ANIMAL WELFARE: Saputo lays down the law PAGE 5 HELPING INDIA Australia lends expertise PAGE 10
FARMERS’ OWN MILK Critics have it wrong PAGE 15
JUNE 2015 ISSUE 59
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www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au
SHARE THE WEALTH MG shares may top $3.20 PAGE 3
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
NEWS // 3
Cows wait for milking under the winter sun on the Jones family farm at Kenilworth on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. See page 19 to see how they improved their business.
SA farmer Andrew Cavill is behind the Men’s Watch mental health program that helps men identify potential problems. PG.08
SA farmer Michael Green has invested in Aussie Red genetics and calls them the great all-rounder for a reason. PG.22
MG shares could reach $3.20 MURRAY GOULBURN shares
Western Victorian farmer Mark McCarthy has purchased a Cashels bale cutter and film catcher. PG.31
NEWS .......................................................3-11 WORLD ..................................................12-13 OPINION .............................................. 14-15 MARKETS ........................................... 16-17 MANAGEMENT ................................ 18-21 BREEDING MANAGEMENT .....22-23 ANIMAL HEALTH ...........................24-27 CALF REARING ..............................28-30 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS ....................................... 31-34
could be worth as much as $3.20 each when it lists on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) next month. The cooperative released an indicative price of $2.10-$3.20 a share in its prospectus. The final price will be confirmed on July 3. The partial float will be pitched to investors on an earnings multiple of 17.7 times earnings, with an implied yield of 7.4%. Outside investors will hold no voting rights in the cooperative to protect its 100% farmer ownership. Investors in the Murray Goulburn Unit Trust will be eligible to receive annual and half yearly distributions, which will be equivalent to dividends paid to the cooperative’s shareholders. An overwhelming majority of 92% of supplier-shareholders approved the co-ops proposed changes to its capital structure
at an extraordinary meeting last month. MG hopes to raise $500 million, which it will invest in new processing facilities. MG managing director, Gary Helou, is confident the cooperative will raise the $500 million by July, saying the offer had attracted interest from not only local investors but ones from Asia and Europe who were keen for exposure to Australian dairy assets. About 1400 farmers of MG’s 2500 supply base were eligible to take part in a supplier share offer. MG said more than 50% of the available shares were taken up during the supplier offer. Shares were purchased on a sliding scale from $1.24 to $1 and MG said the average price of shares was $1.15. Suppliers who buy shares will have to supply MG for between one and three years, depending on the amount purchased.
An MG shareholder cannot hold more than 0.5% of MG’s share capital. MG announced on May 1 a full year forecast for 2015/16 of $6.05kg/MS, saying this forecast “assumes the capital structure is implemented following a vote of shareholders…..and is based on the assumptions and risk factors set out in the prospectus including an average valuation of the dollar of US76c for the duration of the 2015/16 financial year”. “Under the capital structure, supplier/shareholders are also expected to receive a higher dividend than that paid historically. Subject to available franking credits the dividend is also expected to be fully franked,” the co-op said in a supplier letter. Following the meeting, MG managing director, Gary Helou, said investment in the business would improve farmgate returns.
“The approval of the capital structure gives us the opportunity to raise $500 million in new capital which we will invest to further our strategic shift towards premium value-add dairy foods and in the process reduce MG’s exposure to the volatility of the dairy commodity price cycle,” he said. “Global demand for dairy foods continues to grow, particularly in Asia. All global dairy companies are racing to capture a share of these growth opportunities and in this context, MG does not have a moment to waste. “We will invest the new capital we ultimately raise, in world’s leading manufacturing capability and market reach, to ensure we are well placed to meet and serve the growing needs of dairy customers and consumers in Australia and internationally for premium, quality, Australian made dairy foods.”
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
4 // NEWS
Hopes low prices will see fall in global milk supply FONTERRA IS
expecting milk production worldwide to slow as the low price makes it unsustainable to milk cows. Fonterra chairman John Wilson says New Zealand milk production has on average jumped 4.6% every year for five years. However, he expects
the growth to taper off. Mr Wilson said with the average global dairy price hovering at US$2200-2400/tonne it is uneconomic to get milk from farms to global markets. “We believe at the low price [milking] is unsustainable and farmers will respond by cutting production,” Mr
Wilson said. According to Fonterra’s latest global dairy update, EU production in February decreased 1% compared to the same month last year. February was the first month since June 2013 to see a fall in milk production. This decrease was widespread in all the major EU dairy producing
countries including Germany, France, Netherlands, UK and Poland. Fonterra’s milk collection in Chile is currently down due to seasonality of production and drought in the south. Milk production in Russia is also down as poor profitability has caused a contraction in the
dairy herd, in particular on small farms. The drop in milk production will eventually squeeze supply and help prices rise. But Mr Wilson cannot say for sure when prices will start to turn around. “We said in December that prices would turn around now but this hasn’t happened; now we think it
will take another six to 12 months.” Demand for dairy is holding reasonably well despite an influx of milk over the last 12 months. Mr Wilson said there is no real build-up of stocks around the world. “Our customers are holding well, there’s a lot of demand for milk.” The first Global Dairy
Trade auction of the month saw the average dairy price index drop 2.2% to US$2412/tonne, its sixth consecutive drop. Whole milk powder dropped 3.1% to US$2309/t while skim milk powder fell 1.3% to US$1982/t. Butter saw the biggest drop - down 10% to US$2619/t.
China stops buying, prices crumble PAM TIPA
THE CHINESE bought a one year
supply of milk powder from world markets then suddenly stopped buying, Alltech’s chief innovation officer, Aidan Connolly, said. That’s having a dramatic effect on prices in China, New Zealand and around the world, he told the opening day of Alltech’s REBELation Symposium in Kentucky, attended by 3000 international delegates. “Whether the Chinese government is choosing to manipulate the markets or whether [it] is buying strategically, the reality is the consumption of milk by China is tremendously affecting the price of milk around the world,” he said. “The Chinese effectively purchased a year’s supply of milk powder from the world markets and suddenly in one fell swoop chose not to buy anymore.” Connolly was illustrating how much Chinese buying was now influencing milk prices. He said until then dairy production had had a positive outlook and milk prices had been at a very high level, also extremely affected by what
was going on in China. The reform of the European common agriculture policy also has tremendous implications for milk prices, not just in Europe but the rest of the world, he said. “We are no longer living in a world where an Irish person can produce milk in Ireland and not worry about the milk price somewhere. We are no longer living in a world where it is possible to consider what is happening in some part of the United States and not be concerned about what the Chinese purchasers are doing. “Increasingly we see that these markets and that interconnection is making it extremely important to understand the world market.” Connolly, who is also Alltech’s vicepresident corporate accounts, said there were big differences in cost of production: Uruguay, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia have a tremendous cost advantage. It will be interesting to see if the European Union reforms will bring down the cost of production in Europe and enable access to other countries. Due to imported feed costs, etc the cost of production in China is also still substantially higher
Delegates at Alltech’s REBELation symposium in Kentucky.
than in Argentina, New Zealand and even the United States. The milk output from China is increasing and will continue to increase but they are limited by land. Looking at the largest producers, he
noted that Fonterra is now not just a New Zealand company; it is also present in China and other parts of the world as were all the other companies in the top 20. He said the future for milk will
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see a steady 1.8% per annum growth globally. “The demand will increase faster than consumption and production levels, which should lead to us seeing a higher price.”
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
NEWS // 5
Saputo enforces animal welfare program on all suppliers CANADIAN DAIRY giant Saputo, which owns Warrnambool Cheese and Butter (WCBF), has responded to a widely publicized video of animal abuse at one of its Canadian milk suppliers by announcing a new policy on livestock welfare. The policy could have implications for Australian farmers that supply WCBF. Saputo’s plan unveiled earlier this month includes a commitment to end tail docking, and to ensure the use of pain control when disbudding calves. The dairy company will also spend $1 million to sponsor animal-care education at two leading agricultural universities, University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and University of WisconsinMadison, in the US.
Footage was taken by animal rights group, Mercy for Animals, on the farm of one of Saputo’s largest milk suppliers, Chilliwack Cattle Sales, and broadcast in the Canadian media in June, 2014. Farm workers are shown beating and kicking cattle. Saputo president, Lino Saputo Jnr, told Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail: “To be honest, I was shaken. And it was something that I never want to see again. We recognised last year after the incident that there, quite frankly, was not enough leadership in the industry to carry this issue forward. “So we have made a much more robust policy that our suppliers have to adhere to.” Saputo has operations in Canada, the United States, Argentina and now
Australia. In a press release, it said it will require farms that are direct suppliers to follow the new policies. The company said its animal welfare policy is based on core principles and scientific evidence. “It was developed through extensive consultations with customers, dairy producers, veterinarians, governmental authorities, universities and other industry stakeholders across the Saputo value chain,” the company said in a statement. “The policy was created by Saputo’s key leaders and its newly appointed director of animal welfare, Dr Warren Skippon, formerly of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.” Key elements of the policy include:
Zero tolerance for any act of animal cruelty. ■■ A commitment to achieving the elimination of tail docking in dairy cattle. ■■ The dedication of resources to ensuring a minimum industry standard for pain control when dehorning or disbudding cattle. “The Policy states Saputo’s commitment to supporting initiatives and programs that promote communication, awareness and training opportunities for dairy production welfare issues. “The company will provide additional resources to two leading North American university programs that specialise in dairy animal handling and welfare.” As such, the new Saputo Dairy Care ■■
Program will be offered at the University of Guelph through the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare and the Ontario Veterinary College. The Saputo Dairy Care program will focus on providing practical dairy welfare education, including workshops, to veterinary students, veterinary practitioners, and dairy producers. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, Saputo will sponsor the Dairyland Initiative, which provides resources, consulting services and workshops to develop animal welfare-friendly housing for dairy cattle, and making each of these tools accessible to dairy producers and participating professionals across the world.
Lion expansion to underpin Asian growth DAIRY PROCESSOR
Lion has opened what it calls the Southern Hemisphere’s largest speciality cheese facility. Lion officially opened its $150m processing expansion at its Burnie processing site, The Heritage, Tasmania, last month. The Heritage has been significantly expanded and upgraded, with over $150m in direct investment from Lion. The automated facility comprises robots that pack the cheese for domestic and international markets. The factory will employ between 250 and 280 people. It received support from the Tasmanian government and other local stakeholders. Lion had previously set up a separate business unit, Lion Asia Dairy. The new site will enable them to produce the volume to meet that demand. They currently send about 5% of their cheese to Asia but hope to grow this. The $150 million upgrade had taken about five years to implement and was part of a process where Lion consolidated its cheese facilities around the country. Lion closed eight fac-
tories across mainland Australia when it shifted its focus on upgrading the cheese factory in Burnie. The factory produces about 11,000 tonnes of premium cheeses every year, which makes up almost 30% of total specialty cheese sales in the Australian grocery sector. About 62 farmers supply the 80 million litres of milk processed at the plant into high-end cheeses, including the South Cape and Tasmanian Heritage brands. Lion CEO, Stuart Irvine, said the site has been transformed into one of the world’s most technologically advanced specialty cheese facilities. “Specialty cheese will be a key value driver for our business, as a growing category that is strategically important to our customers.” Lion’s cheese brands include South Cape, Tasmanian Heritage, Mersey Valley and King Island. “We have significant headroom to increase specialty cheese consumption and maximise the impact of our portfolio, and our strategy is focused on unlocking this opportunity,” he said. “Lion’s investment in The Heritage is integral to
this, as we work to optimise the performance of our supply chain and achieve competitive efficiency and scale. “The expanded site will also help us grow capacity and capability to innovate in specialty cheese, ultimately driving higher margin sales that deliver sustainable returns to Lion and through the whole supply chain.”
Lion’s Ben Sandow with DairyTas executive officer Mark Smith and DairyTas chair Cheryl McCartie, from Ringarooma.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
6 // NEWS
China seeks other markets for breeders realise its self-sufficiency production to source breeding stock from more ambitions overnight,” he said. “Most milk is produced in northcountries, including those in Latin America, as a result of the strong prices ern China near Harbin City, in a cooler region which poses many challenges paid for Australian dairy cattle. Michael Napier, Rabobank Echuca when transporting fresh milk to key manager, Mr Napier said it’s becoming population areas such as Shanghai and clear that China may not want to con- Beijing. “There is still a place for imported tinue to pay the prices they have been Australian milk yet.” paying for imported dairy cattle. Mr Napier said the group was cerRabobank, in conjunction with Alta Genetics and the Rochester Dairy tainly impressed with the quality of the dairy businesses Business Network they visited, real(DBN), helped “You can see why ising that the Chicoordinate a weekthe Chinese dairy nese market may long reconnaissance trip to China, farmers are ramping not present the “golden road to allowing Austra- up production.” prosperity”, as it lian dairy farmers is often optimistically deemed back in to follow the supply chain. “The Chinese dairy farmers want to Australia. “We saw [UHT] long-life milk selling diversify their sources of origin – they’re looking for other markets like Latin for approximately A$3.50-4 per litre and Chinese branded fresh milk was selling America for example,” he said. “In addition to this, Chinese dairy $A8.80 per litre,” he said. “You can see why the Chinese dairy operations are going to great lengths to farmers are ramping up production. rear their own heifers. “There is plenty of incentive for the “We heard of one operation milking 20,000 cows using sexed semen which local farmers to work hard to make their will result in a large number of heifers own milk and reap the returns. “It became clear that the Chinese either being used to increase their milking operation or sold to other Chinese are taking milk production very seriously and producing more milk to meet buyers. “This is an important consideration their needs – and they are doing a good for Australian dairy farmers who some- job of it. This could mean that gains in what depend on the strength of this live China may not come that easily, given the increased focus of the Chinese on export market.” Despite the ambitions of the Chinese their dairy herd breeding and domestic dairy sector, Mr Napier said productiv- milk production. “For Australia, it’s not just a matter ity growth takes time. “With a challenging logistical land- of sending milk and knowing it will sell. scape – geographically, climatically and We need plenty of thought into how we environmentally – China is unlikely to sell and market our products there.”
CHINA’S DAIRY industry is looking
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Made in Australia logo won’t stand out PUTTING A ‘made in Australia’ logo on Australian dairy products bound for China won’t be enough to capitalise on this emerging market, according to dairy specialist, Michael Harvey. Mr Harvey, a senior dairy analyst with Rabobank, took part in a trip to China in April with 14 northern Victorian dairy farmers, coordinated by Rabobank, Alta Genetics and the Rochester Dairy Business network. The week-long reconnaissance trip allowed Australian dairy farmers to follow the supply chain from Australia to China, witnessing for themselves the local nuances and developments occurring within the Chinese dairy sector. “We need to get ahead of the trend on a branding front and a supply front – it’s mind-blowing to see how many other appealing international labels there are competing for market share on Chinese supermarket shelves,” Mr Harvey said.
“Marketing our production integrity and transparency is certainly an advantage for Australia’s dairy sector in terms of reputation but we cannot fall back in other categories such as branding and production.” Mr Harvey said one of Australia’s key challenges will ultimately be to produce enough milk to service the Chinese customers. “We saw their retail shelves and they are stocked with so many international brands – whether you’re looking at the infant formula aisle or the liquid milk aisle – there are brands from all over the world all competing for a piece of the China dairy pie,” he said. “If Australia doesn’t grow its production, then it won’t grow with its customers. “We’ll be left behind because other countries’ brands will build market share because they’ve got more product and volume to reliably supply to that market.” Mr Harvey described the tour
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
NEWS // 7
WA farmers should look south RICK BAYNE
THE SOUTH Coast of Western Australia has been identified as a potential hot spot for dairy industry growth. A new feasibility study has highlighted the region’s strengths, including lower land costs and higher returns on capital. The study says several factors make it “logical” for West Coast dairy farmers wishing to expand to seriously consider relocating to the South Coast. It also says beef farmers on the South Coast should consider changing allegiance to dairying for the higher profit and return on capital. The report says the capital requirements to establish a dairy farm on the South Coast are a third less than those on the West Coast. The feasibility study by Alan Peggs Agricultural and Pastoral Consultants was unveiled at a recent Dairy Innova-
tion Day hosted by Western Dairy and Dairy Australia. The study has been welcomed by Western Dairy executive officer Esther Price who said Western Dairy concurred with its findings. “At innovation day we showcased examples of farmers who have invested in this area,” Ms Price said. “That’s proof of what’s in the feasibility study. “Western Dairy sees the South Coast as an area of opportunity and potential future expansion,” she added. The study presents a rosy picture for the future of dairying in the region. It found South Coast milk production generates a higher return on capital than beef production and higher returns than dairy production on the West Coast. Land values are about half those of the West Coast. The report predicts growth through existing producers expanding, dairy
farmers relocating from the southwest, and local beef farmers converting to dairy. It said a combination of foreign acquisition of local milk processing assets and a decline in milk production had led to milk prices being offered to dairy farmers which significantly improve the profitability of milk production. “There is potential to expand milk production on the South Coast at these prices,” it says. The report highlights the potential for a variety of farming scenarios to work in the region, including the use of robot dairies. Mr Peggs said the most interesting revelation from the study was the potential to significantly improve the income of small beef producers by converting their land to dairy farms with the cows milked by robotic automatic milking machines. The report recommends the eco-
nomic potential of the South Coast as a region for expanded milk production be ‘marketed’. “Too few people are aware of the region’s potential and that its return on capital from dairy farming is significantly higher than the West Coast’s. The substantially higher profitability of milk production compared to beef, even at current high beef prices, needs to be made known.” It also calls for an investigation into the feasibility of converting beef farms to dairy farms using ‘lower order sharefarmers’. Western Australia will need an extra five million litres of milk annually for the white milk domestic market, two million litres more for the flavoured milk market and 10 million litres more for extended shelf-life export markets. An extra 2500 cows will be needed to meet the demand. The report said potential constraints to expanding the industry included high
milk transport costs, power supply and a lack of understanding about the advantages of the region. However, the mild climate; lower land prices; labour and land availability; proximity to sources of feed; and access to underground water are attractive attributes for the region. “The dairy industry on the South Coast has the potential to become a ‘leading growth’ sector for the Great Southern region; given this there is justification for government agencies to actively plan for greater capacity in key infrastructure such as electricity and water,” the report states. The region is home to 13 dairy businesses – down on about 30 in 2000 - and currently produces about 30 million litres of milk a year, about 10% of the state’s total. The principal market for milk from the region is the drinking milk market in the metropolitan area.
WA hopeful milk growth can continue tracts offered to Lion suppliers. “Farmers have responded well and they’re gearing up for a good year ahead,” WESTERN AUSTRALIA is looking for he said. Mr Depiazzi said the industry hoped new milk markets after a welcome surge in production over the past year that farmers the growth was a sign of positive things to come. hope can be sustained. “Production should stay pretty high,” While some excess fresh milk has been trucked across the Nullarbor to South Aus- he said. “Because of this good early start, tralia in what is believed to be an Austra- most farms are going to get a good feed lian first, the industry is more interested in wedge and should have good pasture through winter and into spring, dependhooking into export trade. ing on what the climate does.” The extended shelf life Mr Depiazzi said the indusmarket in South East Asia is try growth committee was seen as a likely target to ensure working with processors, farmWestern Australia has scope to ers and everyone in the supply put its growing production to chain to grow milk across the profitable use. state. The state’s milk production “At the end of the day the is up 4.9% over the past year, and processors will be the ones was even higher over summer. to drive that growth through Lion has confirmed it sent Phil Depiazzi their pricing. We want to work some small quantities of excess milk to South Australia but didn’t expect together so we get sustainable growth that processors and farmers can cope with.” that to continue. Mr Depiazzi said sustainable export A spokesman said the excellent seasonal conditions had led to higher than markets were needed to house any excess milk. “We don’t want to see ourselves as expected production. “They’ve had a good summer and rather just a domestic supply. We want a sustainthan waste it, some milk was sent to South able price at 50-55 cents, but we need to Australia. It’s only temporary and we don’t work together to ensure that milk production matches the sale side of things.” expect it to last long.” Mr Depiazzi said Western Australia WA Farmers president and member of the industry growth committee, Phil Depi- was capable of good year-round supply but azzi, said good weather conditions and pro- couldn’t pretend to match the east coast as cessor incentives were the main drivers of a commodity exporter. “However, extended shelf life products growth. “We’ve had a pretty good summer,” he in the Asian market is an option that needs said. “We had a few hot days but not pro- to be explored,” he added. “We need to talk to government to longed heat, which was good for the cows, and then we had a sensational autumn make sure they encourage processors to invest in the state.” break.” Mr Depiazzi said W.A. could be inspired Mr Depiazzi said his cows were out on grass two or three weeks ahead of normal. by growth in Tasmania. “You see what has “That’s certainly increased production happened in other states such as Tasmania which continues to grow because farmers right through to May,” he added. Farmers have also welcomed Harvey see new stainless steel and a requirement Fresh’s growth incentive and good con- for milk and it gives them confidence.” RICK BAYNE
Milk crosses border WA BRIEFLY turned the tables on neighbouring South Australia and for the first time in memory has seen some milk transported to the east. This has taken some by surprise, but S.A. dairy farmer James Stacey said there were no major worries about local farmers filling local needs. “South Australia has enough fresh milk to supply the state,” Mr Stacey said. “We probably have a surplus of milk for three or four months of the year through spring.” However, some South Australian dairy regions have struggled this year.
try to match the demand with “Last spring was ordinary the supply and use price to and South Australia has achieve that,” he said. “It been down on production seems ridiculous to me but Western Australia to be shipping milk from has had a good autumn Victoria in the autumn and they have incenbecause there isn’t enough tives in place to encourmilk. There is enough milk age more summer and to supply Adelaide autumn production,” from the central region Mr Stacey said. James Stacey if the supply pattern was Mr Stacey said some Victorian milk had been coming flattened out a bit more.” Mr Stacey said his farm’s proto South Australia for up to eight months of the year, but there duction was up. “Our season is should be no need to truck milk going well but our concern obviously is milk price going forward into the state. “It would be wise for processors and the talk of El Nino makes you buying milk in South Australia to conscious of the back end.”
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Dairy NewS aUSTraLia june 2015
8 // news
Trading dairy for sheep, all for mental health RICK BAYne
sOUTH-eAsT sOUTH Australian dairy farmer Andrew Cavill has just finished his first stint as a sheep farmer, all in the name of good mental health. Last year Mr Cavill was behind the launch of a Men’s Watch program introduced in the Limestone Coast region to tackle its alarming rate of rural men’s suicide that has claimed several lives in recent years. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show rural men are the most common victims of suicide. A new program is due in October and Mr Cavill also hopes to start a Women’s Watch later in the year. At the same time he’s doing his bit personally to make sure fellow farmers are doing okay…even if that means temporarily trading allegiance from dairy cows to sheep. Mr Cavill, who milks 600 cows on 400ha, has swapped farming duties with a neighbour for a few days. In the wake of ongoing dry conditions in Mr Cavill’s Bool Lagoon region near Naracoorte, sheep farmers have been forced to feed their flocks for up to seven hours each day over the past eight months. Apart from the cost, the time commitment is taking its toll. “I’ve been watching them feed their sheep for weeks on end and felt to myself I bet these fellas are over it,” Mr Cavill said. “I stopped a farmer on the road the other day and asked how he was going feeding the sheep. He said he just couldn’t do it for one more day he was that sick of it. “After talking for a while he realised it was becoming a mental health issue. There are a lot like it. It wears them down. Those are the issues that get men depressed.” Adopting the old maxim that a
Mental health advocate and SA farmer Andrew Cavill has swapped farming duties with a neighbour who has become worn down with constantly feeding his flock for the past eight months.
change is as good as a holiday, Mr Cavill and his fellow farmer came up with a plan. “We feed dairy cows every day so I said I’ll swap you. You show me how to do yours and I’ll show you how to do mine and we can both have a break for a few days each month till we don’t need to anymore.” That “do something different” strategy is one of many Mr Cavill has used over the years to keep good mental health. He will be sharing some of his strategies and outlining the Men’s Watch program at the Grassland Society of Southern Australia’s annual conference in Naracoorte, SA, on
July 22-23. He will also talk about his successful pasture management system. Mr Cavill said the first round of Men’s Watch programs had been a resounding success. Four programs ran last year at Mt Gambier, Penola, Naracoorte and Millicent and attracted 121 men. The programs are funded by local communities and designed to get men talking and being better able to identify signs of problems. “Ultimately we want to measure it with a dropping rate in suicides but to get 121 men to have a better understanding of what goes on and why
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they feel like they do we consider to be very successful,” Mr Cavill said. “It’s to help men to build strategies to overcome daily problems and longer term to give them confidence to see a doctor and get a resolution. If you don’t do anything about it, it’s just like an untreated cancer; it just spreads. “You find big tough farmers who come and won’t talk about anything but by the second night they’re opening up and talking about things they admit they wouldn’t normally talk to anyone about. “Hopefully some of the men are also better equipped to identify others in trouble and be able to communicate
with them.” Mr Cavill, 53, had problems nearly 20 years ago. “I’ve always been a very positive person but I had a terrible upbringing that never affected me until I was about 35. Farming wise I’ve always been okay but if you spend a lot of years not dealing with stuff it affects your faming, your life and your family. “I came to a point where I had to deal with it. In those days there wasn’t much help around so I had to deal with it myself and worked out a few things to get me through.” For more information on the conference visit www.grasslands.org.au or call 1300 137 550.
Dairy NewS AUSTRALIA june 2015
news // 9
Port of Melbourne sale will hurt VICTORIAN FARMERS Federation
president, Peter Tuohey, says the Victorian Government has failed to earmark one cent of the $5 billion it expects to generate from the Port of Melbourne privatisation to rural Victoria. Mr Tuohey said the Port of Melbourne was built on the back of food and fibre exports yet all the revenue will be directed to removing 50 train level crossings in Melbourne.
Last year, dairy exporters sent 44,600 shipping containers through the port, making the industry the fifth largest user of the port. “How is that fair?” Mr Tuohey asked. The VFF is also concerned that port rents are set to skyrocket under Labor, which will lead to higher container costs on milk powder, grain, wool, meat and an array of horticultural produce.
SA Govt buys Vic irrigation water
privatisation. “It’s clearly a case of fattening the pig before sale. And it’s farmers and other rural Victorians that rely on them who’ll end wearing the cost of these higher rents. “Ultimately higher rentals paid by stevedores will be passed back down the supply chain to farmers.” Early estimates are the rent hike will add $80 to the cost of every 20-foot
container moving through the port. That will cost the average Victorian dairy farmer $1200 a year. “That’s why we’re calling on the Government to treat rural people equally. Give country Victoria a fair share of the port privatisation revenue and give the ESC the power it needs to fully regulate this monopoly, so that we don’t end up crippling the competitiveness of our port and farmers.”
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THE VICTORIAN Farmers Federation has accused the South Australian Government of raiding Victorian irrigators’ water markets, while letting its $1.8 billion desalination plant run on idle. VFF Water Council chairman, Richard Anderson, said SA Water, owned by the SA Government, has entered the water market instead of further utilising its desalination plant. “South Australia’s desalination plant is operating at 10% capacity and for just nine months of the year,” Mr Anderson said. “Instead of cranking up their desalination plant, SA Water has instead decided to wade into Victoria’s water markets and drain 8 billion litres out of our irrigation communities.” The SA desalination plant has the capacity to produce 100,000 megalitres a year but SA Water’s website shows it’s producing less than 1000 megalitres a month. Mr Anderson claimed SA was running the whole process of irrigator water buyouts in an underhand way. “Irrigation communities deserve better and the SA Government, which owns SA Water, needs to tell us exactly what they’re doing. “So far all they’ve done is issue a two-line statement (on April 30) stating they would: ‘acquire up to 8000 megalitres of additional entitlements to ensure reliable source water availability’. “We need to know how long they will be in the water market and why do they need the water? Why are they getting brokers to make unsolicited calls to irrigators and is there a tender process? “And what irrigation systems are they buying from?” “We’ll be calling on SA Water and the SA Government to explain their actions. “I’ll also be asking Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville to back our call and write to the SA Government demanding to know why they’re in the Victorian market.” Mr Anderson said Victorian irrigators expected SA to follow the same rules as the Commonwealth when it came to buying water with taxpayers’ money. “The Commonwealth has a clear process in place when it comes to buying water, which provides a range of information to prospective sellers including average prices paid in recent tenders and general market price information.” Mr Anderson said the SA Government was being lazy and drawing on taxpayers’ contributions to raid and distort the Victorian water market. “They’re offering Victorian irrigators $2500 a megalitre, about $1000 above the current market price,” he said. As it stands SA Water is selling 12,000 megalitres of temporary (only available for one season) water to help fund its purchase of 8000 megalitres of permanent Victorian water. Mr Anderson said there was a big difference between a one-off sale of temporary water that was only available for one season, compared to permanently draining 8000 megalitres of entitlement out of northern Victorian irrigation communities. “Eight thousand megalitres of water can produce 10 million litres of milk.” “Lose the water and you lose the food, jobs and export revenue it delivers to Victoria.”
“The Government will be handing monopoly power over our food and fibre export gateway to one company,” Mr Tuohey said. “Yet the Essential Services Commission will have no oversight of the rents the new leaseholder charges stevedores like Patricks and DP World. “We’ve already seen the Port of Melbourne Corporation proposing massive rent hikes of 800%, even before
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
10 // NEWS
Indian dairy development seeks Australian expertise GORDON COLLIE
AUSTRALIAN DAIRY expertise and services are set to play a key role in developing a modern, high quality milk production sector in India. The northern Victorian consultancy Profitable Dairy Systems has completed a feasibility study for a 250 head pilot farm on a greenfield site just south of New Delhi. The new dairy is expected to be a forerunner to multiple 2500 cow units built by a major processor keen to source high quality milk for middle and upper class Indian consumers. Project leader Philip Chamberlain, a Queensland veterinary dairy specialist, is working closely with Austrade in the emerging market which he said held enormous potential for Australian businesses. “There is great commercial opportunity for a range of Australian expertise from the provision of tropically-adapted genetics to nutrition, animal husbandry and farm management. Training and other ancillary services will also be required – they need a complete package,” Dr Chamberlain said. “Until now India has not known a lot about the dairy expertise Australia has to offer.” A diverse group of 12 potential Australian suppliers has come together following the success of a mission led by Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Senator Richard Colbek, which attended Australian Business Week in India in January. “It makes sense to pool Australian resources as one person or company couldn’t do it alone,” Dr Chamberlain said.
Anirban Deb is an experienced Austrade business development manager in India who has a key focus on opportunities in the growing dairy sector. “India is actually the largest fresh milk producing country in the world with production of 130 million tonnes per annum. The national milking herd comprises about 122 million cows and 90 million buffalos.” Speaking during a visit to Australia in May, Mr Deb said the Indian industry was struggling to keep pace with a 7% annual growth in milk demand. “The animal-to-land ratio had reached saturation point which has caused the focus to shift from low inputlow output to high input-high output production systems to increase milk yield,” Mr Deb said. “This change in market dynamics is encouraging the development of large new intensive dairies which will lift efficiency and productivity.” There was significant interest in large scale projects by corporations, entrepreneurs and progressive farmer associations. Mr Deb said a new national 15-year dairy plan still has a major focus on small scale farmers with production aggregated in a cooperative system. A key outcome of the plan is improving milk yield per animal with a scientific approach to animal breeding and nutrition. “Milk quality is also becoming an issue with demand rising for value added products including cheese and yoghurts,” Mr Deb said. New feedlot dairies were coming up with innovative sales and marketing models, including direct supply of pure milk direct to consumers. With an assured cool chain, this premium milk was bringing almost
Business development manager Anirban Deb with project leader Philip Chamberlain.
double the price of regular retail product. “Milk has traditionally been a cheap source of protein for the masses in a country in which the slaughter of cattle is against the law,” Mr Deb said. Dr Chamberlain said Indian producers had looked to source Holstein dairy genetics from North America in their quest for improved production. “But significant difficulties have been experienced with herd fertility in the hot and humid Indian environment. “In our feasibility study, we have recommended the sourcing of tropically adapted Australian dairy genetics. “The first stage of the project would involve comparison of breeds and evaluating their performance under local
conditions. “While Friesian-Jersey cross will be part of the mix, I personally think Brown Swiss genetics from Australia would have a good future in India. “Brown Swiss have good reproductive performance in a hot climate, produce good quality milk with high components and have longevity.” Dr Chamberlain said there were many herd health challenges in India with foot and mouth disease and brucellosis major issues. “Getting animals back in calf can be a real problem and it is not uncommon for native buffalo in particular to have just one lactation. “As the importation of live cattle is not possible in India, we’ve
recommended that the project begin with the assembling of a group of local disease free heifers which can then be run largely as a closed herd with implants of sexed embryos sourced from Australia. “This way we can quickly build up numbers and do performance evaluation to take the project to the next level.” Dr Chamberlain said there was potential for two-way exchange visits to share Australian knowledge of modern dairy farming technology. “It’s still in the very early stages and it won’t happen overnight. But the commercial potential as the dairy industry develops in India is huge,” Dr Chamberlain said.
DA seeks farmer director A VACANCY will be open on the Dairy Australia board
for a farmer director at this year’s annual general meeting. There are two board vacancies this year, with Gippsland farmer Kelvin Jackson having completed a maximum of nine years on the board. John McKillop has served one three-year term and will stand for re-election. The requirements of the constitution mean that one of the new directors must have a milk producer background. The other director being sought should have proven expertise in agribusiness and strategy. The constitution outlines two paths to election as director, the first is to be nominated by the board selection committee and the second is to be nominated by at least 100 Group A members. Applications for the milk producer vacancy should be sent (mail or email) to the Dairy Australia Board Pre-Selection Committee C/- Florence Roney, Level 2, 22 William St, Melbourne 3000 or ea@australiandairyfarmers.com.au. Applicants for the agribusiness and strategy vacancy are requested to apply via Mick Hay at www.rimfireresources.com.au. The deadline is COB Thursday, June 18.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
WORLD NEWS // 11
Californian farmer shows how to add value to milk PAM TIPA
A CALIFORNIAN mega
dairy farmer who has opened his own plant in the nearby town to process and sell fresh, glassbottled milk and make ice cream says he can add $100 to the basic milk price with his premium products. That’s $100/cwt (1cwt = 0.0508 tonne) – the basic milk price currently is $13-14/cwt. Noel Rosa of Rosa Brothers Milk Company says his glass-bottled whole milk adds $50 more but with flavoured milk and premium smaller volume product he can get up to $100 more. About five-six years ago he says they were looking at building another free stall barn – adding about 700 cows to his 5000-cow operation. They decided instead to open their own processing and manufacturing plant with shop attached in the nearby town of Tulare. “We thought it was less of a risk.” At the farm Rosa Brothers milks 5000 cows and has planted about 242ha of feed crops. The family has had the farm for 60 years but started the manufacturing operation two and a half years ago. They use about 20% of their own milk for their glass-bottled milk and ice cream products and they are bottling the milk from about 200 cows. He would use all his milk if the operation grew large enough. They offer whole milk, non-fat milk and lactose free. They also have flavours such as chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, root beer, and orange and they put whole milk and chocolate milk into smaller containers to sell at donut shops and bakeries and similar. The bigger sellers are chocolate and whole milk which are “neck and neck” followed by strawberry. “A lot of people liked the chocolate but they said they were lactose intolerant and could not digest the milk so we started
BAD TASTE WHEN TOLD about the Fonterra Milk in Schools programme, Californian dairyman Noel Rosa, speaking to visiting New Zealand farmers and journalists, said “That’s no good, don’t do that”. If you give away milk it gets devalued, he said. “The kids will think there is no value to it.” Rosa Brothers holds tours bringing in hundreds of schoolkids and they charge them – $5 for children and adults. He is not getting rich on the deal, he says, but by charging the visitors they realise there is some value to the tour. They pay to go to the zoo, or the museum, so they can pay for farm tours. “If we give everything away on a farm level people are going to say ‘it’s not worth anything because you are giving it away’. “Don’t give milk away,” he urges Kiwis. “They don’t give water away.” He said school milk tastes terrible and will put children off. When one of his visiting Fonterra suppliers told Rosa our farmers put millions of dollars into shares in stainless steel in NZ and all over the world, and were not getting adequate returns out of their cooperative, Rosa said: “You know who makes money out of cooperatives? The people you hire to manage your cooperative.”
making that in lactose free. In the United States lactose free is a growing segment in milk. Overall in the US fluid milk has been on a 30 year decline but there are certain growth sectors in fluid milk: glass bottle, lactose-free and organic are growing.” They do recyclable glass bottles and only to sell to outlets prepared to collect the bottles for Rosa to recycle. With the leftover cream from the non-fat milk they started making ice cream. Flavours include vanilla, chocolate, rocky road, cookies and cream, coconut, chocolate and almonds, chocolate chip and honey nut – they get local almonds and honey directly from someone who has the bees – pistachio, French cream, coffee and chips, strawberry and banana. The flavours are all natural using real fruit, no artificial colours. Eggnog ice cream has not been a big mover but may be around Christmas. Other dairy farms make artisan cheeses so they sell those also and some other local food products. They sell at their own shop, deliver in the local area up to two hours away
and have a trailer they take to events. They are not organic but try to do a few things a bit more naturally so they can claim they have more natural milk. “Our thing is more being fresh and natural.” They do not sell raw milk. “California has a lot of attorneys and lawsuits so we’re not interested in raw milk,” he joked. There is a huge demand for raw milk in the state but he is not interested in the risk. They process about one tanker load of milk a day. They sell to young people who are single or just have one child and want something more natural and better tasting or older people who don’t buy much milk but when they do they buy for the quality. They buy it for their grandkids. And they have people who are worried about the environment who like the use of glass bottles. Buyers are not the blue collar workers who have four kids. “I have a hard time making money on milk by the tanker load in California. The money this plant has the potential to make is the equivalent to thousands and thousands of cows.”
Californian dairy farmer Noel Rosa says he can add $100 to the basic milk price by producing premium products.
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Dairy News AUSTRALIA june 2015
12 // world news
California’s ‘star’ dairymen falling o pam tipa
DAIRYMEN IN
California see themselves as the “star model for dairying” but they are far from creaming it. The milk price of about US$13-16/cwt (1cwt = 0.0508 tonne) is about US$2 below breakeven for most farmers. They are four years into a drought and fear they will run out of water to grow crops to feed their cows. State government restrictions mean no more dairy ‘farms’ can be built in California and the dairymen believe the government no longer wants dairying in their state.
E.J. Ruan, who has a 5500 cow dairy in the Central Valley and interests in various farm businesses with up to 20,000 cows in the Central Valley alone, says it’s going to be tough in California for a long time. There are opportunities in other states, such as South Dakota, so he is looking there. But he will stick with his California operation because of the extent of his investment. “The government won’t allow more expansion in California. In Dakota they are asking for more dairies – a totally different feeling than here in California where they don’t want us anymore.” The milk price is
based on a formula but there is definitely a correlation between Fonterra’s Global Dairy Trade and their milk prices, he says. California’s daily dairy production is down about one million pounds on last year – that’s citing the co-op CDR, which Ruan supplies. That’s about 2.5% down on last year so far. “Beef is good and the [dairymen] are not making any money. A lot of guys were happy to get a good milk price and as soon as they saw it heading back down they sold out. They just didn’t want to go through another downturn.” But he says though California dairy farmers
Californian dairy farmer EJ Ruan shows Kiwi farmer Blair Murdoch his new medicine storage facility with fingerprint security.
Californian dairy cows.
the whole ag industry, annum on water quality. are very good at losing says Lawrence. Farming It is “do or die money, they are also is trying to adapt its for dairy farming in good at making money practices, moving to when the milk price rises California’s Central more drought resistant Valley at the moment, again and can regain all crops and trees. Lawrence says. “The their losses. There’s no more government either needs Jessica Lawrence, recycling they can do Alltech territory sales rep to relax and let us dairy in dairy. “The in California, and also a “California is the biggest only time we use is when dairy farmer milk producer in the US freshwater it must be fresh – through her in water troughs family’s 2500 but it does not have the and tank washing. cow operation most cows. We produce Outside of that it’s in the Central more milk per cow.” all recycled. Valley, says “The water water and threat is if we don’t have or there won’t be dairy.” government regulation enough to grow feed we The government wants are the biggest threats won’t have enough for housing, she says. to dairying. Her family the cows to eat – or any She explains operation is spending other animals for that that north of the $15,000-$20,000 per matter.” Central Valley lies San Almost all the water Francisco, which does in the dairies is now not understand dairy farming, and southwards recycled; the only water not recycled is, for is Los Angeles, which instance, cow drinking doesn’t understand water. either. “Some people say She says they are we will run out of water trying to figure out the in a year, then others science on water, but say we’ve got water for some of the science 30 years.” But it is not is disproving the clear what is available in environmentalists’ underground reserves. theories so they don’t In respect of the milk want to know. price, breakeven cost There is talk of water is $16.50/cwt (1 cwt = storage systems but it is 0.0508 tonne); in April it 10 years too late. Some was $13.91/cwt, but that say to get out of the came off a really good drought it would need year, she says. to rain every day until It is supposed to the end of the year. The hit $16.00/cwt by the snow melt also needs to end of the year, she get back into the lakes, understands. Milk price but another California is based on real-time dairyman says that snow sales of whey powder, isn’t happening and they butter, cheese based on a aren’t getting the snow formula. melt. The milk price is not The drought threatens
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
WORLD NEWS // 13
out of favour directly related to global prices but it still relates to them. A lot of the whey sold in California is not accounted for in this price; some are arguing they should go back on the federal system. The Market Protection Plan – an insurance scheme which kicks in when milk prices drop below a certain level - is not in effect in Central Valley as the plan is based on federal prices. Lawrence sees California as the “star model of dairies”. A lot of people come to see their dairies, from the US and overseas. Within the US the dairy facilities will be comparable. The size might be different. “The difference is what we feed; we have ability to use by-product that no one else in the world has access to.” In February she had a nutritionist visit from Wisconsin. “He knows nutrition, he knows the dairy industry. He was blown away by what we feed and how we feed it. It’s what we feed and how we feed it and the flat land that is the success of our dairy.” In 2009-2010 many dairies went out of business. The cow numbers in California did not change – the bigger guys got bigger. The ones that are still here added facilities or cow numbers. A few facilities went – older facilities that needed to go, she says. When drought hits, the Californians don’t stop producing, Lawrence says. The farmers speculate that if they all dumped their milk they would change
the market in a day. The problem is the banks lend money based on production and cow numbers. So if today you got a loan based on 2000 cows, then next day cut your herd to 1500 cows, the bank would pull your loan to give you a smaller loan. Hence the controversy: when the milk price drops, the farmers need bigger loans, but the banks say ‘if you want bigger loans, you need more cows’. “California is the biggest milk producer in the US but it does not have the most cows. We produce more milk per cow.” Government threats to viability are increasing the regulation of water and air quality; the subject of methane gas has caused a lot of talk of a tax. Air quality also includes dust control. Air quality is a lot easier to deal with than water quality, says Lawrence. She would rather see her water quality inspector once a week than once a year. She has to test her lagoon water for irrigating, measure the amount of water they are using, test well water to see if they are leaching into the water supply, and test crops at harvest and soil samples. “They say ‘water quality’ but it incorporates a lot of different management practices.” • Dairy News reporter Pam Tipa visited California dairy farms with a group of New Zealand dairy farmers and Alltech representatives on the way to Alltech’s REBELation Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky last month.
Jessica Lawrence, Alltech, with her father Manual (centre) and brother Jonathan on the family farm.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
14 // OPINION RUMINATING
EDITORIAL
Tide of public sentiment can turn quickly
MILKING IT... Pull the other leg
Supermarket marketing 101: When turning the screws on your suppliers, remember to heavily invest in marketing to enhance your reputation with the general public. Woolworths are at it again. The company that sells $1/litre milk (and increases its range of private label products at the expense of Australian companies) is now “proud supporter of Australian farmers”. They’ve paid big bucks to AFL players Ben Cunnington and Tom Hawkins to kick a footy in their TV ad - on top of the big bucks paid to become “official white milk of the AFL” and the big bucks paid to Channel 7 for airtime to run their ad. It’s a lot of money that could have been added to the supply chain where it would have found its way to farmers.
Wrong country, mate
There were plenty of raised eyebrows when this quote from Canadian agriculture consultant, Bertrand Montel, made its way to Australia in the wake of Saputo’s decision to enforce new animal welfare guidelines across its milk supply network. “In Canada, the imagery of dairy farming is still the small farm with cows in the field. It’s not associated with any kind of animalwelfare issues,” Mr Montel told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. The paper then said: Mr Montel said Saputo’s new policy is likely aimed at the United States and Australia, which are dominated by large factory farms where keeping track of employee behaviour is difficult and finding and training good employees is hard. Factory farms in Australia? It’s the same line trotted out by animal rights groups that use images of the US to advance their cause with the unsuspecting and gullible in Australia. You can shake your head but unfortunately it damages our international reputation.
Dark milk lightens sleep woes
Thanks mum – not
Having trouble sleeping? You may want to try a specially concocted brand of ‘dark milk’ being produced at New Zealand farms. Canterbury’s Synlait Milk has discovered that if you milk cows after the sun has gone down, and then again in a darkened shed before it comes up, the milk has higher levels of the hormone melatonin, known to help regulate sleep cycles. Synlait research manager Simon Causer says melatonin levels in night milk can be four to 10 times higher than in normal milk. Dozens of Canterbury farms have now started adjusting their milking schedules up to 30 days every year to provide special orders of dark milk.
Advertising Chris Dingle chris@dairynewsaustralia.com.au
We giggled when we received one of this pesky emails/adverts suggesting possible gifts for Mother’s Day. One particular email from a rural retail supplier offered an alluring array of gifts for mum. The choices were a pair of woollen gloves, a rain jacket, a set of thermals and a nice, new pair of gumboots: all excellent ways of keeping hardworking mum out on the farm in the cold weather. We’re not sure if any bloke was brave/stupid enough to buy one of these ‘practical gifts’, but suggest these ideas would have gone down about as well as giving an ironing board or a vacuum cleaner for Mothers’ Day. Practical ideas but very, very stupid.
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DAIRY FARMERS received a somewhat unexpected wake-up call when flicking through their Twitter feed earlier this month. News had come through from Canada that dairy giant Saputo, which owns the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, had created a new code of practice for its suppliers. It was in response to a video secretly taken on the farm of one of its largest Canadian suppliers last year, where employees were kicking cows. Much like we’ve seen with secret footage shown on 4 Corners in Australia, it created negative headlines in the metro media. This was particularly alarming for Saputo, which has seen milk consumption among the Canadian public decline over the past decade. It knew it had to be proactive in the court of public opinion and earlier this month implemented a new policy on livestock welfare for all of its suppliers, including Australia. Saputo’s plan unveiled earlier this month includes a commitment to end tail docking and the use of pain control when disbudding calves. Unfortunately, as good as the vast majority of farmers across all sectors are, it takes one video like this – and the subsequent backlash - to show they are not entirely in control of their own fate. Processors spend millions on product development and marketing and must cater to the public. If farmers want to supply them, they must abide by their rules. This turn of events reminded us of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria conference earlier this year. The Wannon branch of the UDV moved a motion that calving induction should be phased out within three years. Wannon branch member Chris O’Keefe said using calving induction as a herd management tool had “probably had its day” and that it presented a very poor image and potential market risk. “Acting now, we can transition away from calving inductions on our own terms, rather than at the behest of animal activists or government intervention,” Mr O’Keefe said. After some debate, delegates at the UDV conference passed a resolution to “phase out calving induction” with the amendment to drop the three year timeframe - in line with the Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) current stance. Some farmers believe the choice is theirs alone – and they can swim against the tide of consumer sentiment - but as we’ve seen with Saputo, the tide can turn very quickly.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
OPINION // 15
Don’t condemn us for breaking the mould IN RESPONSE to Brian Tessmann’s more importantly, we were able to start opinion piece in the April Dairy News from a blank slate with contract terms, Australia (“Lifting the lid on Farmers with we farmers doing much of the drafting using our own Own milk”), if the Woollegal representatives. worths label ‘Farmers Woolies had no preOwn’ is smoke and mirconceived ideas and rors then all dairy farmers was open to all fair and should be leaving smoke reasonable suggessignals. tions: what a contrast On behalf of the to trying to get one of farmers supplying Farmthe foreign-owned proers Own ‘Fresh from the cessors to change even Manning Valley’ NSW, it a single clause. would have been great if We were motivated contact was made with us by knowing that if we to get the real story. OPINION TIM BALE were successful, WooAs the chairman of our lies would take the local Collective Bargaining Group from its inception in 2001, I Farmers Own concept nationally, benhave fought the long fight with proces- efitting many more farmers. They have been true to their word. In sors and supermarkets, and government for that matter. Farmers Own devel- light of the NSW success, Farmers Own oped out of frustration from our inabil- has been expanded to selected regions ity to extract a fair price for our product of WA, QLD, Victoria and soon, SA. Small groups of farmers in each of from any of the established processors these states have been willing to operpicking up from our catchment. We all have something to sell that is ate at higher standards, embracing the clean, fresh and sustainable, produced idea of producing milk that would be locally branded, with components that by herds looked after by family farms. Farmers Own offered a chance to are allowed to vary with the seasons and receive a premium for provenance and are not ‘standardised’ to suit the proceshigh quality standards. Perhaps even sors’ economics.
Consumers are loving it! Back to basics, quality in, quality out, don’t stuff with a good product. Any new milk buyers entering the market, especially a local market, will breed competition. If we have more competition for our milk then we all have a shot at a better price. OPINION BRI AN TES SM I applaud farmers who have AN N the guts to develop on-farm plants and boutique milk sales. These guys, one by one, also lift the price for others. We as dairy farmers should celebrate every success because it makes our industry stronger, especially at the farmgate label. Processors need to know we will not larger farmers with longer term and with more attracstand around forever and cop it on the BR EAKIcontracts NG NEWS M ANAGEMENT tiveHIprices. chin. MAC STORIES NERY REVIEW S AND MUC MG then had no choice but toHmove When Woolies announced the best MORE... deal with us, not two weeks later Coles immediately and start signing new supannounced a deal with Murray Goul- pliers for a Sydney plant not yet built let burn. Coles is not dealing direct with alone ready to receive milk. MG moved early and lifted the price the farmers, as Woolies is, but a new to all suppliers, but who caused this? deal for MG suppliers eventuated. On the battlefield they measured This caused a chain reaction, with Lion learning they would lose their con- gains in grounds by yards, why should tract to Coles more than nine months we not measure it by individual farmers achieving better terms? out. Farmers Own could lead to a lot Lion reacted by trying to tie up
Lifting the lid on
THE
DAI RY NEW
S AUS TRA LIA
Farmers Own milk
LAUNCH last month by Woo lworths brand has been Supermarkets tri- other 450 of their dairy farmalled by Woolwor “Farmers Own ths ers in the ” brand of state. for some time in NSW milk, which is While no one of course with milk sour the spin too far. owned by Woo ced begrudges lworths, from a small num the The deals that was heavy with ber two farm have been rhetoric ers conof mid-north done in other state coast cerned about being bett s have been from geter for dairy farmers arou launched with the farmer and nd ting a bett much fanfare, cutting er the Manning Valle deal, but the market out the middlema y. share achieveexpl aine d n. as a ‘susIn reality wha ment claims have That t tainable price not been vermiddleman this model does ’, for ified compared referred to, I assu with the sales of is their milk me, is if they not leave out the the unsustainably supposed to be pro- can, and priced retail the milk we wish cessor but inste bran ded milk ad the them . processor who well for the is usually supermarket does Over the past four the purchaser of the future with years since the milk dealing on price the Coles started directly from the the supermarket and new arra dairy farmers. ngesupply cond milk price war itions ment, by launching the In this process with the farmers the the milk then, spin and does a sepa $1 milk campaig after deal with processes such n, rate QDO put and I am out in the the processor, in as pasteurisatio sure many othe this case Parn, is malat, and r groups have been sold either to or launch publicothers in the supp through retail approached by outlets transpor ly chain to ity ranging from loca various organisa that it was t and process the l service stations tion s tryin milk g to and get good develop a bran to the milk thro large superma d of for the rkets and from ugh the supply milk that would there to the dairy chain from indu the consumer. have the support stry is to the supermar of dairy farmers kets stores. and/or the QDO As I understand Much of the publ much more or it the ‘Farmers anot icity on the laun her dairy group. Own’ in Que brand milk is still ch unclear ensland of the picked up by a to While the QDO ‘Farmers Own tanker brand and taken to the is always ready ’ me. was about it bein to processor (in this listen to ideas, g a better deal case for the farm the key criteria Parmalat) for proc In fact I for us er. I assume it essing and then is, whether it will is claiming am deliv- that the improve the farm ered to the retai also still two Sunshine ler, in this case gate price for mos Coa st Woo farmers stru l- who are appa worths, which t if not all dairy ggling to is pretty much rent farm ly ers supp in lying the milk Queensland. the same are process as for getting a better see any real iden every other litre Up to this time deal than the aver tifiable benefit of milk age Que produced in this we have not been for the tryin - wider farm ensland dairy farm state. g able to population from convince to identify such er’s returns. the trial of the a scheme whic This model and What is not clear the brand in NSW powers that be h will gain the requ the ‘Farmers Own to me is how and which has been in Canberra that ired support from ’ whether it will oper- they can ating there for key stakeholders. have any benefit be trusted with some time. for the a voluntary At a time when code, you could • Brian Tessmann be forgiven yet major retailers is presi dent of the again for Quee are question nsland Dairyfarm ing whether they ers’ Organisaare pushing tion.
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more milk in direct supply with closer links between farmers, retailers and consumers. Processors stop being middlemen and become contract packers. It would help if our industry ‘leaders’, who have been less than successful in achieving improved prices for the many, obtained the facts before condemning those willing to try a different model. • Tim Bale is a dairy farmer from Stewarts River, NSW, and chairman of the Manning Valley Fresh Group.
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OPINION // 17
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
16 // MARKETS
Survey shows farmers remain positive about the future INTERNATIONAL DAIRY markets remain depressed, with abundant Dairy Australia National Dairy Farmer Survey supply and lacklustre demand continuing to weigh on pricing. On farm however, the results of Dairy Australia’s 2015 National Dairy Farmers positive Anticipating profit in Increased production Increased herd size in Intending to invest Farmer Survey (NDFS) indicate that Dairy NewS aUSTraLia june, 2012 about industry future 2014/15 in 2014/15 2014/15 next 12 months confidence in the future of the Austraagribusiness // 17 lian industry has remained high over the (2014 – 75%) past year. Almost three quarters of dairy farmNational results at a glance. ers (74%) reported feeling positive about the industry’s future – 1% fewer A prolonged period of low prices Hay prices remained relatively static duction sector searches for stability in than 2014. (AUD 41c/L) 28 With season 2011/12 only a few the facein March of severe andtoongoing cost and has seen double digit volume growth due to slow demand through early 2015, cents/litre A total of 79% of farmers anticipate incremental change in milk production (year-on-year) Euro cents/litre (AUD 36c/L) in April. weeks from ending, attention is now in exports to Southeast Asia, Mexico climatic though the downside production risk Profit a profit in the current while marginspressures. are under pressure in the focused onseason, 2012/13 milk prices as farmin NZ Fonterra has announced ers herd considersizes strategies for52% the coming Internationally, most farmers in and the Middle East, but this growth posed by an El Niño is likely to discour- US, and 41% have increased and the final payout for the 2011/12 season year. In some domestically-focused is now moderating as supply pipelines major export regions age producers from selling early as far as has have increased milk production been cut from NZ$6.75-$6.85/kg MS are enjoying regions, renegotiated(implycontracts incorgLobaL impacT to NZ$6.45-$6.55/kg MS (AUD$4.96porating lower prices and reduced ‘tier are refilled. favourable weather and global milk this season’s harvest is concerned. ing yield gains have also played a part). JohN DropperT $5.04). one’ access are undermining farmer On a positive note, a firm US domesgrowth has rolled Against a backdrop of stable farm- supply Stable sentiment is translating to For Effectively, global dairy markets are on, despite a confidence and supply stability. GLOBAL IMPACT rebalancing. Lower prices will both private label DROPPERT contracts and promany farmers in export-oriented Shifts inJOHN tic market is helping soak up that coundarkening farmgate price outlook for gate prices and generally favourable investment on farm: 52% of responslow production growth and stimulate regions, a lower price outlook relative to cessor rationalisation have seen milk the current seasonto not only adds to the companies adjust their intake requiretry’s surplus milk; while dairy exports many.and as this occurs we will ultiweather conditions, Australian milk demand, dents indicated intentions invest mately see a price recovery. Key factors challenges of doing business, but seems ments and pricing to meet the changProduction expectations continue to to Japan for the 12 months to February will bepressured maintained into the production has tracked ahead of expec- to watch in their enterprises over the the next 12 termrent on the global scene will be the ingprices demands of a highly retail to contradict positive medium rate at whichamilk production overseas marketplace. Lowerand contract prices and outlook of Asia-driven dairy demand reflect slowdown during 2015, but at were at their highest since 2007, after tations for much of the season. coming season beyond. months. slows in response to lower prices, the a lack of alternative supply opportunigrowth. the strongest growth since 2005. the moment, seems With two behind them, More are There are some differences in trend of the current this financial worries a long way off. those inyears south-east Asia and the Middle impact milk production in the US good presentbroadly, challenges in acost market pressures with flows. 2012 Dairy Australia’s indicative outlook ties confidence, the for path of higher eco- on consumer is up around 2011 for the year to East capacity. for southern farm gatewidemilk prices mixed. – limited manufacturing Back home, the most recent update Buying interest powders out of farmers aremaintain well consistently placed to take Grain and hayDespite markets have4% onmany by region however, with more published in the recent Dairy 2012: Sit- these challenges, the underlying domes- April (leap year adjusted), whilst early nomic growth rates that support China’s economic growth, and the value China remains relatively quiet, and to Dairy Australia’s ‘Food Service advantage of the opportunities a third taken noteis stable, of the Bureau of Meteorology spread confidence (up 31% in the Australian dollar. increased dairy consumption. How- of data suggests EU-27 milk production tic market with steady per-capuation and from Outlook report, is for an Demand for exported dairy prodopening price range of $4.05-$4.40/kg ita dairy consumption and a growing finished the March 2012 quota year up ever, the surge in supply has outpaced assessments of the timeframe for a sig- Index’ shows strong growth in spend2013 to the current 5-year high of 55%) lifting their ENSO indicator to ‘El Niño’ would provide. ucts remains a positive and will conMS and a full year average price range population providing a degree of cer- 2.3% on the previous year. New Zealand demand growth in the market. to growrecovery with the middle class in This situation has milk seen the scales tinue to finish tainty beyond the current adjustments. production is widely expected nificant in activity are increas- ing through both the food service and between $4.50 and $4.90/kg MS. The Should current processor price in mid-May. evident in the Subtropical Dairy region In the seasons following the 2008 this season up 10% on last year - a huge tip in favour of buyers in dairy mar- large emerging markets such as China, report considers the wider market picsupermarket channels, though the pace ingly being pushed into early 2016. forecasts be borne out and El Niño With limited supply concerns glob(Queensland and northern NSW) amid with changes in diet and with increasing kets, with commodity prices retreatmarket influence given 95% of NZ milk financial crisis and subsequent comture and summarises the many factors in conjunction ing steadily over recent months. Butter urbanisation is exported. Argentina is also enjoyprice recovery, farmers in at play; thefarmgate key theme of the current sitThere- and is also also growing expectation of growth has slowed in recent months. impacts remain moderate, further allymodity at the time of writing, devaluation fewer concerns about milk uation being that of re-balancing in the export-oriented regions have seen solid ing solid production growth, but a sig- prices are down some 30% from their with global population growth. Locally, that Russia’s ban will outlast Australian supermarket sales of major is likely2011 inpeaks, the southern of the dollar dry outprice. domestic market isimport supported by a whilst powderstates. prices have the nificant supply gapgrowth in Brazil prevents globalAustralian supply growth (see chart)and - withthe dairy supply chain. population and stable perlost more will than 20%. gatemilk prices growing of this additional milk from leavhigher-cost competitors in the North- much In regions of Australia focused on the initially announced 12-month term, dairy categories continue to tell an Western Australia seeFarm more look have seen a gap opening between In Victoria (particularly western) have subsequently been reduced in capita consumption. Whilst the dairy producing drinking milk, many farmers ern Hemisphere amongst those expand- ing South America. possibly witha challenging a widerplace set of exceptions essentially positive story. processors adjust international benchmark and domestic confidence has been erodedmarket slightly is currently most exporting regions. The their average market Despite wider change economic hands uncer- as ing output as their margins increased. face a re-balancing in the form be a seller, all signs indicate that balbasic farm gate price for milk in France to remained resilient This season, favourable weather con- tainty, demand hasstrategies, of renegotiation of supply contracts Dairy spreads remain the star perselected countries. while the Queensland pro- for prices. by unease regarding whether cur- wheat and reduced access to ‘tier one’ supply. ditions have further enhanced milk as importing countries like China and for example, dropped 12% from 32 Euro ance will ultimately return. former, outpacing all other major dairy The National Dairy Farmer Survey categories for both volume and value shows confidence is at a five-year growth. high in the Subtropical Dairy region (Queensland and northern NSW) Milk sales are increasing slowly and amidst fewer concerns about steadily. Despite shrinking sales volfarmgate milk price. austraLian DairY, ASEAN-Australia-New umes, higher average per kilo prices for rice and wine exporters to Zealand FTA (AANZFTA). “Protectionist sentiMalaysia are the biggest both the cheese and yogurt/dairy snacks ment over agricultural winners in a free trade categories are reflected in continued goods is rife and growagreement (FTA) signed ing across the globe, so to provide portion pack between the two counaustraLian FooD category value growth. in this context it is pleas(200-330ml) configuratries last month. company Freedom Foods Considered something of a ‘handing Australia has managed tion for beverage prodThe deal, signed after Group Ltd is to build a to forge an agreement seven years of negotianew milk processing plant ucts. brake’ on industry returns through the with Malaysia that has The NSW location will tions, allows a liberalised to cash in on growing dealt with some sensiprovide access to the most licensing arrangement demand in Asia. buoyant 2013/14 season, the Australian tive agricultural issues for Australian liquid milk The plant, to be built in sustainable and economic domestic market (which consumes not effectively covered by exporters and allows southeast Australia, will be source of milk. Pactum has AANZFTA,” says Fraser. strong links to the Austraaccess for higher value the first Australian greenaround 60% of milk production) has Sealing the deal: Malaysian trade minister Mustapha Mohamed “While under the retail products. fields expansion in UHT in lian dairy industry and will with Australian counterpart Craig Emerson after signing the deal. helped cushion the industry through a AANZFTA agreement expand its arrangements It guarantees Aus10 years. most of Australian agriwith dairy farmers for tralian wine exporters Freedom’s wholly volatile 2014/15. but also through technical Despite the compleers through streamlining culture’s key interests supply of milk. The new the best tariff treatment owned subsidiary Pactum Maintaining an appropriate balor so called ‘behind the tion of this agreement, of rules-of-origin dechad tariffs bound at zero, plant will increase scope Malaysia gives any counAustralia will run the much remains to be done border’ restrictions.” dairy and rice are two sec- laration processes and try. It also allows open plant. Some of its products for Australian milk supply ance between the pursuit of potenThe FTA was signed on for Australia’s farmers to improved marketing – value-added, sustainable access arrangements from tors where incremental will be sold in Australia. May 22 in Kuala Lumpur tap into the full potential arrangements for certain market access improveand export focused. 2023 for Australian rice The company says tially lucrative new opportunities, and by Australia’s Trade and of the Asian region and commodities. ments have been negotiInitially the plant will with all tariffs eliminated given Asian consumsecuring sustainable returns in more Competiveness MinisThe Malaysian market beyond. ated under the Malaysian produce 250ml and 1L by 2026. ers’ rising incomes and ter Craig Emerson and his He says the NFF will is worth about A$1 bilUHT packs from a process The National Farmers’ FTA. improving diets, demand mature and stable markets, will be no Malaysian counterpart now throw its attention lion in Australia agricul“This trade deal was line capable of 100 milFederation says the trade there will grow for qualless important in 2015/16 and beyond. towards ensuring agricul- Mustapa Mohamed. tural exports – including also particularly imporlion L. The processing and deal will improve interity dairy products from Emerson says Australia ture remains front and being its fourth-largest tant for sectors such national market access low-cost production bases packaging plant will emit Dairy Australia’s full June 2015 Sitcentre in completed FTAs will be as well-positioned sugar export market and less carbon, use less water, for Australian agricultural as dairy that have been such as Australia, whose uation and Outlook will be released on in the Malaysian market fifth-largest wheat export with South Korea, Japan, facing a competitive disand be more energy-effigoods. milk is well regarded. as Malaysia’s closest tradChina and Indonesia as market. advantage in Malaysia cient than equivalent “After seven years of The new plant will June 17. ing partners in ASEAN,
74%
79%
52%
41%
52%
Export demand remains strong
Malaysia FTA benefits dairy Freedom
Foods plant targets Asia
negotiation, the NFF is under no illusion of how challenging it has been to complete this FTA with Malaysia,” NFF vice president Duncan Fraser says. The FTA will fill a number of gaps within the
compared with New Zealand which already has a completed FTA with Malaysia in place.” The FTA also signals some administrative benefits for Australian agricultural export-
With an annual economic growth at about 5%, Malaysia forms an important part of the ‘Asian Century’ story and the opportunity this presents for Australian agricultural producers, says Fraser.
immediate priorities. “These are all markets with enormous growth opportunities and where significant barriers to trade in agriculture still exist, not only through tariffs that restrict trade
and in some cases better. The FTA will guarantee tariff-free entry for 97.6% of current goods exports from Australia once it enters into force. This will rise to 99% by 2017.
allow Pactum to meet growing demand for UHT dairy milk, and add to capacity for valueadded beverages at its Sydney factory. Pactum is expanding its capabilities at the Sydney plant
UHT facilities in Australia and SE Asia. Pactum expects site preparation to begin in October 2012 and start-up by mid-2013. Pactum makes UHT products for private label and proprietary customers.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
MARKETS // 17
The game theories affecting incomes WE MIGHT harp on about the increasing volatility and interconnectedness of commodity trends and forces. But these days the commodities affecting the short-term outlook for dairy markets aren’t simply those related to farm inputs or competing foods such as palm oil and soybeans. The bigger arm-wrestles being played out – and affecting the $A return for dairy exports - are in oil and iron ore. The price of crude oil sank like a stone between July 2014 and February this year after the OPEC cartel (12 countries that control 80% of oil production) colluded in lifting production, creating an over-supply to flatten prices and try to run higher-cost oil producers out of business. OPEC hopes to reverse the US moves towards energy self-sufficiency and push it back towards greater import dependence. How has oil knocked onto the dairy market? At a very basic first glance good news – it in theory cuts the cost of fuel on farm, and the cost of freight.
FRESH AGENDA STEVE SPENCER In the US, cheaper oil has a double-edge effect but the jury is out on the result. When ethanol is less attractive at lower fuel prices, it creates a glut in feed supply, cuts the value of corn and soybeans in global trade and keeps a lid on world feed grain prices. Only weather can mess things up after that. Lower feed costs flow into better margins for US milk producers and sustain a better rate of output growth. But lower fuels prices should also mean more people drive out to family restaurants and eat more cheese! Indeed, foodservice sales in the US are booming right now. But if you step back further this isn’t playing out so well, and in fact is contributing significantly to the imbalance in global dairy markets. Most of those big high-cost oil pro-
ducers are important dairy importers that are fairly sensitive to prices. This summary (below), produced by the Wall Street Journal paints the stark reality. In 2013, the combined markets of Russia, Venezuela and the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region were critical to dairy trade. The losses in oil margin are helping break the Russian economy, already deep in rancid brown stuff with the effects of Western sanctions over its foray into the Crimea. Some speculate that the Russian dairy import embargo might end in a few months, but the poor financial situation and
weak rouble means traders have no money anyway to buy product, either way imports are not an option. Venezuela was, a few short years ago, a market for more than 200,000 tonnes of whole milk powder which got into strife before oil crashed, but a recovery in that once-huge powder market would be a miracle at current oil prices. Algeria, the largest MENA importer, is a critical market for the EU and New Zealand, especially since Russia and China have taken a breather. Dairy exporters are now watching it and other MENA markets anxiously to see how long before the slump in oil starts to cut
into consumer spending and import volumes. Oil prices have cautiously drifted up since their bottoming in lower than $50/barrel in late January and have peeped over $60, while most forecasters suggest it won’t pass $70/barrel by the end of the year. This game has some way to play out unless OPEC blinks. While the oil game is being managed by big suppliers, the other big game playing out is being managed by a key buyer. What has emerged more clearly in recent weeks is how China is seeking to take major steps to lock in lowercost supply of iron ore to fund the next stages of nation-building, i.e. proj-
ects to build vast shiny towers of steel that will hopefully stabilise economic growth and stimulate better consumer spending. Not all of the supposed next round of stimulus spending needs doing at home, as China’s investment leaders have reckoned that putting capital into a number of overseas iron ore producers in South America and by possibly rescuing Twiggy and Fortescue, it can keep supplies flowing, competition healthy and prices down – and in fact save much more money in buying the next slew of iron ore. Money markets have long placed emphasis on mineral commodities as a key driver of Australian fortunes, and hence the
value of the $A has tracked the falling value of iron ore very closely after shipments to China slowed. The oversupplied iron ore market has helped pull the value of the $A down, at a crucial time given the oversupplied dairy market. If a $6/kg milk price is going to be a reality next year, the iron ore game needs to keep running, and the game in oil probably needs to change direction. Oh … and China’s stimulus should get going to spur more milk consumption too. • Steve Spencer is a director of Freshagenda, a Melbourne-based consulting and analysis firm that provides food value chain insights and solutions to a wide range of clients from farm to retail.
Searching for the bottom FRESHAGENDA’S AUSTRALIAN dairy export index finished the
May at 162 points, losing 6 points in the month, as dairy commodity spot prices searched for the bottom of this market cycle. The month of May saw further carnage in the spot prices table with each of the major milk powders losing $350/ tonne, while losses in cheese were more subdued at less than $100/tonne. Have we reached the bottom? You would hope so – skimmed milk powder reached its lowest average price on the GDT auction since the auction began. The market is still heavily favouring buyers with Chinese dairy companies waiting until there is sufficient room in their storage sheds to resume buying larger volumes of milk powder, while a number of other importers stocked up while prices have been low, now have plenty for a while. The short-term outlook doesn’t suggest exportable milk supply is going to hit a wall any time soon. European
wholesale prices and trades in spot milk are confirming the anecdotal leaks from region - there is milk expansion occurring post-quota in several low-cost regions, despite farmgate milk prices falling to 30 euro cents and below. The US has also got plenty in the tank with farm margins holding up and many regions growing quickly to offset the effects of drought on the west coast. The additional milk only goes to one place – milk powder. This month’s story could have been a lot worse were it not for the 5c fall in the Australian dollar against the US currency in the second half of May as the outlook for commodity metal prices worsened and reality about the weakening state of the $A economy took the currency to a month-close of US76cents. The index is a lead indicator of average export returns - based on spot prices, currency movements and export mix. The index measures current market sentiment, but in reality it
takes 3 to 6 months for prices to translate into actual returns, depending on
the timing of contract negotiations. It was set to 100 in January 2000.
• For weekly updates, follow us on Twitter or visit http://www.freshagenda.com.au/
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
18 // MANAGEMENT
Working with inefficient rumens for best results PAM TIPA
RUMINANT PRODUCERS should embrace new
technologies and be faster
and more adaptable in their businesses than anyone else, according to Alltech chief innovation officer Aidan Connolly at the company’s REBELation Sym-
posium in Kentucky last month. Alltech is a biotechnology and leading animal nutrition company. Its core business is improv-
ing animal health and performance by adding nutritional value with innovative use of yeast fermentation, enzyme technology, algae and
nutrigenomics which studies the impact of nutrition at genetic level. Connolly told the symposium, attended by the Dairy News, that clearly
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there is an efficiency issue with ruminant animals versus other animals. Ruminants appear to be not as efficient at converting food to production albeit different types of feedstuffs are being consumed. The genetic variation of ruminant animals is much greater than with other species such as chickens, he says. “The digestibility factor of evaluating how ruminant forages are digested is very variable as well and we need to be introducing new technologies.” He says ruminant producers should embrace new technologies and be faster and more adaptable in their businesses than anyone else. Steps which can be taken include: Feed efficiency Alltech is involved in a system called vitro fermentation model (IFM). This allows real time analysis of what cows are consuming. It tracks digestion to show how those forages and feeds are digested in the rumen. Issues relating to rumen efficiency can be addressed immediately. A sample showed a ‘before’ diet which was inefficiently digested. The diet was rebalanced by replacing blood meal with soya bean meal and Optigen (an Alltech product which is a non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source for ruminants) and using the IFM technique they increased milk production by 2.8kg/cow and intake by 0.45kg on a daily basis. “This shows how we need to recreate what is happening in the rumen and predict and therefore change the diets to make it work,” says Connolly. Carbon footprint “Rather than looking at carbon footprint as being a problem for ruminant animals, we need to look at it as an opportunity,” he says. “If we can make that rumen work more efficiently, if we have less nutrient waste in the urine, we can make that ruminant animal more efficient and therefore make milk or meat more efficiently produced. So
this leads to a carbon calculator. The most exciting thing from this is we can make more money by addressing this issue.” Seed to beat Covap is an ambitious and innovative (agricultural products) cooperative in Spain looking at feeding animals by controlling forages to guarantee the quality of the product. Alltech has developed a partnership with them and has seen improvements in the quality of food they are selling and also efficiency. Technologies “We see so many areas of the cow that should be monitored,” says Connolly. We should look at intake, body temperatures, fatness, locomotion, rumination and fertility. “Many technologies are coming out – ear ties that can measure body temperature, rumen probes that can detect what is going on directly in the rumen feeding real-time information; we’ve seen monitors like cow bells round the neck of the cow allowing you to detect changes in daily temperature and therefore predict when ovulation is occurring and be much more accurate in insemination. “That can feed into applications on the smartphone, again making us smarter as farmers and that efficiency is extremely important because of the [feed efficiency] gap we have.” Connolly says we should start to imagine a world where we connect all these things together – genetic selections, feed efficiency, productivity and sustainability. But, he asks, will we drown in that data? Certainly the data will be too large to process by traditional means. But technologies are developing which can look at visually recognising the cow. A smartphone can be held up inside a barn, survey 50 cows, identify the cows individually, and look for behaviour, locomotion and health issues. It will identify such things as lameness, acidosis or body temperature.
Dairy NewS AUSTRALIA june 2015
management // 19
Adopting fresh advice boosts farm productivity Gordon Collie
BY EMBRACING
key changes in farming practices a Queensland dairying family has doubled milk production from the same land area in little over a decade. The experience of David and Wendy Jones and their son Rodney is testament to the value of getting good advice. The couple left Brisbane for their dairy enterprise Cedarlee on the banks of the Mary River outside Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in 1975. Living with major floods has proved a challenge with their productive flats regularly inundated, forcing the herd to higher ground on the 120ha property. By the early 2000s they were frustrated that milk production had hit a wall around 485,000 litres, Mr Jones said. In 2002 they decided to engage a farm adviser, Shane Lambert. “Changes we have implemented as a result have been brilliant. It was a real transformation,” Mr Jones said. Annual production from their Jersey herd lifted to 685,000 litres and with an expansion to about 170 milkers they are now almost at a million litres. Mr Jones said big improvements had come from better feeding and heifer management. Open trough grain feeding in the dairy
was replaced with a computerised system and stall gates. Variable feeding matches the needs of cows during their lactation with the custom ration able to be reduced as animals start to dry off. The herd gets an average of about 6kg of grain-based ration a day and Mr Jones said the change based on two main feeding rates allowed much more efficient use of feed. Improved pasture management has also played a big part and the feeding of up to 400 round bales of good quality hay. The hay helps maintain production during the seasonal feed gap in April and May. Mr Jones said their pasture system had originally been based on cultivating for winter oats and lucerne. They have now been farming their 22ha of productive river flats under a no-till system for more than 20 years with kikuyu providing the base feed during the summer months and Italian ryegrass for winter production. An important change had been the replacement of their slasher with a 4.5m mulcher about 10 years ago. The kikuyu is mulched down to allow direct drilling of ryegrass. If the kikuyu starts to get ahead of the rye, an autumn graze suppresses it before growth is checked by the onset of the first frosts. The kikuyu is then
Who:
David, Wendy and Rodney Jones Where:
Kenilworth What:
Seeking fresh advice
Wendy, Rodney and David Jones on their Sunshine Coast farm.
dormant until OctoberNovember. Mr Jones said with good management, the kikuyu provided summer grazing on a three week rotation. “We treat it just like the ryegrass with regular fertilising and irrigation.” The tri-blade mulcher used on the kikuyu about twice a year freshens top growth and also cuts the runners which take up nutrients, encouraging them to send up new Hay helps maintain production during the seasonal feed gap in April and May.
shoots. Mr Jones said it had taken time to find the best ryegrass for their local conditions. They are now getting good results with the PPG Wrightson Seeds late maturing variety Nourish. Their milk production had also benefited greatly from close attention to heifer management. “We monitor our springers carefully and supplementary feed them right through to calving. It has made a huge difference,” Mr Jones said. Heifers are better grown and routinely in the milking herd by two years old. “With the heifers in better condition, we get higher production and more lactations and there are calving benefits too.” They get good results from breeding their own young bulls to mate with the heifers. Monitoring herd health is a priority with monthly vet checks and pregnancy testing.
Their top cows are producing up to 7000 litres with the whole herd averaging about 5500 litres. “We’ve had a lot of young stock with 50 to 60 heifers coming in each
year while we have been growing. But I think we are getting pretty close to our maximum carrying capacity now,” Mr Jones said. A one hour change to milking times to 4am and 2pm had also produced benefits with more productive grazing in the early morning and late afternoon. Sprinklers are used to cool the herd in the yards during the heat of summer. The family is pleased with a change of milk processor made in 2012 from Lion to Richmond
Dairy at Casino in northern NSW. “Richmond have an excellent partnership with their farm suppliers and they are happy to take all the milk we can produce at one price,” Mr Jones said. They are paid on butterfat and protein levels and average about 58 cents a litre which is close to cost of production. “The price was a bit better about five years ago, but we really need a lift to a more realistic level now, just to keep up with rising production costs,” Mr Jones said.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
20 // MANAGEMENT
Fine-tuning forage chicory production at Tooperang DAIRY FARMERS at Tooperang, SA (east of Mt Compass), are extending their plantings of irrigated chicory pasture and have refined seeding methods for denser, weed-free chicory stands. To improve the efficiency of irrigated pasture production, the team at Clelands Dairy started switching from manual
long-lateral irrigation systems to semi-automated centre pivot irrigators a couple of years ago and took the opportunity to also begin changing from irrigated ryegrass to chicory pastures. Lee, Jill and Heath McKenzie and Scott Alksne began sowing chicory pastures in late 2013 and have since fine-tuned
reseeding procedures for denser, cleaner chicory stands. “We have been much happier with our 2014 sowings because we better prepared the land for reseeding and ensured better weed control,” Mr Alksne said. The new 2014 centre pivot areas were cultivated prior to seeding to
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remove residues and level the soil surface. However, Mr Alksne was aware that good seed-soil contact is critical when sowing chicory and knew that sowing into a well prepared seedbed would result in denser, more even strikes. “Sowing into a prepared seedbed also allowed us to use two other inputs to improve chicory strikes,” Mr Alksne said. “We applied agricultural lime and incorporated it with the soil cultivation so it would work quicker to correct soil pH. “And we were also able to spray and harrow in trifluralin pre-emergent herbicide a few days prior to sowing, to give really good control of wireweed and other summer broadleaf weeds in the newly emerged chicory.” Lee McKenzie is quite happy with results from the 2014 reseeding procedure. “We wanted to use chicory pastures under the new pivots because chicory grows better over the summer irrigation months than traditional ryegrass pasture” Lee said. “Cows readily graze and produce off of chicory
The Clelands Dairy team review their new irrigated chicory pastures with local dairy farmers from the Mount Jagged Dairy Discussion Group.
in summer, but the extra growth is dependent on achieving dense, healthy chicory stands.” Lee explained how productive summer irrigation is a key to securing lower cost forage supply to their herd throughout the year. “Water is now as important a farm resource as land itself and we are striving to improve the efficiency of forage production per megalitre of irrigation,” he said. “That’s why we are now working the Murray Darling NRM Board to monitor soil moisture levels under our pivots, to hopefully fine-tune our irrigation practices.”
DairySA forage project officer, Greg Mitchell, said chicory is a deep-rooted summer-active herb for vigorous, good quality growth under summer irrigation. “Chicory slows down and is less palatable over winter, but is often oversown with annual Italian ryegrass to cover this gap,” he said. “Irrigated stands are ideally sown in early-mid spring, ensuring good weed control before seeding. “In particular, make sure perennial weeds like kikuyu and sorrel are properly controlled. “Good seed-soil con-
tact essential.” Mr Mitchell said a highlight of the Clelands Dairy work was that trifluralin herbicide can be sprayed and harrowed in prior to safely planting chicory, for good short-term control of wireweed in newly emerged stands. Other summer weeds controlled by trifluralin include pigweed (Portulaca), caltrop and crabgrass. The Clelands Dairy team reviewed their chicory establishment program after consulting with DairySA’s Hills & Fleurieu Forage Network project, supported by Dairy Australia.
Using drones to monitor pasture growth WESTERN DAIRY has awarded a grant to University
of Western Australia student Matthew Rowbottom for his research proposal investigating the effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in monitoring the growth of pasture biomass on dairy farms. “Different ways of assessing pasture growth in the field already exist and the most common is visual judgement based on experience,” Mr Rowbottom said. “The aim of my project is to develop a quick method of assessing pasture biomass and help improve the efficiency of grazing management. “Drones offer the potential of creating a predictive visual precision tool that will inform farmers how much feed is on offer. “Ultimately I hope my research project will show the benefits of drones as a non-invasive pasture management technique requiring minimal effort and extra learning from time-poor farmers.” His project will be located at Rodwell farms near Boyanup and the research is currently taking place and will finish in July. Mr Rowbottom, who intends to make a career in dairy extension after university, demonstrated the use of drone technology at Western Dairy’s Dairy Innovation Day in April.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
MANAGEMENT // 21
Looking after oversown ryegrasses MORE AND more Fleurieu dairy
farmers are successfully oversowing pastures with ryegrass for extra winter feed. But drilling early and follow-up weed and pest control are the keys to success. Echunga dairy farmers Kym Pocock and Peter Maddox oversowed many of their paddocks with ryegrass seed in autumn, aiming for extra winter pasture feed and to thicken up perennial ryegrass in several paddocks. Mr Pocock explained how he was looking to completely renovate several paddocks because ryegrass pastures were a bit thin. “These pastures were growing less feed and getting badly infested with annual weeds,” he said. “But there was still a useful perennial ryegrass base in these paddocks and I wanted to avoid the costs and loss of winter feed associated with full renovations.” They drilled several existing pastures with either annual Italian ryegrass or a mix of annual and perennial ryegrass seed. Oversowing work was deliberately carried out in the first week of April, allowing the new ryegrass seeds to germinate and compete on equal terms with existing pasture plants.
“In previous years, we have carried out any oversowing work early, so we get a good boost in winter feed, and it seems to have paid off well this year,” Mr Pocock said. “We were fortunate to get good rains right through April and ryegrass seedlings established well amongst the existing pasture.” By the end of April, capeweed and mallow germinations were competing against the ryegrass seedlings. They boom-sprayed paddocks in early May with selective herbicides to control the weeds and remove competition. They chose suitable herbicides after discussions with Greg Mitchell, a local agronomist. They included an insecticide in the spray so the oversown ryegrasses were fully protected from insect pests and broadleaf weeds. Mr Pocock and Mr Mitchell discussed the pasture program as part of DairySA’s new Hills & Fleurieu Forage Network project, supported by Dairy Australia. Mr Mitchell said increasing numbers of Fleurieu dairy farmers are convinced of the benefits of going early if oversowing, drilling seeds into existing dry pasture
at the end of March or start of April. “There is no compromise in early pasture growth and paddocks can still be used judiciously in the grazing rotation,” he said. “Early sown ryegrasses and cereals germinate and initially compete with existing pasture plants, and grow well into winter, but it is critical that any broadleaf weeds will have to be controlled with selective herbicides by early May. “There are suitable herbicides available to control capeweed, geranium, mallows and nettles. “As with any reseeding work, insect pests like red-legged earth mite must be controlled as necessary with insecticides. “Look out for earth mites, Lucerne flea, aphids, cockchafers, loopers and black beetles and act promptly if needed with insecticides.” Mr Mitchell said many of those farmers who are oversowing early with annual forages are reserving any full perennial pasture reseeding work until August, when whole farm pasture supply is improving and they can afford to take out a few paddocks altogether for slow-toestablish perennial forages.
Check heifer feeding plan now ASHLEIGH MICHAEL
CRITICAL TIMES for feeding
heifers are post weaning and when there is a shortage of quality pasture, so now’s a good time to check your heifer feeding plans. It’s worth remembering wellgrown heifers: ■ Get in calf quickly. ■ Produce more milk in their first lactation and over their lifetime. ■ Get back in calf easily. ■ Stay in the herd longer. ■ Calve without difficulty. ■ Compete better with older cows. Therefore, feeding heifers well is an investment in the future of your herd and your business. If you have heifers weighing 100kg at three months that you plan to calve as 2 year olds at 550kg, they need to grow at 0.7kg per day. To achieve this growth rate you will need to feed high-quality supplements containing at least 11.5 MJ
ME per kilogram dry matter and 16% crude protein. If the same heifers only achieve growth rates of 0.5kg per day on a lower quality diet and reach 450kg at calving, it can cost you 1700 litres in the vat over her lifetime. It’s important to have a plan for your heifers and not forget about them. If your weaned heifers suffer a growth check they will be able to make some catch-up growth in spring (and in summer if you supplement them). However, catch-up growth is usually fat and muscle – you may not be able to make up any check in frame size. Depending on your situation there are several options for feeding your heifers: ■ Good quality pasture and good quality hay will support good growth rates. ■ If pasture and hay are in short supply, you could feed minimal fodder and provide supple-
ments in a trough. Cereal grain is one option (you may need to be fed up to 2kg per head per day) and whole oats are the cheapest and easiest grain to feed. Whole oats don’t need to be rolled before feeding and they are least likely of any cereal grain to cause grain poisoning (acidosis). However, they won’t provide enough protein and you will probably have to feed out twice daily. ■ Concentrate blends based on palm kernel expeller (PKE) or almond hulls mixed with dried distillers grains and concentrates are a cheap alternative that can be fed safely. If you are able to feed your heifers well – do it. If not, make a plan and manage your risk. • Ashleigh Michael is a member of the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. This article was first published in the May edition of How Now Gippy Cow. ■
Kym Pocock assessing weed problems in one of his Echunga dairy paddocks dry-sown with ryegrasses at the start of April. Note a starter-irrigated perennial ryegrass pasture in the background.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
22 // BREEDING MANAGEMENT
It’s Aussie Reds for the Greens MICHAEL GREEN is a big fan of Aussie Reds, preferring their milk production and quality performance, ease of calving, fertility and health traits over those of Holsteins. Michael and his parents Ken and Shirley (originally from Te Awamutu in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island) run the Waikato Farm Aussie Reds stud on 290ha at Mt Schank, south of Mt Gambier. This is their seventh year with the Aussie Reds. When the family moved from New Zealand in July 2001 and bought the farm and Holstein herd of 600 cows – walk in walk out – they found the cows had significant
fertility and calving problems and their feet were too soft. Their herd nutritionist suggested they look at the Scandinavian Reds for their health traits, so Michael went on a trip to Sweden to research the breed before starting to use them at the farm. “In 2004 we started with 400 straws of Swedish red semen per year over the original herd,” he said. In 2008 they bought the renowned Bosgowan Props stud herd of 300 Aussie Red cows from John and Monica Williams at Meningie, with over 70 years of red genetics behind the herd. In the following year, the Greens
began noticing many improvements. “Calving was heaps easier,” Mr Green said. “We don’t do night shift now. Cell counts are generally better and the protein deviation is higher. “Aussie Reds are also very strong cattle. Their dark hooves are stronger and they are more structurally sound, with good longevity and a lot of willpower to live. They haven’t had their natural instincts bred out of them.” The current herd of 690 cows is comprised of 344 Aussie Reds (including some two-way crosses), 80 Pro-cross sired Montbeliardes and 267 LIC Friesians. The herd is milked in a 50-unit rotary, taking
three hours twice a day when all the cows are in. Calving is from end of August to the end of October and February/March. Their highest classified Aussie Red cow in Australia, the 9-year-old Bosgowan Primula 451 EX 93 (awarded the highest EX score of 93 within the breed), has (as at last herd test) produced 5759 litres in 122 days, with milk solids of 365. Mr Green said one of his highest producing Aussie reds (2998) did 14,021 litres in 305 days with 726kg/MS. Her daughter was classed as 88 at 2 years old (the highest possible for heifers) and EX 90 at three years. Annual average pro-
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Michael Green with some of his Aussie Reds at the family’s Waikato Farm Aussie Reds stud near Mt Gambier.
duction figures for the Greens’ herd over the past 12 months are 8610 litres per cow and 617kg/MS over a lactation length of 323 days, based on herd test data from 534 cows. These figures are better than the 2012–2013 herd recording national average for the Australian Red breed, which was 6232 litres and 469kg/MS over a lactation length of 310 days (using figures from the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Report 2013). “One of the better seasons we have had in recent years averaged 640 cows with 9926 litres doing 692kg/MS per cow,” he said. “Sometimes their lactation is longer. They just keep going because of the irrigation.”
The Greens milk on 160ha of irrigation, using ryegrass, white and red clover mixes. At peak times, the stocking rate is 4.4 cows per hectare. “We only milk on dryland for a couple of months before locking it up for silage, so we mostly rely on irrigation,” Mr Green said. He adds that while they usually cut 440 (dry) tonnes of silage for feeding in autumn, this season was the first time they hadn’t cut any in spring (apart from some bale silage), due to dry conditions. They have destocked slightly to help manage the season. “But this has been a very rough year to grow good quality grasses,” he said. Cows are each fed around 2–2.5 tonne per
year (depending on production) of a dairy premix from Mepunga. The Greens have a Jantec feed system in the dairy, which uses herd test data to enable cows to be fed to production. Mr Green said herd testing has been conducted for more than 10 years. “Herd testing is completed six times per year and helps us identify the good, the bad and the ugly, and problem cows for cell counts. “Cows are culled as needed for cell counts, infertility, udders and problems with feet and legs. Older cows that are still producing well are kept.” He said that with Aussie Reds having greater TO PAGE 23
(l-r) The Points Sholtz Silvia (photo Ross Easterbrook). -Dtr: Ladys-Manor Ruby D Sharm-ET GP-84. (Photo Kathy DeBruin) MGD: Uecker Jango Joyful-ET EX-90 (photo Beth Herges)
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Dairy NewS AUSTRALIA june 2015
breeding management // 23
Dairy Fertility Investigator a digital hub for farmers A NEW blog called the Dairy Fertility Investigator has been created to help dairy farmers keep on top of the latest developments in dairy fertility and herd management. It has been launched by Victoria’s Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) and Dairy Australia. The blog is the creation of DEDJTR dairy extension officer, Ee Cheng Ooi, a young vet who is passionate about dairy cow fertility. DEDJTR dairy development specialist in animal performance, Sarah Chaplin, said Ms Ooi was writing this blog to help farmers keep on top of new developments in dairy reproduction, and to find out what other farmers are doing to improve their herd reproductive performance. “This blog is a means of communicating new and relevant information directly to dairy farmers in a way that’s responsive, and can adapt to meet farmer requirements,” Dr Chaplin said. “With so much information available it can be difficult for farmers to keep on top of new or
alternate ways of doing things, exciting technological developments and the outcomes of recent research.” Dairy Australia animal health and fertility program manager, Dr Kathryn Davis, said upto-date information on new developments will help dairy farmers improve their skills and build more successful and profitable dairy businesses. The Dairy Fertility Investigator features: ■■ The latest research on dairy fertility issues. ■■ ‘Featured farmers’ – stories of farmers doing reproduction right. ■■ Industry news on breeding and fertility. Example articles and information available at the site include: ■■ How the latest research on subclinical ketosis is revealing its effects on fertility. ■■ One farmer’s experiences with a five week weaning period – how to reduce your workload in the calving season without sacrificing heifer growth and healthy calves. ■■ Take home messages from the most recent conferences. The latest news about
Aussie Reds from page 22
longevity, he has quite a few in the herd that are 10–12 years old and a couple of 14-year-olds. Both of the 14-year-olds have produced more than 100,000 litres in their lifetime. He finds that the reds are generally quiet by nature. “But they can be stubborn and have a mind of their own,” he adds. “They are also good aggressive feeders and tend to push to get in. “It’s great being able to compare different breeds and crosses when you farm and feed them all exactly the same. “The Pro-crosses
we milk are a three-way breeding option with the NZ LIC Friesian, Aussie Red and French Montbeliarde in rotation. But they are also very strong cattle with good components.” Michael spends a lot of time researching genetics and picking his own bulls. He does most of the breeding, AI and calf rearing, heifer rearing and staff management. “My parents are not as keen on the Aussie Reds and still prefer the black and whites, as we still use LIC (NZ) Friesians,” he says. • This article was first published in the WCBF Supplier News.
Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADHIS) new breeding objectives and links to their YouTube clip. Dr Chaplin said the Inves-
tigator website has also been designed for farmers to provide feedback. “We want to tap into the collective wisdom of dairy farmers everywhere.
We’d like to hear about farmers’ questions and issues and get their views on tackling real-life situations. “We aren’t seeking to
replace traditional extension groups and networks, but want to push these further using the power of digital technology to connect farmers from all
around Australia.” Dr Chaplin is encouraging all dairy farmers to check out the Investigator at: www.dairyfertility. com.au
Dairy News AUSTRALIA june 2015
24 // animal health
Removing the headache from dehorning calves DEHORNING IS consid-
ered a routine procedure for dairy calves. The removal of horns in cattle improves animal welfare in the long term as there is a reduced risk of bruising and hide damage, especially during yarding and transport. Dehorned cattle are safer to handle and they require less trough space when compared to horned cattle. Dehorning also increases the value of the animal and leads to fewer aggressive behaviours within the herd. The gene responsible for ‘polled’ is actually dominant and the gene responsible for ‘horn growth’ is recessive.
gemma chuck Basically this means that the dominant ‘polled’ gene can overrule the recessive ‘horn growth’ gene, resulting in the animal being polled. In the beef industry, genetic selection of known polled animals or animals carrying the ‘polled’ gene has resulted in nearly half of the national beef herd
A pen of calves resting and recovering after disbudding. The combination of a sedative, local anaesthetic and an anti-inflammatory minimises the pain and stress associated with the procedure.
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being polled. However, transitioning to a polled herd is slow and can take several generations for observable results. Unfortunately, in the dairy industry the ‘horn growth’ gene is predominant and this constrains the opportunity for genetic selection for polled cattle. Most dairy cattle have horns and currently there is no affordable test to detect the ‘polled’ gene in the dairy breeds. Therefore the removal of horns in dairy breeds is likely to continue in the foreseeable future.
Calves are born with horn ‘buds’ and the correct term for removal of these is ‘disbudding’. Disbudding can be carried out using a heated disbudding iron. At eight weeks of age the buds have grown sufficiently and have started to fuse with the underlying bone. Removal of horns after 8 weeks of age is called ‘dehorning’. Due to the fusion of the horn tissue with the skull, horns can only be removed by amputation after eight weeks of age. This can be achieved using scoop dehorn-
ers of varying designs or embryotome wire for larger horns. Thus, it is desirable to remove horn buds prior to 8 weeks of age as the procedure is quicker and less painful. Hot iron cautery has been shown to be the preferred method of disbudding. However, regardless of method, there is an acute pain response following the procedure which peaks at 30 minutes and can last for eight hours. Many studies have measured the effect of dehorning on calves and they have repeatedly
shown this pattern of pain and stress response. As a result, the disbudding and dehorning of calves in this way is a welfare concern. Increased social awareness of the livestock industry could result in routine procedures, such as dehorning, being negatively perceived. In turn, this could impact consumer demand for dairy products. Advances in veterinary medicine and pharmacology over the past decades have allowed drugs such as sedatives, local anaesthetics and analgesics (pain relief) to become readily to page 25
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ANIMAL HEALTH // 25
Spotlight on cow welfare on larger Australian farms LARGER FARMS and their increased scale of production can impact welfare outcomes, according to Dr David Beggs, Animal Welfare Science Centre, University of Melbourne. A national dairy farmer survey conducted by Dairy Australia in 2013 revealed the average Australian herd size has risen 37% over the past 10 years and this trend looks set to continue with 33% of farmers surveyed expecting to calve more cows in the following year. “Increasing scale of production means larger herd sizes, increased stocking densities, longer milking
times, longer walking distances, and reduced ability to examine and treat cows individually,” Dr Beggs said. “These factors have the potential to cause reduced welfare outcomes for dairy cows. But on the other hand, there are management aspects that often improve outcomes with economies of scale. “Welfare can be difficult to measure and there’s been little published regarding the welfare outcomes for cows in large Australian dairy herds. “Larger enterprises are more likely to have modern rotary dairies that reduce milking time.
Removing the headache from dehorning calves FROM PAGE 24
available for farm animals. Many of these drugs have been used for years to treat sick or injured animals and to enable surgical procedures to be carried out. The routine use of these drugs for the purpose of dehorning dairy calves has been embraced in the UK, New Zealand, USA, Sweden, Canada and Denmark. Regulation and legislation varies internationally but there has been a general acceptance that performing disbudding and dehorning without local anaesthetic is unethical and unnecessary. Studies have shown that the best way to reduce the pain and stress associated with this procedure is using a combination of sedation, local anaesthesia to the area surrounding the horn bud and pain relief at the time of the procedure. Research has demonstrated that the stress/pain response in calves with this combination treatment at disbudding was virtually abolished compared to calves disbudded without the combination treatment. Improved growth rates have been observed in heifers provided with pain relief at dehorning, compared to heifers that did not receive pain relief.
Further research is required to observe the long term effects of a painful event on production. In Australia, the biggest obstacles in adopting this multimodal approach to disbudding and dehorning, are cost and availability of operators qualified to perform this procedure. Specific training on the use of sedatives and knowledge of the anatomy to perform local anaesthesia is required. Cost per calf will vary by region and operator. These obstacles should not stand in the way of improved welfare for dairy calves. Ultimately consumer awareness puts pressure on the suppliers, who in turn can influence the dairy industry’s code of practice. The dairy industry needs to be on the front foot in regard to routine procedures such as disbudding/dehorning, to ensure that negative public perception of these procedures does not arise. This is 2015: how can putting a hot iron onto a calf’s head without any anaesthesia be OK? • Dr Gemma Chuck is a dairy vet working at The Vet Group in south west Victoria. She has a special interest in calf rearing and is currently undertaking her PhD in this area at The University of Melbourne.
“They may also be more likely to have infrastructure to electronically identify, monitor and feed individual cows, they maybe more likely to use professional advice and provide superior nutrition, and they may have greater capacity for staff training and general quality assurance systems.” The University of Melbourne conducted a survey in 2014 to assess the relationships between herd size and known or proposed risk factors for adverse animal welfare outcomes in Australian dairy herds. “We received responses from 863 (13%) Australian dairy farms
representing 260,000 cows with an average herd size of 304. “What we found was that a larger herd size was associated with risk factors for animal welfare concerns in relation to decreased staffing per cow, increased grain feeding (which can lead to lameness and diseases) and increased milking time. “There was no evidence, however, of an increase in disease or cow contentment levels. “More than 95% of farmers believed that their cows were content most of the time. “This can probably be explained
by larger enterprises having access to better training and education of staff, routine veterinary herd visits, separate milking of the main herd and the sick cows, transition diets before calving and written protocols for treatment of disease. “Further research is needed however on the effects of increased time away from the paddock on cow welfare.” The Pan Pacific Veterinary Conference is a collaboration between the Australian Veterinary Association and the New Zealand Veterinary Association. It was held in Brisbane late last month.
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Dairy News AUSTRALIA june 2015
26 // animal health
Cows content on compost PAM TIPA
COWS CAN dance for joy or stretch right out in deep, peaceful sleep because of the comfort of compostbedding pack barns, says Maury Cox of the Kentucky Dairy Development Council. Many barn systems in the US use a compost-type bedding, and in Kentucky they are busy trying to perfect their “compost bedded pack barn”, which particularly suits familytype operations. Dairy News visited, with an Alltech Rebelation Symposium tour, the farm of Bill Mattingly, near Lexington, Kentucky, where a compost bedded pack barn was installed recently for their 200-cow family operation. Their compost bedded pack barn is simply based on sawdust flooring which, when mixed with the effluent and managed well, including frequent turning, becomes a crumbly dry compost. The cows are comfortable on the compost which can eventually be used for fertiliser. Cox says they started this about eight years ago in Kentucky when they realised they had plenty of sawdust for the barns. But the key is to manage it
well – and that means plenty of stirring. “You have to aerate it so it will make compost,” he says. The Mattingly farm stirs it twice a day both ways when the cows come out. “You notice that if it starts to get a bit moist or wet and sticks to the cows, you need to add some bedding such as sawdust,” Cox explains. “We have seen that if it is managed correctly there is a lower instance of mastitis, and we have seen an increase in production…. We are seeing cows lasting longer, performing and being a lot more comfortable.” The compost bedded pack barn methods have been the subject of university studies. They thought the heat produced by the compost would kill bacteria but that is not necessarily happening; there is still quite a lot of bacteria in the compost. “But if the cows are comfortable, wellkept and treated properly – cleaned during the prep time for milking, and post dipped – we see a lower incidence,
in most cases, of mastitis or somatic cell count levels. “But if you get it too wet it’s going to blow up and be ugly. So managing it is very important.” Huge fans keep the air circulating, and the barn also needs to be well positioned for ventilation. The compost is good underfoot for the cows. If it composts well, the bulk reduces. It may have to be changed every six months but he has seen some farmers with good systems carry on for two or three years “if it’s working right. But if it was not working Maury Cox completely right you would have to bring it out once or perhaps twice a year. For most folks it’s once a year.” Kentucky used to operate mainly on old stack barns. A layer of straw would be put down, then when it got “nasty” you’d put another layer down. The key with the compost barn is the stirring. To stir it they use a rotor-tiller or a special cultivator. It has prongs like a
Many barn systems in the US use a compost-type bedding.
regular cultivator and it gets down about 4-5cm. Sometimes the compost is so warm steam rises up as they stir it. The system started in Minnesota but they find the Kentucky climate better suited. Israel also uses the technique with a lot more aeration and sometimes can go a year without adding bedding, says Cox. A great thing about the compost bedded pack barn is it eliminates liquids so there’s no runoff, he says. You can clean it out quickly, use it as compost on your own farm and haul it
to a distant field quite easily. He says some farms get a big milk production boost because the cows are so comfortable. “On one farm they have never seen a cow go into such a deep sleep. A cow was lying there and they walked up to it and she was in a deep, deep sleep. She was laid out flat. We have also seen some of that.” He recommends searching ‘cowsatplay’ on YouTube to see how much the cows enjoy the compost barns.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
ANIMAL HEALTH // 27
Watch fodder beet levels to avert cow sickness amount they can eat. Move urging farmers to take care too quickly or feed them too much and you will kill when feeding fodder beet some of them,” Dr Wagto their dairy herds this horn said. winter. The DairyNZ trial work The caution comes found that cows need to as vets in New Zealand be transitioned carefully report increased issues onto the crop over a 14-21 with cows becoming ill or day period. even dying as a result of A typical transition problems experienced on would involve ramping up fodder beet crops. the fodder beet input by Beets have become an additional 1kg DM/cow increasingly popular in New Zealand over the past every second day, from a two years because they are starting base of 2kgDM/ cow/day. high yielding and are suitDairyNZ trials transiable as a supplement for tioned cows at an averdairy herds. Despite being an excel- age of 0.5kgDM/cow/day, taking 17 days to get them lent source of metaboremainder of the diet up to their 8kgDM/cow/ lisable energy, there is should be a long fibre day allocation. concern that some cows source, such as silage, hay, Dr Waghorn said it are getting too much of or straw, and the cows the high sugar crop in their was critical to ensure that should be fed this before cows were also offered daily feed intake or are their beet.” not getting sufficient time sufficient silage, hay or This is about 8kgDM/ straw before feeding the to adapt to fodder beet as cow/day in beets, and part of their winter 4-5kgDM/cow/day of diet. the other feed(s). DairyNZ nutri“If you go over tionist, Dr Jane Kay, “At one stage in our 70% fodder beet, you said they have had trials we had cows could kill some of reports of farmers your cows,” said Wagoffering cows unlim- eating 85% fodder horn. ited access to fodder beet and 15% straw. Good practice in beet. Half of these cows managing a herd “Because of its became sick, required on fodder beet also high concentration requires that farmers of sugars, fodder beet treatment and had to accurately measure is a feed that should be taken off the diet.” not be offered in this – Dr Waghorn the crop yield. This includes way,” Dr Kay said. knowing the perDairyNZ senior centage dry matter scientist Dr Garry offered in each break, Waghorn said fodder fodder beet, to slow down and remembering that beet’s high sugar component means that excessive their intake of fodder beet. this can vary within and between paddocks. Once transitioned it intake of beets can lead It was important that was also vital that farmto lactic acid production the cows grazed a ‘mix’ ers continue to pay attenin the cow’s rumen, and of the roots and tops, tion to the proportion of cause acidosis. and care was needed to The transitioning stage fodder beet in the diet. ensure cows were eating “At one stage in our for fodder beet becoming the entire break offered, trials we had cows eating part of the cows’ winter and uneaten beets were 85% fodder beet and 15% diet is critical to ensuring not accumulating behind straw,” Dr Waghorn said. that cow health and the them. “Half of these cows nutritional value of fodder “Every cow is unique became sick, required beet are optimised. and will adapt to the treatment and had to be Dr Waghorn and his fodder beet diet slightly associates at DairyNZ have taken off the diet.” differently,” Dr Waghorn This was in a conrun trials on the impact of said. trolled environment, and fodder beet feeding. “Our trial showed that he emphasises the imporThey have found even a well-planned trantance of offering enough that even following sition can result in acisupplement to a herd to the recommended dosis and if cows are fed ensure all cows achieve transitioning over 14-21 more than 70% of their adequate intakes to avoid days some cows could diet as beet, half the herd acidosis. not cope with high levels are at risk of acidosis. “This trial work has (greater than 70%) of “Full attention to shown that the herd fodder beet in the diet. the crop and the cow is should not be offered “Cows vary in the rate required to manage this more than 70% of their at which they adapt to a feed successfully.” diet as fodder beet. The new feed type and in the SCIENTISTS ARE
Vets in New Zealand have reported increased issues with cows becoming ill or even dying after eating fodder beat crops.
L A I C SPE T R O REP NEXT ISSUE: AUGUST HAY & SILAGE When it comes to Hay & Silage production, preparation and planning are as important as having the right gear. To help farmers prepare and maximise the conversion of grass into milk, therefore into dollars, Dairy News is putting together a Hay & Silage Special Report. This will run in the August issue of Dairy News, distributed free to all dairy farmers. BOOKING DEADLINE: July 29 AD MATERIAL DEADLINE: August 4 PUBLISHED: August 11
CONTACT: CHRIS DINGLE | T: 0417 735 001 E: chris@dairynewsaustralia.com.au
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
28 // CALF REARING
Rotavirus vaccination for spring calvers WILL HUME
ROTAVIRUS INFECTION is currently the most commonly diagnosed cause of calf scours in Australia. It is most commonly seen in the first two weeks of life, but can occur up to six weeks. Calves pick the infection up from the faeces of infected calves or carrier cows that don’t show signs of an infection. When a calf becomes infected, the absorbing layer of the intestine is damaged, reducing the amount of fluid the intestines can soak up while normal secretions of mucous into the intestine continue, leading to an imbalance or malabsorptive, often mucous diarrhoea.
Diarrhoea is often yellow and watery, sometimes frothy. This imbalance of too little absorption, and normal excretion, causes severe loss of fluid and electrolytes. These imbalances can lead to low blood sugar, and cardiac failure in severe cases. ‘Secondary’ infections often occur on top of a rotavirus infection with cryptosporidia, and bacteria often occur during a rotavirus infection. It is during secondary infections with Salmonella, Clostridium and Coccidia that high mortality rates are often seen. The use of oral electrolyte solutions and the sensible use of antibiotics, both oral and injectable, form the mainstay of
treatment for rotavirus infections. Currently Scourban is off the market, with no estimated time for its return in sight, according to the Lyppards veterinary supply wholesalers. This is an annoyance to vets and farmers alike, but means that we should look harder at preventative measures. As always, good hygiene and calf rearing protocols are essential in reducing infection rates, and these should not be put aside simply because calves are being treated with antibiotics. Ensure that your staff understand these concepts, as well as hand washing and the use of disinfectants. Another method to reduce disease associated with rotavirus is to vaccinate cows prior to calving with a rotavirus
vaccine. This will trigger an immune response in the cow’s colostrum that will provide significant increases in the protective immunity the calf will receive from the colostrum. The rotavirus survives better outside during warmer months compared to colder months as it is killed by cold conditions and hence rotavirus scours is often seen more in spring calves compared to autumn calves. Producers with rotavirus disease in their replacement heifer calves may wish to plan a vaccination program leading up to spring calving. Currently there are two options for farmers when selecting a vaccine to use: • Rotavec is made by Coopers, and immunises against Rotavirus,
coronavirus, E.coli and Clostridium perfringens. • Ultravac Scourshield is made by Zoetis, and immunises against Rotavirus, coronavirus, and E.coli Of course, it is important to know for sure that Rotavirus is your problem before spending money on another vaccine. Many vet clinics carry a calf scours snap test kit, which gives a result in 10minutes in the vet clinic. Talking to your vet is advised to determine if, and when to vaccinate and which vaccine you should use. • Will Hume is part of the animal health team in the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, based in Leongatha.
Call your vet before problems occur ROB BONANNO
THE SUCCESSFUL
rearing of calves is an area where your veterinarian should be one of the key members of your team, yet often we are called in, like the fire engine, to put out blazing problems when the losses reach some critical (yet often entirely random) threshold. Your veterinarian could have used his or her skills to help to prevent many of the calf rearing problems from occurring in the first place. Calf rearing success requires a strategy and system that identifies areas where problems can occur, and how to prevent or treat those problems. I have written before, and will continue to do so, that a calf induction protocol is very worthwhile,
especially on farms where multiple people may be responsible for that calf’s care. A good calf induction protocol will include aspects of colostrum management, umbilical care, timely removal from the mother and attachment of a permanent ID and also some record of the ease of calving etc. Identifying the calf is critical for the integrity of the pedigree information, but also allows a calf health record to begin for the animal. A calf can have its colostrum volume, quality and time of feeding recorded so that a written record exists that confirms that the colostrum feeding protocol was followed. In addition to this, if any quantitative testing (like blood protein or IgG levels) is being done to actually measure
whether the passive transfer of immunity has been successful, it can also be recorded on the calf health card. Treatments or signs of illness can also be recorded for each calf in the pen which can help other workers to know whether there is any relevant health issues to monitor and also to maintain compliance with treatment plans and withholding periods which will reduce the risk of antibiotic or other residues. Rearing healthy calves is about ensuring their basic needs are being met. It is essential after managing the transfer of antibodies to the calf via the colostrum, that the other critical requirements are also met. Calf housing is a huge variable that can influence the success or oth-
erwise of your calf rearing enterprise. Broadly generalising, the aim should be to provide a warm, dry, draft-free environment, with sufficient bedding to maintain cleanliness and allow for normal behaviours. Air quality issues must be addressed to prevent respiratory disease But having good (or bad) facilities alone is not always the most significant factor. I have seen farms that have spectacularly good results in what I would consider quite poor facilities and others with good facilities that have poor calf rearing outcomes. The critical difference is often the “care factor”. This includes things like hygiene, feeding consistency, feed quality, attention to detail and early recognition of illness, making a thorough diag-
Rearing healthy calves is about ensuring their basic needs are being met.
nosis and following up with the appropriate treatment or prevention strategy. Some farms have losses that exceed 10% and yet if you asked them if they have a calf rearing problem they would probably say no. Keeping your calf rearing in perspective,
and monitoring the morbidity (sickness) and mortality (deaths) and benchmarking that against your previous results and those of other farms of similar size is a very useful exercise. Developing protocols that ensure vaccinations are given at the right
time, weaning is done in a smooth and consistent manner and heifers are monitored to ensure that they are hitting all their targets are all things that your local dairy veterinarian can help you to develop to ensure the best results with your calf rearing.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
CALF REARING // 29
Immediate care of a newborn calf THE LONG term future of a dairy heifer can be influenced by events in the first 24 hours of her life. We can have a direct impact on these events and on her potential as a production animal. This article discusses the immediate care of the newborn dairy calf, identifies ‘at risk’ animals and how to manage them. THE ‘NORMAL’ CALF
It is important to recognise the behaviour of normal calves in the first few hours of life so that abnormal calves can be identified promptly. Normal calves should: ■■ Take their first breath within 30 seconds of birth. ■■ Lift their head within 1-2 minutes. ■■ Roll onto their chest within 2 minutes. ■■ Attempt to stand within 15 minutes. ■■ Begin shivering within 30 minutes. ■■ Be standing within 1 hour. ■■ Be suckling within 2 hours of birth. ROUTINE PROCEDURE FOR A ‘NORMAL’ CALF
1. Position
to allow drainage of If they haven’t already mucous from the done so within a few minupper airways (nose utes of birth, all calves and mouth). should be positioned 3. Stimulate onto their chest with There are many their hind legs pulled ways to stimulate a forward on either side of calf in order to make their body. This position it breathe more vigprovides equal opporCOMMENT orously. Pinching the tunity for both lungs to GEMMA CHUCK nostrils, using a clean fully inflate, allowing easier breathing for the newborn calf. piece of straw to tickle the nostrils, The traditional method of hanging the pouring cold water in to the ear, pinchcalf upside or swinging the calf by its ing and shaking of the windpipe high back legs is no longer recommended. up in the calf’s neck to initiate a cough It was originally thought that this prac- reflex and rubbing all over the calf ’s tice allowed fluid to be cleared from the body with a clean towel are all useful lower airways (lungs). In fact, the drain- ways to stimulate calves to breathe. ing fluid observed is actually from the The aim is to initiate deeper breaths as calf ’s stomach. Fluid in the lower air- these will help clear any remaining fluid ways will not be cleared this way and from the nose and mouth, which in turn will allow the lungs to be inflated more instead will be absorbed by the lungs. easily. 2. Airway Clearing mucous from the nos- 4. Temperature When calves are born their body trils and mouth will aid breathing. The head can also be positioned over a temperature will be slightly higher than small bucket with the nose to the floor normal. At birth, their rectal tempera-
ture should measure 38.8-39.4oC. This will decrease within the first 30 minutes of life to 38.3-38.8oC. In normal circumstances they should then be able to maintain this body temperature. However, calves born in cold weather conditions and a damp environment are at risk of hypothermia. Calf coats, heat lamps and hair dryers can be used to help maintain body temperature, along with a clean, sheltered environment. Absence of shivering is a poor sign and indicates that assistance is required. 5. Navel The navel (or umbilical cord) seen at birth is comprised of the umbilical vein and the urachus. The umbilical arteries retract back into the abdomen and are not seen externally. The function of these structures in the unborn foetus is to allow blood exchange between the dam and the foetus, and to remove waste products produced by the foetus. In the newborn calf these structures become redundant and eventually they degenerate. However, at birth the wet ‘open’ navel provides an entry
point for infection, allowing bacteria to enter the blood stream of the calf with sometimes fatal consequences. Heart disease, pneumonia, joint ill and meningitis are some of the consequences of bacteria gaining entry to the blood via the navel. Disinfection of the umbilical cord at birth helps reduce the incidence of these diseases. Iodine (7%) can be used as spray or in a teat dip cup. If using a teat dip cup, ensure the iodine is replaced frequently to avoid the dip becoming heavily contaminated with bacteria. Iodine-based teat dip generally contains 0.5% iodine and will be insufficient for navel disinfection. Teat-dip also contains emollients which can prevent the cord from drying. 6. Colostrum Detailed colostrum management deserves an article all of its own and will not be covered here. In brief, an adequate volume of good quality firstmilking colostrum (>=22 Brix) should be provided as soon as possible after birth. For example, a 40kg new born calf TO PAGE 30
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
30 // CALF REARING
Immediate care of the newborn calf FROM PAGE 29
It is important to recognise the behaviour of normal calves in the first few hours of life so that abnormal calves can be identified promptly.
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should receive 4 litres of good quality colostrum within 12 hours of birth. This can be split into two feeds, with the first feed within two hours of birth. If only poor quality colostrum is available, then a higher volume will be required to avoid failure of passive transfer of immunity. 7. Observe and Record All calves should be checked for abnormalities at birth. These include congenital deformities and induced trauma (fractures of the legs or ribs). All calves should be given a unique identification at birth (Farm ID tag, NLIS tag) and calving details permanently recorded. Such details can include calf ID, date of birth, dam ID, gender, assisted birth, twins and sire (if applicable). RESUSCITATION Calves requiring resuscitation are more likely to be delivered by farmers, not by vets. All farm staff should be trained in the resuscitation of newborn calves, using the appropriate equipment. Clean towels (ideally warmed), a hair dryer and a resuscitator are helpful items to have in the calving area. Certain calves will be “at-risk” and are more likely to require resuscitation than others. These include calves with prolonged or difficult births due to disproportionate size, malpresentation, malpositioning or multiple births. Calves born by Caesarean section are also considered at increased risk. All of the ‘normal’ observed signs are likely to be delayed in these calves. For example, calves requiring an assisted birth may take 6-12 minutes to lift their head and roll onto their chest. Attentive staff are critical to recognise these calves quickly. Signs indicative of a calf requiring resuscitation include swollen tongue or head, blue gums or tongue, slow, weak or absent breathing, flaccid body and poor suck reflex. Inactivity, hypothermia and lack of oxygen contribute to accumulation of waste products in the blood (acidosis), which further delays absorption of colostral antibodies in the gut of the calf. Resuscitation begins with the routine for ‘normal’ calves described earlier. If positioning, clearing of the airways and stimulation are insufficient and the calf is not responding, then mechanical ventilation is required. This not only delivers oxygen to the calf but will also help reduce acidosis. Mouth-to-mouth ventilation is not recommended due to the risk of transfer of potentially harmful bacteria. Instead, specifically designed resuscitators are recommended for this purpose. The mask is placed over the calf’s nose while the head and neck of the calf is extended. It is important to close off the oesophagus on the left side of the calf’s neck so that air is delivered into the lungs when the cylinder is depressed and not into the stomach. This technique is not as effective as placing a tube into the windpipe to deliver oxygen by cylinder. However, specific training and equipment are required for this procedure. The main problems with calves post-delivery are inactivity, low blood oxygen, accumulation of blood waste products (acidosis), hypothermia, low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) and poor colostral transfer of immunity. Treatment is targeted at the specific problem: ■ Position the calf correctly ■ Clear the airways and assist with mechanical ventilation where necessary ■ Stimulate and encourage movement ■ Provide a warm environment ■ Routinely disinfect the navel ■ Feed warm colostrum by teat or oesophageal tube ■ Record all calf details Collectively these actions will increase the chances of a positive outcome. • Dr Gemma Chuck is a dairy vet working at The Vet Group in south west Victoria. She has a special interest in calf rearing and is currently undertaking her PhD in this area at The University of Melbourne.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 31
Cut and catch – that’s a wrap A ROUND bale handler with a film or net-wrap cutter has made the job of filling the feed mixer a lot easier on a dairy just north-west of Colac in Victoria’s western district. Mark McCarthy runs WORKING CLOTHES the dairy at Alvie with his CHRIS DINGLE younger brother Luke, currently milking about thousand round bales of 430 cows on a 50 stand ryegrass silage each year, rotary that was put in 2½ plus some straw bales. years ago. Mark said that Last year it was 2000 Luke does about 80% of silage bales and 1000 the year-round milking. straw bales. Their parents, Shane and At the Sungold Field Ann, moved onto the dairy Days last year the brothers here 33 years ago when it decided that a bale grab, was on 24ha with 35 cows cutter and film catcher on a walk-through shed. would make the job a lot The farm now covers easier for feeding bales 182ha, plus some leased into their Kuhn feed mixer. land. Mark grew up on Mark said that they the place, spent six years didn’t bother shopping working at the Greg Allan around for the machine. Farm Machinery dealer“We’ve always dealt with ship in Colac, spent some Tim Foster at Greg Allan’s. time overseas and workHe told us about the ing in the mines and has Cashels machine, so we been back on the farm for looked at it on the internet 2½ years. and Tim showed us some They make a couple of
WHO:
Mark and Luke McCarthy WHERE:
Alvie via Colac WHAT:
Bale cutter and film catcher
videos so we decided to go ahead with it”. Cashels are based in County Mayo, in the west of Ireland, and manufacture a large range of front loader and linkage attachments for bale and pit silage handling. Greg Allan imports and distributes the machines in Australia through a subsidiary, Colac Ag Importers. The Cashels bale cutter and film catcher is designed to increase productivity in handling round bale silage to livestock when mounted on
Tim Foster from Greg Allan Farm Machinery inspects the Cashels bale slicer on Mark McCarthy’s Alvie farm.
a front end loader. They claim that the unique shape of the machine ensures that it performs well, cutting the bale in half and catching the net or film every time, regardless of the bale shape or density. Mark is the main operator of the bale handler. “I like the simplicity of using the machine, it complements our mixer wagon, we’ve been using mixer wagons for about 20 years, and KUHN wagons for the last four. “The quick cutting of the film works well; we just drop the film into old spud bins. We currently handle four round bales a day, and we have a fair bit of travel distance as we are doing it. It is only straw bales at the moment, and the bale cutter handles the net wrap very well.” One double-acting hydraulic valve controls both the bale cutter and the film or net wrap catcher. Heavy cylinders fitted to the machine are designed to produce enough force to cut through even frozen bales that are experienced in the native Irish conditions. The Cashels bale cutter is 1800mm wide and will handle round bales up to 1350mm in diameter and with a maximum weight of 1200kg. Cashels’ instructions are that operators drop the unit over the bale and when the bale film is visible through two cut-outs at the rear of the frame, to close the blade sec-
The new Cashels bale cutter and film catcher.
Mark McCarthy (left) talks to Tim Foster of Greg Allan Farm Machinery.
tion. This sends a signal to a sequencing valve to engage the film catcher. The operator then raises up the unit and proceeds to cut the bale in half, dropping the first half into the feed mixer or feed pad. Then as the blade section is raised the second half of the bale drops out. At this point the bale film and net are still attached to the unit. The
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blade section is raised to the fully open position to disengage the film catcher and drop the film or net wherever it is suitable. As Mark McCarthy says, it is a very straightforward and simple operation. The McCarthys operate the bale handler with a 104hp Valtra 6550 tractor and have another one on the farm for other work, as well as a Vicon baler and a
Vicon bale wrapper. Mark said they grow all their own ryegrass silage and went to pit silage for the early silage. “It’s very economical putting it through the mixer wagon.” He is reasonably confident about the future for dairying for them. “The biggest positive at present is the competition in Australia, which is providing good milk prices for us.”
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
32 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
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MF4700 Series features: ❱❱ MF4707, 74hp AGCO Power 3.3L, 3-cylinder turbocharged engine ❱❱ MF4708, 82hp AGCO Power 4.4L, 4-cylinder turbocharged, Tier 2 mechanical fuel injected engine.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 33
New generation designed for the operator THE FOURTH generation of the Valtra T Series offers models with 155250hp and up to 1000Nm torque, a large amount of power to take on demanding tasks. They are available with two transmission variants – Versu and Direct. The Versu models have the maker’s AutoTraction automatic clutch function for its powershift transmission, which allows shifts automatically by monitoring travel speeds, unlike competitor systems that look at engine speed. Additional features such as hill-hold and hydraulic assistant aid the driver with transport and frontloader operation.
The Powershift operates with five steps in four gear ranges, plus 10 speeds in the creeper ranges, giving a total of 30 forward and 30 reverse speeds. The Direct transmission, built in-house by Valtra, offers three driving modes. The default is pedal mode (automatic): the driver sets the target speed with the drive pedal. In lever mode (automatic) the driver sets the target speed by the drive lever. In manual mode the driver can set separately the engine revs and manage the driving speed independently with the drive lever. T Series models are powered by 6.6L or 7.4L AGCO Power engines.
Exhaust emissions are minimised by a Tier 4 Final SCR system. The SCR system and optimised turbo and engine package results in excellent fuel efficiency and eliminates the need for an exhaust gas recirculation system or diesel particulate filter. The T174 model comes standard with Valtra’s EcoPower feature. When the driver presses the eco button the nominal engine speed drops to 1800rpm while torque increases. This reduces fuel consumption by about 10%, lowers the noise level and extends engine life. In addition, the Sigma Power feature, standard on all
A new stylish cab (below left) is the most striking feature of the new Valtra T series.
models, increases engine output by 15hp when the PTO is under sufficient load. The transport boost function in turn raises an extra 15hp in the C and D ranges. The most striking feature of the fourth generation T Series is its new cab – stylish, spacious and quiet. Pillars that curve outwards maximise interior space for the driver and keep the external
dimensions compact. The cab is now 20cm wider by the driver’s seat than the previous generation, for plenty of room. Electrically heated front and rear screens, a front windscreen wiper sweeping 270 degrees, factory-fitted parking cameras, LED working and rear lights, and six square metres of glass combine to offer unsurpassed visibility if optioned. Also,
the optional roof window helps when operating a frontloader. Other features include stereo with subwoofer, cool box, TwinTrac
reverse-drive system that can be adjusted laterally and a factory-fitted, fuelpowered, phone-operated auxiliary heater. www.valtra.com.au
Five new MF tractors are loader ready MARK DANIEL
Iseki has improved its compact tractor range.
New addition bolsters compact tractor range ISEKI HAS bolstered its line
of compact tractors with its new TG6000 Series. Three new models (36-47hp) will “suit anyone looking for a handy all-rounder to tackle tasks on farms or in grounds-care applications,” the company says. The new series is powered by Iseki 3- and 4-cyl water-cooled engines that develop more power and torque at low revs, but are also Tier 4 compliant for cleaner exhaust emissions. For added ease and flexibility, a choice of hydrostatic or power-
shuttle transmissions is available. The three-range hydrostatic transmission and the 12 x 12 speed power-shuttle transmission “provide effortless direction changes and a greater speed range”. Automotive-style cruise control is also a standard, giving greater comfort and control. Heavy-duty axles, with 4WD as standard, make the new series an ideal frontloader tractor, the maker says. Pre-plumbed hydraulic valves allow easy attachment of the loader, and open-centre hydraulics with oil
flow up to 49L/min allows “lifting more and working faster”. A reinforced chassis and a linkage lift capacity of up to 1580kg makes for versatility and easy attachment of implements. The operator platform is flat and uncluttered. The 38-47hp models can have an optional air-conditioned cab. The deluxe cab has dual side entry, “outstanding” visibility with 360 degree views and temperature control. www.iseki.com.au
FIVE NEW, 3- and 4-cylinder MF 5600 series models from Massey Ferguson are purpose built to deliver exactly the right specification for the 85-120hp sector. The new MF 5600 series are built ‘loader ready’: models come with a factory-fitted sub-frame and a wide range of novel features and controls to ease and enhance operation. Available in three power sizes (85100hp), the 3-cylinder 5600 models are powered by AGCO Power engines and are based on the current 2.4m wheelbase chassis. Available with the maker’s Essential specification cabs, these models all have the simple, reliable Dyna-4 16x16 transmission. The larger 110hp and 120hp models again use AGCO Power engines,
The MF 561 unloading hay bales.
but in a 4-cylinder configuration with a new larger 2.55m chassis. These two models are available in Essential cab specification with a Dyna-4 transmission, while the Efficient specification upgrade comes with the Dyna-6 24x24 transmission. Both the Essential and Efficient models have the completely
new front axle suspension option designed and manufactured by Massey Ferguson. With maximum (ISO) power of 85, 95, 105, 110 and 120hp, the MF 5600 series offers a choice to meet all customers’ specific requirements in this important market sector which appears to be expanding rapidly.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015
34 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Coveting thy neighbour’s Chamberlain FOR THOSE of you who may have unkindly thought it, last month’s ‘compact tractor’ column was not a cry for help. In some ways however, this month’s piece is. For I am struggling with temptation – best I explain: On the side of the highway near where I live, there sits an old Chamberlain tractor with a ‘For sale’ sign propped up against it. A 4080B, or a 4280B, I’m not sure (it’s hard to tell at 100km/h). I don’t know how much the owner is asking, nor do I know anything at all about the machine, other than that it has a three point linkage, unlike many Chamberlains out there.
GRUNT
JOHN DROPPERT The three point linkage is only tangentially relevant, because the fact is, I have no need for this machine. My hobby farming empire has not yet, and most likely won’t, expand to the point of needing two 80-plus horsepower tractors. I have enough trouble getting the tractor I
have into the shed most of the time, and no repair facilities for dealing with another, increasingly vintage, machine. However, the temptation persists. I’ve always been fascinated by Chamberlain, partly because of their Australian heritage (built in an old munitions factory at Welshpool, Western Australia), partly because they are always so cheap second-hand. Yes, of course I sort online search results by price. Are they cheap because they were rubbish tractors, or because they are now orphans (Chamberlain having been subsumed by John Deere long ago)?
Our columnist wants to buy a Chamberlain, much like this 4080.
One thing’s for sure: there are a lot of them out there. I’ve spoken to a few owners over the years, most of whom are pretty happy with the machines as a basic and reliable, if now outdated, tractor. Parts availability seems to vary, with basic pieces available nearly anywhere, but anything important requiring a network of wreckers’ yards to source.
One of the many dealer advertisements I’ve read, described the engine as a ‘sweet-running six cylinder that loves to rev’. Sounds like utter tripe, but the robust John Deere motors do seem to be a notable strength in the later Chamberlains. So, apparently, does a high road speed, anecdotally allowing some machines to be used as implement ferry vehicles by contractors.
Given your columnist has previously marvelled at the ingenuity of high speed tractors, it is only right to make mention of ‘Tail End Charlie’, the specially modified Chamberlain Champion model that entered the Redex rally around Australia in 1955 – geared up to a top speed of 110km/h. So on one hand, there are the practical questions of cost, application, storage and maintenance.
On the other, the opportunity to own a piece of Australian history for which there really should be an owners’ club, if one doesn’t already exist. Tough one… • John Droppert has no mechanical qualifications whatsoever, but has been passionate about tractors since before he could talk and has operated many different makes and models in a variety of roles for both profit and fun.
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