautioned LIC’s board against pushing ahead with the proposal. The co-op must be careful about what products and services it offloads to the proposed agritech company. “Be very careful about what you put in the [agritech company]; you will find that you create more tension by doing that.” He urged the LIC board not to over-complicate things and to completely seperate the two businesses. King later told Dairy News that the roadshow produced a wide range of views the board will now consider. “We have more work to do; we are working with shareholders rather than behind closed doors.” The LIC board hopes to divide the current business in two by December 1. No shareholder vote will be required to split the company into two; LIC’s technology and animal husbandry business units will be offloaded to LIC Automation, already operating as a subsidiary. However, 75% ‘yes’ votes will be needed to make constitutional changes and allow new shareholders into the agritech company.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

4 //  NEWS

Coke’s dairy move to ruffle feathers PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

COLA-COLA ENTERING the market by buying

a dairy company should worry Fonterra, says KPMG’s global head of agribusiness, Ian Proudfoot. “They won’t be coming into the dairy market to be number eight or nine – they will want to be number one,” he told the NZ Veterinary Association conference in Hamilton last week. “Coke bought Fairlife,

one of the most innovative liquid dairy companies around.” KPMG has surveyed 80 global agribusiness companies on trends in food and agribusiness and Proudfoot says change is coming very rapidly. We are on the cusp of a “fourth industrial revolution”. One theme to be aware of is is changing competitors, he says. “Our competitors in the past will not necessarily be our competitors in the future. “The biggest change we will see are pharmaceuti-

FRIES WITH YOUR GRASSHOPPER? INSECTS WILL be a threat to the dairy industry’s product dominance, Ian Proudfoot says. We will be eating insects in our daily diet within 10 years, he claims. Insects are incredibly effective converters of biomass to protein: 48% efficient in converting energy, versus a dairy cow at about 3% efficiency. This will challenge the dairy sector. Various ways exist to synthesise dairy into insect protein, he says. Animal protein won’t necessarily come from animals. The driver of this is animal welfare: people don’t like the way animals are being farmed so they are looking to substitute animals out of the process.

cal companies. Their interaction in the agricultural sector has historically been relating to selling drugs to vets. “Now they are thinking about how they become producers of food – or at least nutraceuticals – that have health benefits. That step is coming very quickly: they are innovating a lot, they are spending huge money on how they will bring their skills in pharmaceutical products and apply them to food.” For example, Lewis Road Creamery, “which created riots in Remuera over chocolate milk”, is telling a story, he told the vets. “Their story tells how their food is being produced from their farm through to the consumer, and how the animal producing the milk is being looked after.” Proudfoot told the vets of their importance in that story because they are in that value chain. They help the farmer create the story, which creates the value in the product. Things are changing very rapidly in food, he says. Biological, physical and digital technologies

are creating “a whole heap of new solutions, different ways of doing things, different opportunities for your businesses and for the clients of your businesses. “We are on the parapet of a financial/cultural revolution,” Proudfoot says. KPMG asked the world’s 80 largest agricultural countries to define the key opportunities and key challenges facing their business. They listed volatility, trade agreements (the ability to put more product into more markets), water, huge consumer changes and climate changes. NZ is not grasping the climate change issue nearly as much as other countries, he says. “The shift to low carbon economy is really gaining pace, as is food safety. That is probably most important for your industry.” Importantly, KPMG notes that though NZ has succeeded as a nation -growing magnificently and achieving high productivity -- “what we do today will not be enough to get us where we need to be tomorrow; we need to innovate and change”.

“We will have new forms of farms. We will have people farming in different ways from the way they farmed historically.” A farm may in fact be a 22-storey office building. Green Centre Farms, in Chicago, farms in a 22-storey building. They grow beautiful salad vegetables, all organic: this could be the farm of the future, Proudfoot says. “People are doing horticulture and agriculture in

Ian Proudfoot, KPMG.

the same building – different ways of integrating the business. “We will find different ways using drones. It’s not going to be one drone; it’s going to have a swarm of friends. “If you suddenly have 25 drones on a farm you

can do a whole heap of stuff – you can lift, spread, muster and gain a huge amount of data.” There will be different farming models. Philadelphia Cow Sheds is a great example of that, crowdsourcing an interest (share) in the animals.

THINK IN STEP WITH CONSUMERS WE CAN’T ignore the gamechangers; they are coming and quickly, says Ian Proudfoot. He outlines a wide range of consumer changes and referrs to onfarm issues. “Antimicrobial resistance is growing more important. We need to... be able to tell the world our food is free of antibiotics. Consumers want that and it is valuable,” he says. On the environment, the conversation is changing; it has been, ‘we are looking after the environment because the law requires it’; but now it is becoming ‘this is the right thing to do’. “We cannot ignore social issues: 14% of the food we produce

globally is wasted; this needs to be reduced, right through the value chain. “Animal welfare: we got caught on this last year – caught in a big way. We need to address these issues and do what is right because it is the right thing to do.” Proudfoot says we produce a very small amount of food, directed by the goal of selling it to very high-worth customers. In NZ we produce beautiful food for the world to pay us a premium to eat. The challenge we face is, have we got the positioning right to capture that? “We need a paradigm shift; the opportunity is massive, we’ve just got to capture it.”

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

NEWS  // 5

Feeble ECan promises tough action against water thieves next year’s going to be different.” Forest & Bird had said that Ecan’s own records, obtained through an Official Information Act request, revealed “vast quantities of water” being taken illegally, and hundreds of instances where irrigators were caught without functioning water meters. Calling it an “environmental crime wave,” Forest & Bird said ECan had not fined or prosecuted in any of the 376 instances of irrigators being found in

flow, and using water for the wrong purposes. In another, an irrigator was found to be taking water over a sustained period at 45% greater than the consented limit. In all four of those instances, ECan had merely issued abatement notices. “Let’s be clear, these are serious environmental crimes that are punishable by fines and prison sentences under the Resource Management Act, yet ECan seems unwilling to do much more than issue

were free to take as much water as they chose to get away with. “It is a standard ENVIRONMENT condition of consents that CANTERBURY is the irrigator must, before promising stricter action taking any water, install against irrigators flouting a water meter, and have a their water consent tamper proof electronic conditions, in the face of recording device. There a complaint from Forest is simply no excuse for & Bird that ECan has taking the water for been failing to take “any months or even years credible action”. before installing a water Conceding that the meter,” he said. Forest & Bird figures were In a statement issued a wake-up call, ECan chief in response to Forest & executive Bill Bayfield is Bird, ECan said it took warning “water stealers” compliance issues very of a new enforcement seriously but with 5900 stance. water takes to be However, he said “It is a standard condition of consents measured and the vast majority of reported – three water takers were that the irrigator must, before taking times more than complying with their any water, install a water meter, any other region consents. and have a tamper proof electronic in New Zealand - it “4900 of them recording device.” was a huge job to have now put in implement national meters and are now abatement notices, which serious breach of their water metering rules supplying data to use on water consent conditions, it then fails to enforce,” which only took effect in a regular basis, and that’s said Forest & Bird’s during the 2013-2014 2012. great. What we’re doing Christchurch senior legal irrigation season. ECan had begun “a now is mopping up the counsel, Peter Anderson. Forest & Bird cited very active programme” in final 10% -- and what “Several of these examples such as a repeat May to ensure compliance, we’ll do now is step up instances deal with repeat warning those who had yet offender continuously enforcement for nonoffenders; one has been overusing water to install meters to take compliance.” noted as having illegally “throughout the season urgent action. Bayfield said most taken water for at least and for the last three “By July we want all irrigators would have seasons,” and another who the last three seasons, water-take consents to stopped using water in have an appropriate water May, and most would start illegally uplifted 31 million and ECan still had not prosecuted them. litres of water from the meter, and for all water again about September or “Elsewhere in New Manuka Creek over 42 consent holders to provide October, “so they’ve got a Zealand abatement separate days, 40 of them information to show they couple of months to sort notices are taken very being days of low flow comply with their consent their acts out.” seriously. However, in restrictions. conditions. He said ECan had Canterbury irrigators In another case, “We have worked with discovered how difficult seem to be able to as a result of a public water consent holders and prosecution would be, be ignore them with complaint about Wairepo the irrigation industry to based on meter data. Creek running dry, an “We had about four impunity.” irrigator was found to planned prosecutions in Anderson said dozens the past year but ended up have multiple serious of irrigators were caught non-compliances issues deciding not to take any without functioning water of them. I guess, after this, including exceeding water meters, meaning they NIGEL MALTHUS

Break rules, face the music FEDERATED FARMERS’ water spokesperson Chris Allen says water measurement in New Zealand is still in its infancy but those involved in Canterbury irrigation are working together to make sure systems are robust. “New Zealand is pioneering realtime, large-scale, data collection and measurement to regulators. “There have certainly been teething problems with the collection of data. This highlights the need for robust systems so the consent holder is reliably informed of their water use and the

community has confidence that limits are being upheld. “Farmers have invested approximately $50 million over four years for the implementation of these new systems and technologies. They also spend $2 million annually in operating these systems. It has been an ambitious and costly exercise for farmers but one most have embraced and see as an important step forward to delivering greater public assurance. “If someone is breaking the rules they will need to face consequences defined by the regulator,” says Allen.

Water stealers in Canterbury have been put on notice.

achieve compliance and improve onfarm water efficiency. Our experience is that once consent holders know what is expected of them, they want to comply and take action.” ECan said most consented users would submit their water data for the last (201516) irrigation season this month. “We have a comprehensive plan to scrutinise this information ECan chief executive Bill Bayfield.

for compliance and to take enforcement action against those who continue to flout the metering regulations and their resource consent limits.” Forest & Bird’s complaint comes only a few weeks after North Canterbury Fish & Game made near-identical claims about Ecan’s feeble response to complaints of stock illegally accessing waterways.

Fish & Game had accused ECan of slow or non-existent responses to complaints, a reluctance to use formal enforcement tools, lack of consistency in rule enforcement, and poor follow-up where breaches were identified. The most common ‘enforcement’ was simply to accept the farmer’s assurance that the breach would not be repeated. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

6 //  NEWS

US vet questions biosecurity on NZ farms after visit PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

A UK expert has warned that lessthan-ideal onfarm biosecurity in New Zealand could lead to a more widespread outbreak in the event of a serious animal disease epidemic here. DairyNZ’s manager for biosecurity, readiness and response, Chris Morley, speaking at the NZ Veterinary Association conference at Hamilton last week, quoted Richard Hepple, a UK government veterinary adviser and expert on infectious animal disease. Morley says Hepple had recently holidayed in NZ, afterwards writing: “On farm biosecurity was nonexistent in NZ and this would, in the event of a serious disease outbreak such as FMD, likely result in a more extensive spread of disease during the silent spread period, not to mention the cost of additional everyday disease impacts.” Morley says understanding of the ‘silent spread’ resulted from the 2001 UK outbreak of FMD which showed that by the time the first cow was found at an abattoir in Essex, it was already across 49 UK farms. Morley asked, if we got FMD in NZ, given our current state of biosecurity for endemic disease, and the way people behave, how far could it spread before agencies

Chris Morley, DairyNZ speaking at the NZ vets conference in Hamilton last week.

such as Ministry for Primary Indus- that don’t take much time. Morley says there’s no shortage tries got the call? “If you are trying to trace 49 of biosecurity advice available in farms, that is when you end up with NZ, as a Google search will show. “But are we actually seeing any an epidemic and it drags on for six changes on farm? Our challenge months,” he says. The UK learned the hard way is that we are actually not. We are not doing much coland now has a system lectively as a farming whereby if an animal “We are not comes onto a farm it doing much industry and as vets.” That said, invasive can’t move off for six collectively plants in pastures are days, to try and create a buffer. We should as a farming now imposing greater biosecurity costs on at least consider that industry here, but would have and as vets.” NZ than animal diseases, says Morley. to calculate the costDairyNZ is spending hours benefit. But biosecurity has to be kept helping influence decisions on real and sensible: they are not velvetleaf, he says. It is in fodder looking for full decontamination beet seed and is very hard to see as on farms but some basic measures a weed seed. It was grown in Italy

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and exported from Denmark, meeting all standards; there was no real fault at the border. “Regardless, now it is on 250 farms in NZ, mostly in the South Island, and probably on more than that; that’s just where we know it is. “It is a very damaging crop, really hard to control, with lots of seeds. It has a 50 year seed bank, and this could impact on how we grow fodder beet and other root crops for dairy production in the South Island. “If this gets in there you can’t spray it out, you can’t control it, you can’t grow that crop for many, many years, so it’s quite a challenge.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

No long faces at SIDE 2016 GOOD TURNOUT and positivity among Southland

dairy farmers at the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) belied the industry’s tough times, say the event organisers. Some 450 farmers attended the annual SIDE, in Invercargill on June 20-22, themed ‘Bounce Forward’. Chairman Rob Wilson applauds their turnout, saying “despite the difficult environment people are engaged and actively trying to work their way through this. We’re not sure when, but things will get better”. He says SIDE gave farmers “a couple more tools in the toolbox” to position them well for the expected upturn. Event highlights he notes were the “incredibly inspiring” keynote speakers and the level of engagement and determination of attendees to farm responsibly. SIDE committee member and DairyNZ brand marketing manager Andrew Fraser says turnout was down slightly on 2014, when the event was last held in Invercargill, but not to the extent feared given the dairy downturn. “If you walked in here and you didn’t know it was tough out there, you wouldn’t get a sense of that.” Attendees came with a “pretty positive mindset,” looking for ways to improve their businesses. Fraser says farmers may be feeling doom and gloom, “but certainly if you walk around and talk to farmers here you’ll have good conversations with positive people”. Fraser singled out environmental workshops as showing a positive change of attitude among farmers over the past few years; a workshop on ‘Planting Plans Made Easy’ by DairyNZ senior developer Matt Highway ran over time as attendees asked how to improve and protect waterways on their farms. – Nigel Malthus

Beekeepers unite under one flag ALL BEEKEEPERS will be now represented by Apiculture New Zealand. Since 2002, either Federated Farmers’ bee industry group or National Beekeepers Association have represented NZ apiarists. A nine-member ApiNZ board was elected at the beekeeper organisation’s annual meeting last week. Federated Farmers bee industry group chairman John Hartnell applauds the move as great news for the apiculture industry, whose exports are forecast to exceed $300 million this year. “This new approach brings everyone together, strengthens the voice of the industry to government and promotes research and work in industry best practice. “With 5000 people engaged in apiculture in NZ there’s potential for the industry to be worth $1 billion per year.” Federated Farmers’ national president Dr William Rolleston says it’s now time for the industry to move forward. “The industry in NZ has matured to a point where [the unified] body is justified. Federated Farmers is pleased to have helped the industry for 14 years, supporting its transition. “The bee industry group has done a marvellous job promoting the importance of a strong and healthy bee population. “Educating our members has been a priority for the group; for example, the Trees for Bees project to enable bees to gather quality pollen and nectar raised awareness of the importance of bees to the primary industry.” Rolleston says Feds hopes many beekeepers will remain members of the organisation.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

8 //  NATIONAL FIELDAYS 2016 REVIEW

Farming sector supermarket ‘even has aisles’ – Nation of Plenty. Today you see people doing just what we did,” he says. peterb@ruralnews.co.nz The social culture of Fieldays is important to farming families: it’s their chance to meet friends and supFARMER SUPPORT agencies did pliers and build new relationships. their best to encourage dairy farmers This has always happened, even in to come to National Fieldays despite tough times. the sector’s downturn, says chief And even in tough executive Peter Nation. “You don’t want to be a fair times exhibitors keep on Farmers needed to take weather friend; you need at Fieldays and while they time out from their day-to-day to show your support of the may downplay the nature demands and worries and get to Kiwi farming’s supermarket. “It’s industry especially if you are of their site they realise how important it is to even got aisles,” he quipped. a big brand.” keep faith with their cus“You don’t want to sit too long in the place that’s causing you stress. unseen by most is that many people tomers. “You don’t want to be a fair So the idea was to get them off-farm. come to socialise. During his days as weather friend; you need to show “Fieldays has lots of seminars a farmer he did this, he says. “I’ve pulled myself out of bed in your support of the industry espethat provide farmers with new information and stories to help them start Taranaki at 3am and driven to Fieldays cially if you are a big brand. Farmers and had breakfast – sandwiches and expect their suppliers to be here and thinking positively. “It’s also a time for them to come a Thermos of tea – out of the boot of it would be considered rude if they and talk to people and feel the big sup- the car and met our friends from Bay weren’t here.” PETER BURKE

port mechanism behind them. “It pleases me that the exhibitors and suppliers keep investing here. Farmers should be buoyed by people continually putting investment in behind them,” Nation says. A big part of National Fieldays

Fieldays chief executive Peter Nation.

PM John Key and Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy with award-winning students of St Peter’s College.

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A FANTASTIC event, showing how much interest there is in Fieldays, said Prime Minister John Key, speaking to Dairy News on the Friday of the event. Looking at exhibits and meeting visitors, Key said he feels for the dairy farmers who he acknowledges are hurting. But he says while dairy is in a downturn other sectors are doing well, helping contribute to the positive mood at Fieldays. “It’s an amazing event with upwards of 130,000 people over four days. It just shows how much interest there is. People are enjoying the social occasion and the

weather is good. “I enjoy it because I don’t have to wear a tie,” Key said. He enjoys the event itself and it’s a day out of the office. The PM attended the launch of a new funding package for rural mental health, looked at innovations, met some of the 200 volunteers and spoke at the new careers hub to young people contemplating careers in agribusiness. And the ever-patient Key spent a good third of his time posing for Fieldays visitors’ photographs. Getting him from one site to another was quite a task for his minders.

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NATIONAL FIELDAYS 2016 REVIEW  // 9

First-time visitor impressed PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

A SURPRISE – and surprised – visitor to Fieldays and the Fonterra site was Paula Bennett, visiting as Minister of Climate Change, not social housing. Bennett had never seen anything like Fieldays and was most impressed on this first visit. She was impressed by the technol-

ogy, the huge interest in innovation and the farming practices. “I was staggered at the volume of people, the positivity and the money being spent. Dairying is without doubt doing it tough but there is more to farming than dairying; all the other types of farming are booming,” she commented. Bennett says the growing demand for more people in the primary

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sector makes it important for young people to better understand the job opportunities. “The jobs are so varied. Often we think farming is getting up early in the morning and milking

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KIWIFRUIT FARMERS KNOW THE PAIN THE CHIEF executive of Zespri, Lain Jager, says kiwifruit growers have a great deal of sympathy for dairy farmers in their current plight. Fresh in the minds of kiwifruit growers are the problems they faced with Psa, which plunged the sector into crisis. But now the sector has bounced back, with land and product prices up. “Many kiwifruit growers will look over the fence at their dairy farming colleagues almost with a sense of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’. There is a sense of gratefulness and also caution that primary industries are inherently cyclical,” he says. Jager says many dairy farmers are also kiwifruit growers, especially in Bay of Plenty. That tends to work well: when one sector is in downturn the other may be better. “There is a natural hedge there and it brings perspective to both industries. Many farmers look for opportunity to diversify, so dairy farmers get opportunity for a bit of kiwifruit and drystock and that makes sense.”

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Minister for Climate Change Paula Bennett (centre) is flanked by Fonterra director David MacLeod (left) and Robert Spurway.

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FONTERRA MANAGING director of global operations Robert Spurway sees farmers generally looking towards the future. Speaking to Dairy News at Fieldays, Spurway said farmers obviously are looking for an increase in the farmgate milk price. But despite the tough times, farmers are also understanding of Fonterra’s strategy to grow consumer, foodservice and value add ingredients to ultimately produce more value add products, he said. “Farmers understand the way the milk price is calculated. They understand the supply/ demand situation around the globe, but that doesn’t make it any easier on them. So we are seeing farmers working hard to adjust their cost base to meet the conditions we are facing around the globe.” Fonterra is doing what it can to succeed in the global market and to work with government and the community in NZ to do what is sustainable.

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cows. Let’s bring on the cows, but there’s a whole lot more to it in the wider agribusiness sector. “I hope we’re getting that message through to our schools and throughout whole system.”

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

10 //  NATIONAL FIELDAYS 2016 REVIEW

Bringing rural, urban together MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

FIELDAYS 2016 has come and gone,

and the weather was kind – cool mornings and a little seasonal Waikato fog. Scanners at the gate recorded 130,684 visitors, apparently walking out with their arms full of purchases, as suggested by the $1 million withdrawn from cashpoints. Despite townie journalists predicting tough times and chequebooks staying in desk drawers, exhibitors reported most people talking positively about the future. Yes, the dairy sector appeared to be window shopping and creating a wish list, but other sectors put pen to paper as they agreed to deals. Power Farming Group marketing director Brett Maber reports, “we decided to buck the trend a little and increased our budget for the 2016 event with a retail presence on the site and the Power Farming HQ bar in the central city. We attacked the event with a positive attitude and a quick roundup of enquiries shows us the event was probably as good as we have seen for many years”.

Exhibitors reported strong interest from visitors.

John Deere NZ manager Mark Hamilton-Manns, also the president of the Tractor & Machinery Association of NZ, comments, “we had great enquiry on the full range of ag products for the first three days, then switched to turfcare and residential products on Saturday”. “We saw strong compact sales and formed the impression that ag customers were looking for reliability, good

parts, service support and known repair and maintenance costs. “We also had a lot of interest from contractors and earthmoving operators in the JD 624K loading shovel we showed for the first time.” Lely NZ general manager dairy, Samuel Andersen, commented on “lots of interest in our latest forage and dairy equipment and farmers appearing receptive to using technology to

Nature and Nurture. Now.

improve efficiency”. “We had huge interest in the Lely Astronaut A4 robotic milking system, and the Lely Calm automatic calf feeder drew attention and resulted in sales, with many farmers looking to simplify their calf rearing operation.” And Fieldays is firmly a major showcase for the motor industry, which doesn’t have its own event; it chose Fieldays for its remarkably wide audience.

The choice was mind-boggling: utes, wagons and saloons, and even a peek into the future with a few concept vehicles on show. Isuzu Utes NZ spokesman Gareth Lowndes was chipper about the company winning the Fieldays Award for the Best Customer Interactive Experience – a challenging drive around a test track built into the slope of the site. While most exhibitors were positive about the whole event, others expressed frustration at the Fieldays management’s fixation on gate numbers, which includes much of Hamilton’s school population on the Friday. An industry stalwart said, “it’s really only a two day show for us, with the hordes of children climbing over machines distracting serious buyers. Perhaps we need a trade-only or VIP day – a strategy of many European trade fairs.” But one thing’s for sure: the event continues to capture the imagination of the NZ rural sector and does well at bringing urban and rural folk together, which must lead to better understanding of an industry often portrayed in a poor light by mainstream news media.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

NEWS  // 11

World-leading research farm taking shape Waikato Milking Systems platform and equipment, and Afimilk Technology for automation. As befits CONTRACTORS ARE a teaching and research working at pace to confacility, the milking shed vert 53% of Lincoln University’s Ashley Dene farm has conference and study areas. Two farmhouses into a world-leading dairy will be built, and the farm research farm, in time for is expected to employ four milking in late July. fulltime workers. The Ashley Dene With the decision to go Research and Developahead made only last year, ment Station, 15km west Moore said it had been an of the Lincoln campus, intense time getting the has been largely a dryproject underway. land research farm for A feature of the farm 100 years but is now being will be a large standconverted, paid for by off pad, which Moore $850,000 of sponsorship describes as the cows’ money. “lounge.” Unique to the The goal is farm syssouthern hemisphere, if tems research to improve not the world, the pad is the profitability, environmental and welfare perfor- being built over sloping, sealed catchmance of dairy ment chanand livestock nels from farming syswhich efflutems. ent leaching Lincoln through the University surface can be Farms direccaptured and tor Dr Teresa analysed on Moore referred Teresa Moore its way to the to their “great effluent ponds. pleasure” in engaging With each channel with the supporters of this dairy conversion “and fenced at the surface to what it means to New Zea- confine groups of cows to specific areas, the strucland”. ture will be used to test “They wanted to get in behind Lincoln University the suitability of various surfaces. and enable us to underA large concrete feed take the valuable environmental research needed to pad is similarly divided ensure everyone’s longev- into fenced bays to allow controlled feeding of difity in farming. They saw great merit in our objecferent types of fodder. tives for this farm, and Moore says a major wanted to [help]... make it focus will be monitoring worthwhile and effective. the movement of nitrates We have an impressive through the system. About group of supporters... to six lysimeter (nitrate meamake this R&D dairy farm surement) sites are being a success.” installed around the padMoore says NZ must docks. solve pressing environAnnouncing the sponmental problems in dairy sorship agreements, profarming, and Lincoln fessor of dairy production needed a new venue for Grant Edwards said Linthat research in addition coln greatly valued the to its two existing dairy industry support which farms. has helped to develop it. About 190ha of the “In particular we are Ashley Dene’s total 355ha grateful to Opus Internais assigned to the dairy tional Consultants who operation. A split calvwill supply engineering model is planned, with ing expertise and proj450 cows to be calved this ect management support, spring and 75-80 cows Waikato Milking Systems calved in the autumn, who will supply and install starting in 2017. The plant advanced milking systems includes a 54-bail rotary in the dairy shed, Claas NIGEL MALTHUS

Harvest Centre which will supply farm equipment and advice on equipment needs, and PGG Wright-

Aerial view of the dairy research farm under development.

son Seeds and Genetic Technologies, who will offer expert advice and supply seed.”

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

12 //  NEWS

Ponding, wetlands best hope for good duck seasons NIGEL MALTHUS

UNMANAGED VEGETATION areas favoured

by mallard ducks for nesting can be deathtraps for ducklings -- hunted and killed there by predators, according to new research in Southland. This is an important finding in research for a master’s thesis on wildlife management by a Southland Fish & Game field officer, Erin Garrick. Fish & Game funded

her research, at Otago University, as part of a nationwide study prompted by a string of poor mallard breeding seasons and concern that populations are being affected by dairy conversions. The good news from Garrick’s research is that there is no significant difference in duckling survival rates between dairy and other pastoral farms. However, brood-rearing female ducks are found to prefer “unmanaged hab-

itat” such as hedgerows, shelterbelts and rank grass, for nesting sites. Garrick says this was not unexpected but – alarmingly -- in such habitat ducklings have a lower survival rate. “In our landscape these habitats are typically thin and linear in [shape], creating ideal travel corridors for predators. While broods may feel safe and protected tucked up in a hedgerow, predators that rely on their [sense of smell] to track prey can

easily run along the downwind side of these strips and pick up the scent of, literally, a sitting duck.” Garrick also found that duckling survival is higher when broods are located further from built environment such as buildings and roads. And, while everyone knows that ducks like water, her figures on the benefit of “ephemeral water” -- temporary ponding from rain in the first 10 days of a duckling’s life -confirm a “huge impact”

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Fish and Game field officer Erin Garrick is a keen hunter.

on survival rates. Without ephemeral water, cumulative duckling survival to 30 days of age was only 11% for broods raised by yearling females, and 26% for broods raised by adult females. With ephemeral water, duckling survival markedly increased to 28% for broods raised by yearling females, and 46% for broods raised by adult females. Garrick says ducklings require a high-protein food source, as is readily available in ephemeral water in the form of earthworms forced to the surface. “This may be why Southland is recognised as a duck factory and as duck

enthusiasts we shouldn’t be complaining about the weather.” Many Southland farmers are keen duck hunters, she says. “While not farming ducks directly, they all put ponds on their properties; they want to see lots of ducks around because that will give them a good season opening day.” Garrick suggests three ways farmers can encourage ponding: 1) by not installing sub-surface drainage under pastures; 2) by establishing more seasonal wetlands, as far as possible from the human environment; and 3) by undercutting predators’ hunting efficiency by increasing the patch

size of unmanaged nesting cover beyond the now common narrow strips. Wetlands also improve general biodiversity and aesthetic values. Fish & Game hopes to follow up with further research into predation, she says. “We found 15-20% of our females were killed while nesting, mostly by feral cats and some by mustelids. So we’re curious to find out how abundant those predators are in our landscape. “We’ll also study predators’ diets, looking at what proportion is made up of mallards during the nesting and brood rearing period.”

Many options for succession plans AGING FARMERS without succession plans to help them step into enjoyable retirement are a concern, say a senior realtor and a farm succesion planner. Bayleys NZ country manager Simon Anderson says his agents deal often with farmers thinking about how to exit their farms, but who may be confusing retirement and succession. “The two are different issues: one must be managed properly for the other to become a comfortable reality,” Andersons says. He points out that the average farmer age is rising in all farm sectors: census data shows cattle farmers in 2013 averaged 56 years old, up from 53 in 2006; sheep farmers on average were 53, up from 50 in 2006; dairy farmers averaged 41 versus 40 in 2006. (The slower rise in dairy average age reflects younger farmers moving in to a rapidly expanding sector.) But Anderson says aside from land use, there are more pointers suggesting Kiwis need to think harder about how farm succession will be managed when the age averages get too high.

Rabobank has found that fewer than 20% of farmers responding to the bank’s surveys have a written succession plan, 48% have an informal plan and 33% have nothing. This is despite two thirds of respondents aiming to hand over the farm in the next 10 years as they approach 65. This concerned the bank enough that it took on a succession planner to help farm owners to see how they could release some or all their capital, then plan how to spend their retirement years. A farmer wanting to sell and retire has plenty of options, Anderson says. For example, he could leave some money in his farm business to help the would-be new owner if the latter found he could not raise all the needed capital through a bank. Lease-to-buy options also look good to young operators keen to get through the gate of a retiring vendor’s property. This could work when an older farmer, with no relative wanting to take on the farm, wants to help someone he has identified as a motivated operator.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

NEWS  // 13

Earnings to bounce back PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE MINISTRY for Primary Industries predicts the dairy industry will take four more years before it equals the record $17.7 billion it earned in exports in 2014. Since 2014 the value of dairy exports has declined, according to MPI’s ‘Situation and Outlook’ report; dairy exports this year will be $13.2b – down 6% on last year and 27% on 2014. But MPI is expecting a small increase in 2017, a 20% increase in 2018, and continuing smaller increases until 2020. MPI says dairy exports face strong economic headwinds during this season, notably because increased EU milk production will help keep global prices low. And it predicts

The report notes that though NZ’s exports of WMP to China were down, we found other markets, albeit paying less than China. MPI predicts the Chinese market will start to pick up in the December quarter of this year. Despite the predictions of better times ahead, all commentators are warning that ultimately the value of the NZ$ may be the key influence. While some of the report’s content could be construed as less than satisfactory, the primary sectors on the whole have a phenomenal opportunity, MPI says. Jarred Mair, director of sector policy, says while it’s tempting to be fixated on the 2014 dairy export result, it’s important to realise this was an exception. “We are seeing [a predicted] return to

we were able to redistribute dairy product around the world very quickly and still sell it. Yes there was a drop in price but we were able to sell it.” The dairy downturn will make it harder for the Government to achieve its much publicised goal of $64b primary sector earnings by 2025, the report

says. MPI’s predicts that by 2020 total primary exports will have reached just $44b; for exports to reach the $64b will require 9.5% annual growth. The current growth rate is 3.3%. But MPI minister Nathan Guy says the doubling of primary exports was always going to be an

aspiration – a target. He hasn’t given up hope yet. “We know we will need a tailwind to get there and a whole lot of projects to come together. But if all those things line up with a tailwind we will get there – but it won’t be easy.” Volatility is ever present and when one sector gets hit another booms.

MPI says dairy exports face strong economic headwinds this season.

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those levels through this forecast period, which at 34% is a big gain over four years, and much of that is value rather than volume which is exciting.” Opportunities are coming in areas where NZ has not traditionally been, especially high value processed products where NZ will have a competitive advantage, such as the hospitality sector. “NZ has the strength of having had a market led economy for a long time and knows how to adapt and respond to challenges at the macro level. For example, when the slowdown in China occurred

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MAINSTREAM NZ NOW UNDERSTANDS MPI MINISTER Nathan Guy says an interesting side to the downturn is that wider NZ is now more aware of the primary industry, in particular dairy volatility. “Quite a lot of mainstream people get the fact that Europe is producing more milk, the Russian trade ban is having an impact, China’s inventory has built up and their economy has come off an all-time high, and oil producing countries have lost some buying power. “It interests me as I move around the country that people have grasped all that – you don’t need to educate them.” Guy says people also understand that a huge part of the primary sector is doing very well; they are seeing it in regional NZ.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

14 //  WORLD

Tassie floods a heart-break for many

A flooded dairy farm in Tasmania: Neil Hargreaves film/photo.

HUNDREDS OF dairy cows were killed and farms across Tasmania severely damaged this month in the worst flooding many farmers have ever experienced. Major dairy regions around the state’s northwest and mid-north coast were among the worst hit.

Merseylea dairy farmer Luke Bloomfield lost 300 cows. “We’ve been breeding the cows for quite a while on the farm... it is heartbreaking for me. I’ve put in a lot of time,” he told the ABC. The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) estimates losses of up to 1000 head of beef and dairy cows in the Latrobe area. Farms near Meander, Launceston in the northeast and Ouse in the south are also badly damaged. DairyTas says 50-80 dairy farms were severely hit by the flooding, and many more are affected. TFGA dairy council president Andrew Lester escaped major damage on his Winnaleah farm, but says others have not been as lucky. “We got out of it with only a few fences buggered but other than that we’re good. But when you get out to Latrobe it’s a different story: a group of farmers there are seriously devastated; they’re milk-

ing in different spots. One bloke’s dairy -- the water went straight through so it’s no longer operational. “Another fella lost most of his cows; his dairy is still alright but he’s only milking what he’s got left. “Another bloke is still watching his cows through binoculars; they’re standing on an island out in the middle of nowhere, so that’s a bit of a bugger.” Many farmers are preparing for no milk collection for a long spell because about 100 roads were closed soon after the flooding and dozens of bridges were washed away. Animal health and feed shortages will become major problems, but Mark Smith, DairyTas, says the immediate priority is assessing damage and preparing a case for state and federal government assistance. The farmers can get help from the Rural Relief Fund through Rural Business Tasmania. Donations can be made at www.ruralbusinesstasmania.org.au/ relief-fund.

Let’s have those loans now – Oz farmers VICTORIA DAIRY farmers are urging politicians to get on with handing over A$30 million in dairy recovery concessional loans. “These 10-year recovery loans need to be made available immediately,” UDV president Adam Jenkins says. “There’s no reason why agreement can’t be reached between the federal and state governments to make these loans right now, so farmers know there’s lowinterest [funding] to help them through the milk price crisis.” “Farmers need the details of these loans now so they can compare the government [offer] with loans the milk processors are offering.” The federal loans are interest-only for the first five years at 2.66%, then interest plus principal for the remaining five years. The federal government has made available a separate parcel of A$30m in five-year loans to Victoria farmers severely affected by the state’s 1-in-20 year drought. So far the farmers have taken up only $2m. Applications for this close on October 31. The federal government is controlled by the Liberal/ National parties and the Victoria state government by Labour. “We understand Victoria received A$750,000 to cover the administrative costs of these drought loans,” Jenkins says. “Given that only A$2 million [has gone out] it seems reasonable that the state uses the remainder of the A$750,000 for the new round of A$30m in dairy recovery loans.”

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

16 //  OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Hardy perennials move, shake at Fieldays

MILKING IT... Nats press Fieldays flesh

THE NATIONAL Government already has a sharp eye on next year’s poll. At National Fieldays this month, there was a steady stream of government ministers, including first-time visitors like Minister for Climate Change Paula Bennett. At one pre-Fieldays event, invited media were surprised to see PM John Key, his deputy Bill English, science minister Steven Joyce, primary industries minister Nathan Guy and his associate minister Jo Goodhew. With Winston Peters making overtures to rural voters by appearing at Fieldays, the Government was not leaving anything to chance.

Meat or chocolates?

STILL ON the Fieldays, one weird product seen there has made global news. Meat lovers’ chocolate has gone global (though some punters query the mention of the prime ingredient in the name). Overseas media reactions to the sweet treat – it contains 50% meat – range from encouraging to incredulous. Website ‘Death and Taxes’ asked Kiwis if they really wanted to add meaty choccies to the little the world knew about us, after already having to “suffer numerous indignities based on the rest of the world’s general ignorance of your country”. But it was heavenly publicity to the US beef industry’s cattlenetwork. com, which declared the stuff “good news for that untapped segment of consumers waiting for a product with the nutritional value of meat and the indulgent taste of chocolate”. All this global hooha has AgResearch senior scientist Mustafa Farouk and Devonport Chocolates excited about the product’s future.

You live where?!

FORGET THE little old lady who lived in a shoe; there’s a Japanese family who live in a milk carton. Mirasaka is a quiet, nondescript country town surrounded by fields and consisting largely of lowrise houses, located a 90-minute car ride from Hiroshima station. One landmark makes the town stand out, even appearing on national television to gasps of surprise and applause. It’s a milk-carton-shaped and colored building resembling the ‘Mainichi Gyunyu’ (‘Daily Milk’) brand container; the redwhite-and-blue building stands tall above nearby houses. It’s a milk store and home for a family who also deliver the dairy product in the neighborhood. It’s been 30 years.

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Best keep it dark

SUPERMARKETS ARE among the best-lighted places on Earth. Philips, GE et al design huge arrays of LED lights to illuminate all corners of grocery stores. But light, even harmless LED lights, can have ill effects on grocery items, according to a new study from Cornell University, which shows milk is being degraded even as shoppers scan the shelves. Light can trigger undesirable chemical reactions in milk; notably riboflavin, an essential nutrient, is destroyed quickly by exposure to light. This degradation triggers other reactions e.g. fats and proteins are oxidised, creating unpleasant flavors sometimes described as ‘metallic’ or ‘cardboard-y’. The study compares consumer preferences, measuring testers’ liking for milk stored under typical LED light for different times. The results are pretty crazy: testers greatly prefer milk kept well away from light.

THE BASIC reason for Fieldays hasn’t changed in its nearly 50 year history: getting willing buyers in front of enthusiastic sellers and enticing them with the hint of a bargain or two. In the ‘old days’ the Ruakura farmers’ conference, with its amazing science presentations, preceded the Fieldays. Sadly today one wonders how many farmers know anything about Ruakura and how it shaped NZ farming with its useful and practical science. AgResearch now has only an inside site in the exhibition pavillion. Much has changed at Mystery Creek site, much for the better. The massive pavillion is a great exhibition area, the sites are well laid out and the connecting lanes and roads are smooth paved. While there is no standout farmers’ conference, more and more seminars and functions are run on the site. KPMG’s Agribusiness Agenda breakfast is insightful and brilliant. MPI turned on a good show this year as did other exhibitors and the Fieldays Society itself. Noticeable to old hands at Fieldays was the swarm of ‘suits’ – bureaucrats, bankers and bosses -- mixing freely with the Red Band brigade of farmers and people who routinely muddy their boots. Agribusiness was there in style and making its presence felt. Predictably dairy farmers attended in droves and not all were just looking – many were buying. And the socialising and networking were great. Fieldays is now ‘the’ place to be: look at the press of politicians – blue, black and red. Predictably the Nats were there in force: Nathan Guy spent the week there and we saw cameo appearances by John Key, Bill English, Steven Joyce and Paula Bennett. We may have missed Peter Dunne, the Maori party and the Greens. Fonterra, Zespri, DairyNZ, AgResearch and other sites did well outreaching to their constituents and deserve a clap for having senior staff on site. The careers hub – new and a great idea – probably needs to look more exciting and relevant to young people. By far the worst site was Worksafe NZ: boring, unimaginative and, bluntly, a waste of space. Someone should be fired for this hopeless effort: a lost opportunity, money wasted and no attempt to attract ‘customers’. Fieldays was buzzing with people interacting, exhibitors selling and money changing hands. Even journalists were happy.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

OPINION  // 17

Farmers are doing their bit to improve water quality.

State of rivers not a political football JAMIE FALLOON

THE CONDITION of New Zealand’s rivers should never be treated as a political football. Yet in the past two weeks we’ve seen two blatantly political announcements treating it that way. One suggestion was to reduce dairy cow numbers by 80%. This would require relocating about four million cows. SPCA would be overwhelmed tackling this challenge. Social media and talkback radio opinion had the idea coming across as a serious option, with dairy farmers in the firing line. Suggestion arose of a conspiracy between Federated Farmers, Fonterra and the Government. Absurd! It’s like saying NZ has too many people and we need to reduce our population by 50% because humans are harming the environment. If anyone had bothered

googling, they would have seen the ‘opinion maker’ involved has a history of aggressive sound-bites expressing a disturbing and often moronic hatred of dairy farmers and Federated Farmers. Meanwhile, the Green Party dropped the second political bombshell (more like an underinflated pig’s stomach) -- perhaps to Jamie Falloon deflect attention from the party’s ‘marriage of convenience’ to Labour. It all looks cosy on the outside and might be construed as an advance in MMP politics. But look under the bonnet at the ‘pre-nup’ and it doesn’t look so rosy; it looks akin to getting married at first sight -- especially when we know that one of the nuptial couple has the hots for another man, who typically plays hard to get. You know it

will end in tears before the wedding vows, if it means running the country; the Green Party will be jilted at the altar, again for Labour’s old ex. But enough already of the wedding gossip. This latest political clunker was a suggestion that we clean up ten “polluted” rivers -- one of them the Ruamahanga. Politics again! Only one of the rivers suggested is entirely in an urban area. Fact is urban rivers and streams are the most degraded in the country. But this doesn’t attract votes -- making Aucklanders spend billions cleaning up their streams. Much smarter to make others pay where you don’t have many votes to lose. This idea sucks (or is that ‘sux’?) by giving the impression nothing is being done in the Ruamahanga

and that as a community we don’t value it. Urban and rural landowners have done lots to improve the river. Yes, it could happen faster, but someone always has to pay. Farmers are doing their bit: fencing, effluent storage ponds and managing their land better to reduce effects. All townships in the catchment are now either treating sewage on land where possible or have a plan to stop running sewage to the river; next they will get busy on stormwater. Wairarapa has so far committed about $150 million to this. Yes, there is plenty more work to do but in a small provincial economy it doesn’t get done overnight. So here’s my message to those using our rivers and farming as political footballs: get the facts straight, focus on the positives and get people in behind a reasonable, practicable course of action that will make a difference. • Jamie Falloon is Federated Farmers Wairarapa provincial president.

Greens’ claim ‘ridiculous’ THE GREEN Party’s list of the top 10 dirty rivers in New Zealand is farcical and brings into question their credibility, says IrrigationNZ chief executive Andrew Curtis. The three rivers listed in irrigated catchments; Ruamahanga, Tukituki and Selwyn, when compared with the water quality of other rivers in these regions shows whilst they each have challenges, they are not the dirtiest. “The true state of water quality in New Zealand can be gleaned from the Land Air Water Aotearoa website www.lawa.org.nz. This contains the most accurate and up to date picture of actual river water quality in New Zealand.

“The Porirua in Wellington region, Karamu in Hawke’s Bay and Heathcote river in Christchurch all have worse water quality issues than the Ruamahanga, Tukituki and Selwyn,” says Curtis “The Greens are being mischievous with their dirtiest rivers stunt. They are trying to create a divide between rural and urban communities which is not good for New Zealand.” There are some huge water quality issues facing all of lowland New Zealand if pristine, swimmable water quality becomes the minimum standard. “Just as farmers will have to invest in changing farm practices, rates will have to rise

significantly in urban areas to pay for rivers to be cleaned-up to a pristine standard,” he says. Despite this cost, Curtis says the primary sector is actively embracing change. Adoption of good management practices, like stock exclusion from waterways, is the first step. “The continued evolution of precision agriculture is the long-term solution if we are to create a resilient and sustainable future for rural New Zealand.” “The goal posts for farmers have changed and there are now environmental limits in place or in the process of being put in place.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

18 //  AGRIBUSINESS

Fonterra makes changes near the top

Fonterra executive Jacqueline Chow addresses farmers at the recent DairyNZ Farmers Forum while chief executive Theo Spierings looks on.

FONTERRA IS set to lose two more executives. The co-op’s president greater China and managing director Asia Middle East Africa, Johan Priem, will retire next month. Jacqueline Chow,

newly-appointed chief operating officer global consumer and foodservice, will leave in early 2017 to return to Australia. The departures herald a smaller seven-member executive group, says chief executive Theo

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wealth of consumer and Spierings. They will focus business experience”. on achieving the co-op’s Swales will manage the ambition, he says. co-op’s transformation “This is the right and disruption agenda, step in our evolution. and all R&D and We’re keeping farmers technology. at the heart of our co-op “With Judith heading while focusing on our up velocity and innovation global customers and consumers.” Coming to the fore are managing director Oceania Judith Swales and group director cooperative affairs Miles Hurrell. Swales, who led the streamlining Johan Priem of the co-op’s Australian we will get an end-to-end business, is the new chief view of our efforts to drive operating officer velocity efficiency… and a strategic and innovation. Hurrell view of game changing is now chief operating business models.” officer Farm Source. Meanwhile Alex Turnbull will continue to head Fonterra’s Latin American business as part of the global consumer and foodservice business unit but will leave the executive team. Kelvin Wickham, previously Miles Hurrell managing director of global ingredients, whose role Spierings says Chow, and position remains due to leave in early 2017, had been “instrumental in unchanged, is now chief driving our transformation operating officer NZMP. Robert Spurway, agenda [but] clear about previously managing her intention to retire from executive life”. Until director global operations, is now chief operating then “our co-op stands to officer global operations. benefit greatly from her

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

AGRIBUSINESS  // 19

Data pipeline will save farmers from endless keypunching PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

FARMERS SHOULD see in August the first results of a project funded by DairyNZ and others to allow organisations servicing agriculture to share data effectively, says Rezare Systems managing director Andrew Cooke. Data Linker is a technical way for organisations to share data, with permission from the farmers involved for that data to flow, says Rezare Systems. It ensures the recipient of the data has agreed to terms and conditions imposed by the organisation providing the data. The project is part of a wider data initiative arising from the ‘Transforming the Dairy Value Chain’ Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) partly funded by DairyNZ, Fonterra and the Ministry for Primary Industries, and it is now collaborating with Beef + LambNZ through the Red Meat PGP. Rezare Systems is managing the project; it is an ag software company that was spun out of AgResearch in 2004. Cooke says in conversations with farmers at Fieldays, “as soon as you start talking about data they trot out stories about lost data and about answering the same questions posed by six different people who drive up the driveway: those are the things they want us to solve”. Farmers need to get the message that their industry organisation is working on a solution via this project. “If we do this right, farmers

won’t use Data Linker as such; but they will notice that all those various systems they use onfarm will start talking together, and they can actually get things done effectively without sitting down to punch in data.” Farmers will probably need to start asking their IT and software providers and data people if are they on board or when they will get on board. That pressure, he says, will help keep things moving. For example, a company with nutrient data for a farmer may be willing to share that with other organisations, if the farmer is willing. But it would be on the terms and conditions the farmer agreed to. Data Linker is the technical framework that allows all that to happen ‘under the hood’. The project started last December. “We have built the technical framework and six organisations are the early adopters, testing linking their systems together. And a wider bunch have said ‘this is interesting, we’re keen to use it; as soon as it’s deemed successful, sign us up’. “[We found at] Fieldays a lot of larger organisations that were very aware of it and a lot of the smaller ones saying ‘this is absolutely what we need; we’ll be on as soon as we can’. “We are testing it now; the first connections farmers are likely to see will be happening around August and then if it is connected and working we’ve got a bunch of organisations that have said around October would suit them to get going,” he says.

Andrew Cooke, Rezare Systems managing director at the Fieldays.

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EFFECTIVE USE OF DATA EFFECTIVE USE of data and saving farmers from having to enter the same data over and over; that’s the point of Data Linker, says Andrew Cooke. When the project started, another PGP group – Beef + Lamb NZ, six meat companies and two banks – was found to have similar objectives, so the two groups joined forces about 18 months ago to fund the project. There are three work streams; Data Linker is the third. The first two are in effect ‘hygiene’ – underpinning things you need to make more effective use of data, says Cooke. The PGP is for organisations that collect this data for the agri sector – a dairy or meat company, a fertiliser or software company. About 60-100 organisations

have participated so far either in workshops on appropriate uses of data or developing data standards. The first work stream was the Farm Data Code of Practice, an accreditation process similar to other industry codes of practice such as irrigation. The goal is to get organisations that hold or capture farm data to write clear and transparent terms and conditions that farmers can understand, to explain who owns data, who has rights to the data and who can control where it goes. The farmer knows who can take it out and whether you can prevent a company using it if you choose to go somewhere else. Developed over a couple of years, it was launched early 2016. Three soft-

ware organisations are accredited so far – Farmax, FarmIQ and Gateway Data Services – and nine are in process, including banks, regional councils and nutrient companies. The second work stream is Farm Data Standards – a list of names for pieces of data, so that industry people can avoid having to reinvent names for the data – documenting the best way of describing data. For example, measuring pasture cover is referred to as ‘pasture cover’, measured in kilograms of dry matter per hectare (kgDM/ha). “That avoids people having to come up with incompatible ways of describing data, because if [terms are] incompatible, despite the best of intentions you can’t share or re-use them,” Cooke says.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

20 //  MANAGEMENT

Wireless farming makes life m SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

SOUTH AUCKLAND

farmer Tony Walters is not a computer buff, instead relying on his teenage children to help him navigate the internet. But he is powering ahead with technology: his 95ha farm at Aka Aka is a pioneer user of Spark’s 4G network. An array of data monitoring gadgets operate on the farm, enabled by more reliable and faster 4G

regulatory authorities Walters and his wife broadband; Walters now that our application of Marlene milk 260 cows. has information about effluent was meeting Three years ago he built each aspect of his farm soil requirements and a covered feed pad and operation. we were not overdoing He told Dairy News the house with concrete things. So I put in a soil technology leap hasn’t yet floors and a plastic roof. translated into higher profit, given the lower milk price during the “I always believe that unless we past two seasons. But monitor and have key performance the information helps indicators, we can’t make good make better manage management decisions.” his farm. “It enables us to monitor things better and make better decisions He needed a new effluent monitoring system.” This records soil based on the information system to go with the temperature and moisture buildings. we have,” he says. “It’s levels and looks at how “At the same time one tool to lift efficiency much rainfall the farm I needed to prove to on farm.”

Pasture growth has improved since cow shelters were built three years ago.

gets in 24 hours. Daily at 8.20am it recommends how much effluent can be applied to pasture, based on soil the condition. Walters knew that such an information trail would provide evidence to the local authority to satisfy them. “I’m not a computer person but I saw the benefits of technology and data collection.” He connected the cowshed temperature into the system, monitoring milk and cooling temperature; water uptake from bore holes on the farm was also hooked up. Apart from collecting data to show the regional council, Walters found the technology saving him time. He no longer needed to record the information manually in Fonterra’s farm diary; it was all done electronically. Realising the power of recording information he added scales to his feedout gear to monitor how much each cow was fed. Walters came into contact with Agri360, a company operating a cloud-based farm diary. “It’s very smart --a good

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system,” he says. Using his cellphone or iPad he has mapped the whole farm and records where cows are at any given time, hay and silage made from each paddock and fertiliser application history. If a contractor is

coming to the farm, Walters can email GPS coordinates of paddocks requiring work with fertiliser or spraying recommendations attached. He also emails the farm’s health and safety policy, highlighting potential hazards.

SPUDS, CARROTS ON THE SIDE TONY WALTERS’ cows produced 535kgMS last season; the national average is 388kgMS/cow. His feed regime is similar to most farmers except for 20 tonnes of potatoes and carrots the cows munch through every week. The cows love them, he says. Walters runs a system 5 farm; supplements are bought in to make up for pasture deficits. He buys maize silage, PKE and “lots of potatoes and carrots -- a cheap feed; I get a fairly reliable supply now. “We mix them into the cows’ diet; we take tests of pasture then adjust the cows’ diet with supplements to give us the targeted production. “There’s nothing wrong with the potatoes and carrots -- we help ourselves to them; they’re either too big or too small or damaged in some way.” The potatoes and carrots go into a mixer wagon and everything is weighed; maize or grass silage, potatoes, carrots and PKE are added for the correct ration balance, then trace elements are added and it’s fed out to the cows. Pasture growth on the farm has improved since the feed pad and shelters were built. “And we’re working hard to improve pasture; that’s number-one for us; then we add supplements as required.”

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MANAGEMENT  // 21

e much simpler time milking started and finished; alerts are set up so that if someone forgot to turn on the chiller an alert would be sent to us. And if we had used more water than average in 24 hours an alert would be sent.” Walters is now trialling more new technology, for

“It identifies the paddocks the contractor should be working on, avoiding mistakes, and its not expensive. “It covers us for proof of placement and health and safety.” Walters’ farm was the first to trial 4G broadband, at download speeds of 50 megabytes/second. New opportunities arose in the family home and the cowshed. When vets are working on the farm, data gets entered directly into Minda or Info Vet (a vet programme). “We record as we do it, rather than trying to remember it when we go home.” When Fonterra’s information comes through, Walters can

check it on his iPad or cellphone in the milking shed. “As dairy farmers we spend long hours on the farm; the last thing we want is to go home, sit down and enter information. We do our record keeping at the cowshed or on the quad while bringing the cows in. “I always believe that unless we monitor and have key performance indicators, we can’t make good management decisions.” Though the low milk price may preclude a holiday, Walters nevertheless sees how he could keep an eye on the farm from anywhere in the world. “We could see what

Waiuku farmer Tony Walters has a trove of farm data to work with.

example, rugged wireless sensors. He says the 4G network outperforms “our previous broadband supplier whose system needed resetting regularly”. “Downloads speeds were shocking and expensive for what it was; 4G has changed all that.”

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

22 //  MANAGEMENT

Leadership course ‘lit a fire’ for dairy woman A LEADERSHIP pro-

gramme for dairy women is being championed by a North Otago woman as a huge help. Julie Dee (38), dairy farming in the Waitaki region of North Otago, says the Pathways sixmonth leadership and coaching course she attended can help many more dairying women. She completed it last November. “We need programmes like this to lift people up in dairy communities, because the need has never been greater,” she says. Pathways, by the AgriWomen’s Development

Trust and the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN), includes two two-day leadership workshops held six months apart, and three coaching and mentoring sessions in between. It helps women to lead change in their businesses and communities, and to identify their skills and strengths. About 30 women have attended courses, with funding by DairyNZ and Ministry for Primary Industries. Dee learned about Pathways during the 2015 DWN conference, from chief executive Zelda de Villiers. “A fire was lit in my

belly,” she says. “I felt passionately that more North Otago women should get involved in the network,” says Dee. She applied for the course and became the North Otago convenor for DWN “to be a more active leader in my community.” Dee, who has two children -- Connor (6) and Erin (4) – was born in Scotland and came to New Zealand in 2003, meeting Paul Dee, a dairy farmer. They married in 2008 and have sharemilked in Waimate and Waitaki for ten years. Dee had worked in media planning and marketing but began learning to milk cows, feed calves

and help on the farm. “Pathways opened my eyes to my achievements, which I hadn’t taken stock of,” she says. “I’d moved to the other side of the world, started a different career and become a mum, [but only] on the programme did I realise the grit and determination it had taken to do that, and to appreciate what I had achieved.” Dee says women don’t always value the skills they gain from motherhood or community roles. “We need to stop saying things like, ‘I’m just a mum’, or ‘I’m just a Playcentre parent’. That’s where you learn valuable

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Julie Dee with farm dog, Rum.

skills and take on important roles and responsibilities. Pathways helped me to reconnect to my core strengths and boosted my confidence.” The course emphasises goal setting, and Dee set a goal to form a strong DWN group in North Otago. About 250 women now belong in the area, and 200 follow it on the network’s North Otago Facebook page. Dee stresses the need for rural women’s networking and social support, “to get out and off

the farm and connect with others, especially others facing similar challenges”. As convenor she has organised regular social events for North Waikato DWN, and seminars on health and safety, calf rearing, contract negotiation and budgeting. Last year, with Federated Farmers, Rural Support Trust, Plunket and local vets and banks she helped organise two support days for dairy farmers in Waitaki and Waimate, along with calving and other commitments.

“If I can be part of something for the women of the region, and help make the region stronger, it’s worth it,” says Dee. She sees women as the backbone of the dairy community. “Often when you see a strong rural community it’s where the women are working together – managing school events and fundraisers,” says Dee. The Dees recently finished a sharemilking contract and are now considering their next business move.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

MANAGEMENT  // 23

Would-be farm girls on the rise THE DAIRY downturn

is not deterring young Waikato women from training for farm work, says the Hamilton training provider TrainMe. For example, Angel Ryan (17), Chance Taingahue (19) and Brenda Pairama (17) are among nine girls aged 16-19 who this month will complete TrainMe’s National Certificate in Agriculture Level 2 course. This is a record female enrolment since the free 18 week course began three years ago. It was launched for teenagers “disengaged” from the schooling system, says TrainMe trades school manager Lance Langley. “In our current class at least 50% are female: we have nine females and eight males. In the past, during the four other semesters the course runs, only about 35% of enrolled students have been female.” Langley says the “increase in enrolled females is heartening. These women are hardworkers and have as much to contribute to farming as men.” Chance says she is keen on starting a career in farming when she finishes the course. “Many of us came into this course after completing TrainMe’s #Ultimate, which gave us a taste of lots of short courses. Until then I wasn’t interested in farming; I didn’t know what it was like. Many of us just wanted to complete

NCEA. “But since choosing the farming course we’ve learned to drive a tractor and quad and to use a chainsaw. Occupational safety and health practices and first aid are also a part of our training. “We’ve volunteered on five different farms. I’d assumed farming was boring but now I’d love to work on a farm.” Angel says the rising female enrolments show “farming isn’t just for guys”. “We’re putting up fences and pulling out ponga trees; we put in as much effort as the guys. We learn from them and they learn from us.” Langley says he enjoys seeing once-disengaged students -- male and female – “find their place” on a farm. “The farming environment is hard work but it has given these teenagers a purpose and boosted their confidence. They arrive without NCEA Level 1 and typically dislike school. For some the prospect of further education was once bleak,” Langley says. “They complete our #Ultimate course then the agriculture programme and in one year they can get three tertiary qualifications and NCEA Levels 1 and 2. “The learning environment is fun, educational and career-focussed. Those who complete the course can go on to further study, or we help arrange employment for them on a farm.”

TrainMe, NZQA-registered, has run foundation training programmes in Hamilton and Auckland since 1984. It offers funded courses to adults (18+ years) and youth (16-19 years). www.trainme.org.nz

Young Waikato women training for farm work.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

24 //  ANIMAL HEALTH

Mastitis nasties no match for culture ID parade PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

FARMERS MAY be

missing out on animal health benefits because there is insufficient culture testing to find out what bugs are causing mastitis, says Scott McDougall, clinical veterinarian and research scientist at DairyNZ. Culture testing can enable a farmer to better understand what bugs are moving through his herd and what he can do about them/it. This pinpointing of specific bacteria enables a farmer to respond using the most appropriate, narrow-spectrum antibiotic as soon as he identifies the problem. And this is also another step in counteracting antimicrobial resistance. This topic this was a key theme at the NZ Veterinary Association conference in Hamilton last week. But McDougall says smarter and faster technology is needed for culture testing for dairy farmers.

“When you ask farmers ers about how they use to do here.” culture showed they see it how a drug works, [their In the Dutch survey, as a way of choosing antiunderstanding is] that it’s 71% of farmers said they all clinical outcomes. They biotics. Dutch farmers per- would submit culture if don’t do culture; very little ceive the best advantage they got a result within of culture is to pinpoint culture is done onfarm or 12 hours – so lack of rapid in the lab,” McDougall told whether it is bug ‘A’ or ‘B’ turnaround is perceived as and therefore whether the conference. a major impediment to the they should use drug ‘X’ or uptake of culture systems. “If clinical science doesn’t resolve Reliability it, the farmer was the major “When you ask farmers says ‘this drug thing the how a drug works, [their doesn’t work’ Dutch farmand gets another understanding is] that it’s ers were lookdrug – rightly all clinical outcomes. They ing for, quick or wrongly. don’t do culture; very little turnaround We [vets] can and then cost. culture is done onfarm or debate whether A UK medin the lab.” that is the right ical study thing to do, but showed that ‘Y’,” McDougall said. that’s what farmers do. doctors initially pre“Wearing my vet hat [I Farmers don’t see a lot of scribed broad spectrum value in culture; they don’t would say] probably the antibiotics to patients premost important thing I perceive they get much senting symptoms of bacget out of culture is what benefit.” terial infections, got tests A survey of vets showed it tells me about epidemidone and were meant ology: what bugs are going to change the antibiotthey aren’t using culture through this herd, why either. The barriers are ics to a narrow spectrum those bugs are moving related to perceptions as soon as the test results around and what manabout whether they were pinpointed the bug. But agement steps we could getting the right answer, this study showed that, in price and timing -- such as take to try to, for example, fact, the last step does not reduce cow spread of the waiting 48 hours onfarm happen – it involves tests, particular bug. and having to bring samre-contacting patients and “So there is major ples into the vet practice changing drugs. misunderstanding out and send them out to a “As veterinarians we there about what culture laboratory. should be doing this but, can do for you; and we However, a recent in fact, very little is done.” have a major education job study asking Dutch farmIf very rapid diagnostics were built into the veterinary consultation, decisions could be made in real time and appropriate decisions made in two or three days. “This would mean we would use the appropriate narrow spectrum antibiotics from day one -- a much better way of doing it. But the biggest limitation is

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reduce the bug count. The farmers may have been choosing only the more severe cases to treat, contributing to fewer ‘nogrowths’. With the low proportion of ‘no growth’ dropping out of the study, McDougall’s guess on the results is that they will not have reduced the antimicrobial usage as the US study did. But they will be prescribing much smarter, using narrow-spectrum drugs to target the right bacteria. New technology coming to the market from Otago University is a culture based system that gives a limited number of bacterial results but gives sensitivity testing within 24 hours. This would enable a vet to detect certain penicillin resistant bacteria and go to the correct drug immediately.

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enrolled six herds with 6200 cows in the North and South Island. They have a slightly more complex decision tree. The study has been underway for 12 months and results are being analysed now. Much work is required to establish these systems; compliance on farm has been an issue – getting farmers to follow protocols. Some farmers have done it well but others have dropped the ball. “So it’s not for everybody – only a subset of farmers can do it.” He was surprised at how few ‘no growths’ they were getting. With fresh milk, a higher proportion of tests were giving a result than they get from the frozen milk they as scientists often work with. It is known that when you freeze milk samples you

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the tests. We are using 120-130-year-old technology to crack a 21st century problem.” A lot of research work is going into smarter and quicker diagnostics – rapid culture – so vets can make better decisions. A US study using an algal plate and a decision tree based on whether the cow needed immediate treatment or could wait for results cut the use of antimicrobials by 56%. The method did not change the cure rates or any other important factors. “By reducing antimicrobial use by 50% they did not have any bad downstream effects in terms of cow health and outcome or bulk somatic cell count.” McDougall says they are replicating that study with a slightly different approach. They have

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

ANIMAL HEALTH  // 25

Young farm workers more likely to use pain relief pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

YOUNGER DAIRY

ful interventions (Smith 2005, Anderson and Muir 2005). They were first introduced in the 1980s primarily for the treatment of acute mastitis. In the NZ pastoral system the use of antimicrobials is relatively low;

globally NZ is the thirdlowest user of antimicrobials. The rate in the dairy industry is also lower than in other countries. However, the rate of use of NSAIDs is still relatively unknown in NZ, the paper says.

A survey shows young farm workers more likely to use pain relief on animals.

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farm workers newer to the industry but working closely with their veterinarians are more likely to use pain relief on dairy cattle on farms, a survey has shown. The survey, by two large South Island vet companies, concludes that more study is needed of the onfarm use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The results were presented in a paper by Mark Bryan, Elena Knupfer and Shen-Yan Hea, of VetSouth, Winton and Invercargill, to the NZ Veterinary Association conference in Hamilton last week. Amongst all farmers, animal welfare was the main reason for giving NSAIDs to animals, followed by vets’ advice and return on investment, the survey found. The importance of animal welfare increased with the usage level of NSAID. The cost of the product, withholding periods and non-veterinary advice were more important for low NSAID users than high NSAID users. NSAID use was associated with empathy for and perception of pain in the animal. High NSAID users tended to perceive higher levels of animal pain compared with low users. For most conditions, vets perceived an equal or higher level of pain in animals than the high users. Vets perceived lower levels of pain than farmers in cases of gut surgery, dystocia, caesarean section and sick cows. This may reflect their greater exposure and familiarity with these conditions. However, a 2009 survey of NZ dairy vets found that claw amputation, caesarean section and LDA (left side displacement of abomasum) surgery were ranked the highest with regard to painful procedures. High NSAID farmer users were likely to be more animal welfare conscious and empathetic to animal pain than low NSAID users. High NSAID

farmer users were more likely to be younger and have less experience in the industry but were likely to be engaged with the vets they deal with. They were also more likely to be ranked as ‘A’ clients. It is likely this engagement and linkage with vets informs their decision making. Low NSAID users tended to have greater experience in the dairy industry. Although NSAIDs have been available since the 1980s, their adoption commercially in NZ has been slow, and this finding may reflect the fact that older and more experienced clients may not be as familiar with their use as younger clients with less experience in the dairy industry, the paper says. Older clients may be more resistant to new ideas concerning animal welfare. Low NSAID users were more cost conscious and were influenced by other factors such as withholding periods, treatment length and non-veterinary sources of information and advice. Low NSAID users were less likely to be aware of the potential benefits of NSAID treatment. The level of NSAID use in animals did not appear to be associated with personal pain experiences/ perception or personal NSAID use. “These results are an important step towards understanding the factors that may influence NSAID use in animals, and help identify areas of opportunity to improve animal welfare outcomes for some potentially painful dairy procedures,” the paper concluded. Further research was needed. Two large vet practices were selected for the study, which began with electronic surveys being distributed to a random selection of dairy clients in the practices’ databases. Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in cattle, and are often used with antibiotics to treat disease and reduce pain and inflammation after trauma or surgical/pain-

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

26 //  EFFLUENT & WATER MANAGEMENT

Effluent washdown great if you follow the rules FARMERS MAY wash

down their yards with dairy effluent (FDE) water if they adhere strictly to the rules governing its use, says DairyNZ. Recycling FDE water for yard washing can slash freshwater use and the volume of effluent needing to be managed. But it must be done with a sharp watch on risk to food safety, DNZ says. “Certain practices are essential to prevent risk to food safety. After every milking yards must be washed clear of residual sediment. “Recycled wastewater must not carry any offensive odour – during or after application.” Recycled wastewater

is only to be used on a yard or pad area; it must not contact a milking area or a milk receiving/ storage area. Recycled water may only be used at low pressure; for example, either via a gravity fed flood wash (from a raised tank or reservoir) or a low pressure pump. It must be of fixed design, i.e. must not include hand held hoses. It must be separate from the freshwater washdown system and, if pumped, must not be delivered from a height greater than 300mm above ground level. The recycled wastewater system must be supported by an effluent system that

complies with regional council rules. DairyNZ says farms must adhere to a nutrient

management plan. It advises farmers to seek expert opinion before modifying an

effluent system to recycle FDE for yard washing. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Good practices save fertiliser costs, keep council happy GOOD EFFLUENT management combines a welldesigned system and processes that enable workers to apply collected effluent to pasture in the right quantities at the right time. Benefits of good effluent management include: ■■ Fertiliser savings ■■ Improved soil condition ■■ Prevention of animal health issues ■■ Compliance with council rules or resource consents. The key to good decisionmaking is understanding the soil water deficit -- essential to prevent ponding and run-off and to avoid applying effluent to saturated soils. Soil water deficit is the amount of water (i.e. effluent) which can be applied to the soil before it reaches field capacity (the amount of water held in the soil after excess water has drained away). If effluent is added at field capacity it will likely result in ponding, runoff or leaching. The average dairy cow excretes about $25 of nutrients annually as effluent (400 cows excrete about $10,000 of nutrients annually). Using these FDE nutrients effectively can greatly reduce a farm’s fertiliser bill.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

EFFLUENT & WATER MANAGEMENT  // 27

Biogas energy question still gurgling away CAN FARMS make money – or at least save it – by extracting the energy latent in dairy effluent? The question has lurked in the background of the dairy industry’s growing use of supplementary feed for ten years, DairyNZ observes. In-shed feeding, feedpads and covered housing have boomed, and with them the need to collect and store ever more dairy effluent. The liquids and solids then have to be irrigated, when soil conditions allow. Predictably questions arise about the practicality and economics of farms extracting energy from stored effluent. Dairy farms now spend about $490 million/year on energy – $250 million on electricity. Biogas – energy from waste – is gas produced during the breakdown of biological organic matter into carbon dioxide and methane, usable to generate electricity and heat, and to power vehicles. Biogas can be produced from effluent from farms, crops, crop wastes, fats and oils and sewage or at landfills. Biogas contains methane (a greenhouse gas), which is the combustible portion of biogas. The most common way of producing biogas is an anaerobic (without air) digestion system.

In the case of dairy effluent this would be either a covered effluent pond/tank or an enclosed anaerobic digester. Biogas also contains hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide and water vapour. The hydrogen sulphide and water vapour need to be removed for electricity generation to succeed. If the biogas is to be used solely for heating, then the gas can be used much as it is produced except for the excess water vapour which should be removed. What are the drivers for biogas use? Biogas production from agricultural wastes attracted a lot of interest in the 1970s and 80s because of the cost and supply of crude oil from the Middle East. During that period, biogas was captured from a variety of waste streams for energy and many vehicles were powered by CNG (compressed natural gas) – now out of favour. With climate change a global concern and growing demand for emissions reduction, interest in using renewable energy is also rising. New Zealand has the third-highest renewable energy supply in the OECD; 38% of consumer energy need is met by renewable energy, notably geothermal, hydro, biomass and wind. At least 75% of NZ’s

Is there money to be made in effluent by extracting energy?

SUMMARY ■■

Extracting energy from dairy effluent doesn’t deal with the whole problem, but it can add value.

■■

Selling electricity to the NZ grid is unlikely to be cost effective due to the way the energy sector operates and the small amount of energy likely to be produced by an average dairy farm. Thousands of cows would be needed for a farm to gain a good price. Best to plan to use the electricity generated to power onfarm activities.

■■

Biogas collection and conversion to heat, fuel or electricity is a specialist area, so experience and expertise are essential.

■■

Flammable methane demands that all safety regulations be met, and installation onfarm must follow health and safety rules.

electricity is from renewable resources. Interest has not waned in farm greenhouse gas emissions; farmers and other businesses continue talking about capturing biogas. Biodigesters are widely used in the US, UK and Europe on dairy farms. But these countries use subsidies, tariffs and means to present such systems as economic. (These can be seen as a ‘tax’.) On its own, biogas may be difficult to justify economically by an average NZ dairy farm. But a farmer could capture methane and convert the energy to economic use to: ■■ Offset electricity costs on farm ■■ Provide an energy source in a region with ‘old’ power infrastructure that may struggle.

IT WORKS OVERSEAS BUT WHO PAYS? ANAEROBIC DIGESTION systems are common in many countries for getting methane out of dairy effluent and converting this to electricity. But mostly it works only because of government subsidies: taxpayers or ratepayers foot some of the bill. Support includes subsidies to install the anaerobic digester, guaranteed minimum prices for feeding electricity into the national grid (feed-in tariffs) and other greenhouse gas reduction incentives or pollution abatement schemes. Some countries subsidise crops to produce digester feedstock. No such subsidies are available in NZ and none are likely, because we have lots of renewable energy. Overseas, most anaerobic digestion uses feedstocks other than dairy effluent, which is regarded more as ‘inoculum’ (starter microbes for the digestion process). Feedstocks may also include grains, meat and food wastes, maize, grass silage, fodder beet and chemicals such as glycerol.

New from Plucks Engineering One of our latest model Pond Stirrers V Only 1.1kW driving a 1.0 M Ø blade V Two year warranty on the new type of motor and planetary gear box V New to the world of agriculture – the latest in five-lip sealed bearings V No greasing required – ever! V All bearings and seals above the water line V Huge 1.0 M Ø blade, moving 44,000 litres per minute V Good range of sizes for any pond type whether lined or earth, clay or concrete—big or small

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

28 //  EFFLUENT & WATER MANAGEMENT

How an espresso in an Italian cafe saved a Kiwi $60,000 BEFORE WE all woke up to the fact dairy effluent is not a waste product, we tended to spread it rather ‘inelegantly’ on paddocks. Why inelegantly? As many farm owners know, while the application rate numbers in a brochure can be credible, in the real world, moving pods and sleds and boom irrigators tends to be the job of the lowest paid farmhand. And some farmhands are known to cut corners. So while some of the better boom travellers can achieve an application depth of, say, 6mm, and pods and sled irrigators can go as low as 3mm/ hour, the challenge comes

not in the published application rates but in the unpublished number of days or even weeks a pod line or irrigator might stay put in one place. Meet Ian (not his real name), who farms 590 cows on 155ha effective of non-irrigated land in a good rainfall area with reasonable draining soils. His neighbour, Colin (not his real name) is on a larger farm (180ha effective) with the same rainfall and soil type and he has a similar approach to effluent distribution. Six years ago each got an abatement notice for exactly the situation described: their sled rain guns were fine but their

farm workers left the gear in the same place, making their council environment chappie, as you would expect, grumpy. Wouldn’t it be preferable for them to reap the advantages of a large-nozzle rain gun? They would save heaps on solids separation, and benefit from a unit whose speed across the paddock would mean the effluent delivery rate suited their soil type – absorption without ponding – and would be so easy and safe to relocate that it wouldn’t get sabotaged by the farm worker who was too ‘busy’ to move it. That’s where Allan comes in. Four years ago,

Allan Crouch, from Hi Tech Enviro Solutions, was in Italy seeking to find that country’s best submersible stirrer. Here he met Federico, an enthusiastic Italian, in one of those Italian cafés you see in travel magazines – stylish, delightfully tatty, crowded with well dressed guys and their gorgeous girlfriends. And Vespas parked outside. Federico and Allan got talking. Federico found out what Allan was looking for. Although Allan was short of time, Federico insisted he met his friend Giovanni, whose factory produced the very equipment Allan was hunting for.

Pluck’s ADR 500 Effluent Screening Plant COVERED BY N.Z. PATENT APPLICATION No. 591985

r All plant and pumps very low kW starting with 0.4kW r Self cleaning screen r Self cleaning ponds r Effluent is clean enough to be pumped into a pivot system if required r Screens out everything bigger than 1 mm Pluck’s, or your installer of choice, can adapt the ADR 500 and twin pond effluent system to work with your current effluent set up, keeping your upgrade costs down. No need

So off Allan went to meet Giovanni. (Not on Federico’s Vespa.) Once there, unexpectedly, Allan saw sitting in a vice on the workbench, a gearbox and turbine unit designed for another use, but Allan could see it was the ideal unit for driving a rain gun irrigator across the ground. Allan air freighted the heavy unit back to Hi Tech in Morrinsville, where the team went through many Come and see prototypes before coming

of reliability and accuracy up with the workable design for what became can be added to the Cobra, the Cobra travelling rain with application and NPK gun irrigator. data being electronically Ian installed one. Colin integrated with fertiliser didn’t. Ian’s Cobra has records, displayed on the now done three years of online farm map. reliable service. It was Federico thought Colin’s farm worker over he was showing Italian the fence who left a rain hospitality to a tourist gun sled in the same place, with a funny Kiwi accent. resulting in an excessive Little did he know that five breach and a $60,000 fine. euros worth of espresso Ouch! would save a bloke on the Now coupled with other side of the world Precision Farming’s sixty grand. fail-safe GPS monitor *Article provided by us at Fieldays: Sites G118 &G120 controller, an added layer Precision Farming Ltd.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

EFFLUENT & WATER MANAGEMENT  // 29

Apprenticeship to lift pumping expertise DAIRY FARMERS

will benefit from a new apprenticeship whose tradesmen will better design, install and maintain their milking, pumping and effluent systems. The New Zealand Apprenticeship in Dairy Systems (Engineering), a partnership of the industry training organisation Competenz and the New Zealand Milking & Pumping Trade Association (NZMPTA), will help businesses lift employees’ skills, offer long-term career paths and support farmers in keeping their equipment working yearround. “The NZMPTA has championed an apprenticeship for the dairy industry for many years and we’re thrilled that, with the expertise of Competenz, it’s now in place,” says NZMPTA president and country manager of Grundfos Pumps, Simon Fletcher.

The apprenticeship will lead to a national qualification which “addresses the shortage of skilled tradespeople in the milk harvesting, pumping and water application sectors of the industry,” Fletcher says. “While it’s largely engineering based, the apprenticeship is in a range of skills, knowledge and workmanship. It will help the industry attract new people and offer them career paths, lift the industry’s skill levels and set consistent standards. “Employers, employees and the farming clients we work with will all benefit.” NZMPTA member Steve Bromley, of Bromley Dairy & Pumps, Feilding, says his business will sign four staff members as apprentices and recruit a new apprentice. Competenz industry manager Peter Ferguson says the NZMPTA has helped Competenz under-

stand the technical skills dairy technicians need to work productively and safely, and to agree on the qualification’s structure and content. Ferguson comments that apprenticeships are

a structured, proven way to build skills, in which “most learning takes place on the job”. “So apprentices are gaining practical skills directly relevant to the job they’re doing.”

More apprentices will boost the level of service available for farm pumping and effluent systems.

Put Your Effluent Were You Want It • • • • • •

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

30 //  EFFLUENT & WATER MANAGEMENT

River water recharging project A PROJECT presenting new ways to

improve water quality in New Zealand rivers opened to the public this month. IrrigationNZ chief executive Andrew Curtis says the Hinds/Hekeao managed aquifer recharge project will take clean Rangitata River water and put this into the aquifer, helping solve water quality problems and improve stream flows. “The recharge project in combination with improving farm environmental performance -- through nutrient limits and audited farm environment plans -- will allow waterways in the zone to regenerate and thrive,” he says. Water will come from the Ashburton District Council’s stock water allocation via the Rangitata diversion race and Valetta irrigation scheme.

“Managed aquifer recharge is used successfully in the US and Europe to replenish aquifers for domestic and agriculture water supply, and for ecological purposes. This project is a first for NZ; a successful trial would mean other catchments could also benefit from similar projects. “It is clear the public wants improved water quality in lakes and rivers. This is a great example of the local community coming together to make positive change. “Politicians have called for a national approach to managing water quality, but there are many variables and complex issues. We need to be creative, innovative and work together to meet stated community needs.”

Irrigators in Tasmania’s pay more than they should for power.

Folly to chase cheap power rates – Oz expert AT LEAST 50% of Tasmanian farm-

ers could be paying lower energy costs for irrigation, says a national expert in irrigation management. Dr Joseph Foley, irrigation and water management leader at the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, in Tasmania, spoke at a Water for Profit workshop in Campbell Town this month. Foley says 50-70% of farmers pay more than they should for energy to run pivot irrigators, often because they misunderstand about saving money with off-peak electricity rates. “I have seen regularly people trying to chase low-cost tariffs offered during weekends,” Foley says. “They build and design a machine to do all the irrigation in less time during these off-peak times, resulting in a higher flow rate and a higher head loss. This means the energy cost is much higher on a per-megalitre applied basis.”

“By chasing those off-peak hours over the week they increase their total energy bill.” The preliminary results of a project by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) also suggest the range of prices farmers pay for energy vary significantly. The Smarter Irrigation for Profit project, led by TIA, has set up five pivot-irrigated pasture sites on dairy farms in North and North-West Tasmania to collect data on power use, water use, soil moisture and weather. Results from the first season suggest excessive power used by some farmers to pump water; they could save a lot of money. Based on a tariff of 23c/kWh, the cost of applying 1 megalitre (ML) of irrigation water ranged from $26/ ML to $181/ML. Simple modifications could save at least $50/ML at some sites (about $200/ha) -- at least $8000/year for a 40ha pivot.

The project paid for by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of its Rural Research and Development for Profit programme, Dairy Australia and TIA. Foley, also working on the project, says he is not surprised by the results. “It is not uncommon to see such a big difference in energy use per megalitre applied,” he says. “As growers come into the irrigated industry, they often don’t know about the information and resources available to help them decide about system design. “They need to talk to and learn from other growers who have long used centre pivot systems. This is especially true with the new irrigation schemes in Tasmania, irrigating areas where little or no long-term irrigation was used before.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS  // 31

Indian ingenuity hits Hamilton MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

TRACTOR MAKER Mahindra produces 300,000 units per year and is reckoned the world’s largest producer by volume. Worldwide staff of 180,000 generate a group turnover of US$16.8 billion, and business acquisitions during the past few years have resulted in new products coming to market. New for Fieldays 2016 was the Japanese-made Mahindra 1538 HST which should prove popular with landscapers, horticulturalists and

small scale farmers. Powered by a 3-cylinder common rail Mitsubishi diesel engine pushing out 38hp, its get-up-and-go is provided by a three stage hydrostatic transmission with cruise control, able to match forward or reverse speeds exactly to the job in hand. A more traditional mechanical transmission is fitted to the 34hp, 1533 model -- a mechanical synchronised version with eight forward and reverse speeds, better suited to operating on undulating terrain. Outwardly the maker has ditched the traditional Indian look; this tractor has a curvy one-piece hood and

modern curved rear fenders. Access to the semi-flat operator platform is by a simple step up from either side, and the operator when seated has a view enhanced by a down-swept exhaust system, while a folding ROPS frame allows easy entry to areas of limited headroom. At the rear of the tractor is a Cat 1 three point linkage system and a single 540rpm PTO. The machine comes standard with industrial spec tyres; turf or agricultural tyres are available. Buyers get a comprehensive threeyear/2000 hour warranty.

Russell Burling, sales (left) and Satish Chandra, national sales manager of Mahindra.

www.mahindra.co.nz

Yamaha turns to Shark to keep safe RARELY A week goes by

without a report on a quad crash, prompting howls from experts for better rider training. Meanwhile riders can soften the blows by wearing safety helmets. Though more farmers seem to be wearing them, many don’t, citing issues of weight, ventilation and the struggle to communicate effectively with workers and dogs. Now, Yamaha and helmet maker Shark at Fieldays launched to the

Lance Turnley, Yamaha with the new Shark helmet.

world their ‘X16’, said to be the first fully certified helmet developed specifically for quad, side-by-side and ROV users. Low weight of 1200g is achieved with a composite fibreglass shell, durable and proof against knocks onfarm. Meeting ECE 22-05 and DOT safety standards, the helmet has many features to improve its usability onfarm. An easy set-and-forget buckle outperforms the traditional double ‘D’ ring

design; large cooling vents promote air flow; large earpads make communication easy; and inserts can reduce noise. Accessories deal with dust, wind and flies, and a peak and neck guard keeps off the sun. All units are Bluetooth ready: they have recesses for earphones and a Bluetooth communications controller. A removable easy-clean inner liner makes cleaning easy. At Fieldays, Yamaha ATV and ROV market-

end of the year, he says.

ing man Lance Turnley showed a pair of prototype examples. The helmets will go on sale towards the

www.yamaha.co.nz @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Pluck’s Traveling Effluent Irrigators: r Meet even the toughest New Zealand Effluent Enviro Standards r Have the Most Even Rain Cover over wetted width in New Zealand by far r Have a Rain Rate of 5mm or less across total wetted width, not just the centre area. (please see in the independently proved graph)

Applied Depth – No Overlap just 5 mm applied depth!

Test 1

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DISC MOWERS KRONE EasyCut disc mowers have proven exceptionally well around the world. Delivering perfect results, these mowers feature genuine and exemplary KRONE innovations including: • SafeCut disc protection system - prevents damage to the spur gears and neighbouring discs • Quick-change blades • Fully welded cutterbar • DuoGrip centre-of gravity suspension

Our New Irrigator and Booms have to be seen in action to be believed and are covered by NZ Patent No. 578084

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

32 //  MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Big Fieldays crowd jumped online for mega download MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

VISITORS TO the Vodafone Fieldays site had access to free Vodafone Rural Connect wi-fi and were able to gauge mobile and broadband coverage on their properties using Smart Farm Test stations. During the four days Vodafone reported 50% more data traffic than last year and 1TB of data downloaded. Many people used the free Fieldays smartphone app to find their way on the 113ha Mystery Creek property.

Vodafone teamed with agribusinesses to exhibit streamlined pasture and milk monitoring, farm management, health and safety compliance and accident prevention. “Rural wireless broadband now gets to 78% of the rural population,” said Vodafone consumer director Matt Williams. “So farmers get technology on offer from Vodafone’s Smart Farm Innovation Partners, to cut costs and to simplify labour intensive work. “Technology shared by our partners attracted plenty of interest. These innovations can help improve decisionmak-

Fieldays visitors used 50% more data than last year, says Vodafone.

ing and be a practical way to do things better to save money and boost productivity.” The company’s partner Blerter was on site showing its real-time health and safety app. Available on smartphones, tablets, PCs and wearable devices, Blerter

same internet and data speeds as elsewhere and... no one will miss out on being able to run their households and businesses with the latest technology,” Williams said. In 2013-2015, rural data usage increased by 270%.

enables farmers to instantly report incidents, observations and near misses, and use instant messaging to workers. The Rural Broadband Initiative of Vodafone, Chorus and the Government is bringing wireless broadband to 290,000 rural households. “Rural people want access to the

www.vodafone.co.nz

Heat detection hits the spot ANIMAL MANAGEMENT and fencing sup-

plier Gallagher took out a gong at Fieldays 2016, winning the International Innovation Award for its Flashmate electronic heat detector. This tool for lifting a herd’s mating performance places a flashing red light on cows’ flanks to tell farm staff that a cow is on heat; and it helps improve submission rates by detecting animals that might otherwise have been missed. Mark Harris, global marketing manager at Gal-

lagher, says the award is a nice fit with this year’s Fieldays theme of collaboration. “We’re extremely proud to receive this award which was developed in a partnership with technology company Farmshed Labs. After testing and refinement in the lab and on farms nationwide, the product is now launched across Australasia. The award recognises our and our partner’s efforts in bringing the product to the market.”

International Innovation Award winner.

www.gallagher.co.nz Gallagher’s Flashmate electronic head detector.

QUALITY DAIRY HOT WATER CYLINDERS From 180 litres to 1500 litres

Superheat mains pressure domestic cylinders now available Available from your local dairy merchant. Manufactured by:

Superheat Ltd

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www.superheat.co.nz or phone 03-389 9500 for details of your local merchant

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Superheat Popular Sizes (measurements in mm) STANDARD RANGE AVAILABLE WITH COPPER BARREL, GALVANISED OR STAINLESS CASE 180 ltr 610 dia x 1330 high 3kW 200 ltr 600 dia x 1295 high 3kW 225 ltr 610 dia x 1550 high 3kW 270 ltr 610 dia x 1750 high 3kW 270 ltr 710 dia x 1350 high 3kW 270 ltr 810 dia x 1050 high 3kW 300 ltr 710 dia x 1330 high 3kW 350 ltr 710 dia x 1660 high 2 x 3kW 350 ltr 810 dia x 1400 high 2 x 3kW 400 ltr 710 dia x 1820 high 2 x 3kW 450 ltr 710 dia x 2010 high 2 x 3kW 450 ltr 810 dia x 1600 high 2 x 3kW

500 ltr 915 dia x 1400 high 2 x 3kW 600 ltr 810 da x 1900 high 3 x 3kW 600 ltr 915 dia x 1500 high 3 x 3kW 700 ltr 810 dia x 2200 high 3 x 3kW 700 ltr 915 dia x 1700 high 3 x 3kW 800 ltr 915 dia x 1900 high 3 x 3kW 800 ltr 1160 dia x 1400 high 3 x 3kW 1000 ltr 915 dia x 2400 high 3 x 3kW 1000 ltr 1160 dia x 1650 high 3 x 3kW SUPERHEAT STAINLESS SIZES WITH PLASTIC CASE 600 ltr 920 dia x 1650 high 3 x 3kW 1000 ltr 1170 dia x 1640 high 3 x 5kW 1200 ltr 1170 dia x 1865 high 3 x 5kW 1500 ltr 1170 dia x 2180 high 3 x 5kW

NEW SIZES AVAILABLE Now with stainless steel inner barrel and stainless outer case 350 ltr 400 ltr 450 ltr 500 ltr 600 ltr 700 ltr

710 dia x 1670 710 dia x 1860 710 dia x 2010 810 dia x 1690 810 dia x 2100 810 dia x 2370

2 x3 kW 2 x 3kW 2 x 3kW 2 x 3kW 3 x 3kW 3 x 3kW

Special sizes available on request. Superheat cylinders include elements, thermostats, valve pack, vacuum break and sight tube.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS  // 33

Vitara turbo gets up, goes MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

HIGH DEMAND is

anticipated for the new Suzuki Vitara Turbo soon to be launched in New Zealand. The vehicle is expected to build on the success of the normally aspirated five door SUV introduced in late 2015.

engine output is up 20% to 103 kW, and torque by 41% to 220 Nm compared to the normally aspirated 1.6L engined Vitara. “Peak torque is available from 15004000 rpm, giving the Turbo great on-road performance,” said Collins. “As one of the lightest SUVs, with a classleading power to weight ratio, fuel economy is

Strong acceleration and top speed of 200km/ hr are some of the features of the new Vitara turbo.

“The small SUV segment showed a 28% growth in 2015 and shows no signs of letting up.” “The small SUV segment showed a 28% growth in 2015 and shows no signs of letting up,” said Gary Collins, general manager of automobile marketing at Suzuki NZ. “And in 2016 to date the Vitara is the bestselling sub-$40,000 small SUV.” Two versions of the Turbo, both with six speed automatic transmission, go on sale with the choice of 2WD or the flagship AWD with a choice of auto, sport, snow and lock modes taking information from accelerator and steering angle sensors to adjust for different terrain. Strong acceleration and a ticket-attracting top speed of 200km/h, a newly designed 1.4L direct injection turbocharged four-cylinder, double overhead camshaft engine provides rocket performance. It suffers minimal turbo lag due to the turbocharger being mounted directly on the cylinder head. Compared to the standard versions,

outstanding, test cycles returning 5.9L/100km”. The Turbo is characterized by a unique grille, 17-inch gloss black alloy wheels, satinfinished door mirrors, red headlamp surrounds and red detailing to the interior trim. It has satellite navigation-equipped infotainment with Apply CarPlay, leather seats with suede inserts and red stitching, cruise control with speed limiter, keyless entry and ignition, climate control air conditioning, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, steering wheel sound system controls, LED daytime running lights, automatic wipers and power windows and mirrors. For safety there are parking sensors front and rear, reversing camera, auto-levelling and dusksensing LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, seven airbags, stability control and antilock brakes with electronic brake force distribution and emergency brake assist. www.suzuki.co.nz

It’s not about the weight, its about the point loading... Get our point? Point loading is the weight applied to the load bearing surface of the roller ie. Total loaded weight of the platform divided by the total number of contact points. This weight stress is what causes damage to rollers and bearings. At GEA Milfos our iFLOW rotary platform is designed with a double beam nylon roller carriage system for reduced point loading of each roller when the platform is fully loaded. • Double beam carriage roller system with a roller every 600mm • Heavy duty nylon rollers • No bearings or bushes to replace • Exceptional roller alignment • Automatic lubrication system • Low maintenance

Reduced point loading on iFLOW platform with rollers placed every 600mm

It just makes sense…

Lower your long term total operating costs with a platform that just makes sense contact GEA on 0800 GEA FARM (0800 432 327) The turbo is characterised by a unique grille and 17-inch gloss black alloy wheels.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 28, 2016

34 //  MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Robot takes over teat spraying cows POST-MILKING TEAT spray

is known to improve udder health by helping reduce infection by the highly resistant staphylococcus. But manual teat spraying takes time, is not always accurate and can waste the product being applied, the company says. Hence the appeal of its teat spray robot (TSR), an automatic system that is accurate and which correctly and consistently sprays teats after milking, with the added bonus of helping reduce labour costs. This stand-alone unit fits to the outside of rotary platforms and has a robotic arm that holds cameras to locate and spray the

passing cows’ teats. Capacity is about 400 cows per hour. Its high accuracy optimises efficacy by placing the product on the cows’ teats but not on their udders, legs or tails. In use, the TSR software identifies the individual cow and its teat positioning using a time of flight (TOF) camera to ensure correct application; a safety system prevents accidents to operators and cows. Said to be nearly silent in operation, the unit operates the same way each time, ensuring an atmosphere of calm and predictability on which cows thrive; the only sensation they feel is the spraying of their teats. www.delaval.co.nz

MF 2600 series... nimble, no-nonsense workhorse.

Fergies find favour far and wide

TSR: teat sprayer robot.

Emily takes some beating GIVEN THE popularity of fodder beet in New Zealand, particularly in the South Island, it was no surprise to see auger/chopper buckets on Fieldays exhibitor sites. One such machine from French specialist Emily was on the Ag Attachments site. These are designed for front mounting on loaders or telescopic handlers, and may be mounted on the three point linkage of larger tractors. The auger bucket is based on the standard Vega bucket which uses a uniform diameter auger without a central support, said to be best suited to maize, corn and concentrates. The addition of a chopper rotor and frame to the end of the body structure allows chopping of beet,

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

FARMERS

Martin Gray, Ag Attachments, with the new auger bucket.

potatoes, squash and even kiwifruit; a choice of three alternative chopping rotors for different particle sizes depends on feeding regime or type of livestock.

The standard machine is 2.2m wide and holds 1.3 cu.m; other sizes up to 2.6m wide and 2.3 cu.m capacity are available on indent. www.agattach.co.nz

WORLDWIDE have always loved Massey Ferguson tractors, particularly the venerable 135 and 165 models. Produced in 100s of 1000s in the mid-1960s, using largely mechanical components, and easy to service and get parts for, they are a popular used buy; you find them in places as diverse as Sri Lanka, Kenya and Somalia. Here in New Zealand the current 2600 series is building a similar reputation as a nimble, no-nonsense workhorse with power of 38-74hp. Using 3- or 4-cylinder Simpson engines of 2500 or 3600cc, they are kept simple: a

constant mesh gearbox offers 8 forward and two reverse speeds, there is a choice of 2 or 4WD front axles and they go 30km/h at maximum speed. An independent PTO system offers 540rpm output speed, and the three point linkage lifts up to 2050kg on the larger 2635 model. The hydraulic system delivers up to 62L/min to the rear remotes via dual open-centre pumps, and has up to two valves for powering external implements. The Tractor Centre, Pukekohe, sales manager Grant Hudson, commented “these little pocket rockets are the MF 135 and 165 of the current era. They are popular with growers in our area for their light weight and perky engines; and simple layout makes training staff a breeze”. www.masseyferguson.co.nz

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QUALITY SILICONE FOR LONG LIFE Silclear blend and process specially formulated high grade medical silicones optimised for maximum strength, tear resistance and optical clarity. Different formulations are used for different Silclear products, which means that each product has the best possible material properties for the job. Careful control of all manufacturing parameters, and good production practices ensure that all Silclear products are of the highest quality. The visual clarity enables monitoring of milk and vacuum lines for cleanliness and milking equipment maintenance.

Genuine product ex UK

Silclear tubing after 54 months use FLEXIBLE AND STRONG Silclear is flexible, easy to install and does not become stiff or brittle, even below freezing to minus -70˚C! it is not ORDER deteriorated by UV light, ozone or temperatures up to NOW FOR NEW 170˚C. As Silclear tubing is lighter than conventional rubber SEASON tube, pull on the cluster is lessened, reducing slippage, and improveming teat contact. The proven durability means that Silclear will give you a host of benefits at a lower overall cost. Rubber tubing after 12 months use

Call Free: 0800 92 92 98

Need the right products at the right time? We’re here for you.

When you need to down tools and go looking for the products to keep things ticking over, you can count on us having everything you need. All year around, we carry a wide range of stock in-store which means you can keep running your business without too many holdups. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, remember to ask one of our experienced team. It’s that kind of service that has kept us going for 160 years.

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