Dairy News Feburary 2013

FEBRUARY, 2013 ISSUE 33 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

POWERPLAY Grassroots lobby group ignites. PAGES 4-6

FLOOD DAMAGE: Queensland hit hardest PAGES 10-11

RUBBER MATTINGEasy fix for old dairiesPAGE 25

MILK MONITORElectronic IDPAGE 20

www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2013

NEWS // 3

NEWS��3-11

WORLD��12-13

OPINION�� 14-15

AGRIBUSINESS�� 16-17

BREEDING MANAGEMENT��18-19

MANAGEMENT�� 20-21

ANIMAL HEALTH��22-25

PASTURE IMPROVEMENT��26-29

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS��30-34

Gippsland farmers Tim and Grit Cashin carried out humping and hollowing to protect feed and reclaim land. PG.22

Gippsland contractor Paul Wilms says his new scraper is perfect for repairing tracks and building feed pads. PG.30

Extension officer Frank Mickan will start forage plan courses for farmers to make the most of their feed. PG.27

THE FALLOUT from the Federal Government’s decision to cancel live beef exports to Indonesia con-tinues, with Landmark sourcing dairy heifers from New Zealand last month for export to China.

Landmark Global Exports recently sourced 7200 dairy heifers from all over New Zealand as part of its export program to China. Landmark now has a full-time lease on a large quarantine property in New Zealand.

It was the largest single shipment from New Zea-land’s South Island to date. The heifers were shipped late last month. Landmark

failed to return Dairy News’ requests for more informa-tion about the cargo, and refused to allow anyone alongside the ship or yards for photos “for security rea-sons”.

Landmark Global Exports exported around 12,000 head of New Zealand dairy cows to China in 2011. China’s appetite for dairy livestock is driven by heavy investment in ramping up local milk production by both local and foreign com-panies.

The Australian company made the decision to source more dairy heifers from NZ in 2011 following the Fed-eral Government’s decision

to shut down the live beef export trade to Indonesia.

Following the live export debacle – where shipments were closed to Indonesia overnight in response to footage shown on the 4 Corners program – Landmark changed its program. It went from sourcing as much as 95% of its heifers from Australia the year before the decision to 50%.

At the time, the company said the decision was made to satisfy its customers in China that it could still meet supply, should a total ban be placed on live exports from Australia.

“Their main concern

is that trade will be closed down without consulta-tion,” managing director Richard Norton said in 2011.

“As an organisation, we are saying we can continue to supply and are mitigat-ing our risk by getting more

shipments out of New Zea-land.”

Landmark had always sourced 95% of its exports from Australia, whereas Elders sourced 50%. It decided to follow a similar path to spread its risk.

Landmark sources export heifers from NZ

Landmark sources more export heifers from NZ since the live export debacle in 2011.

The Holstein judging had people hanging from the rafters at International Dairy Week. Our coverage starts on page 18.


4 // NEWS: FARMER POWER

SOUTH-WEST VIC-TORIAN dairy farm-ers are facing a $260,000 cash flow problem as costs escalate and income drops.

Warrnambool-based dairy farm accounting spe-cialist Garry Smith, from Coffey Hunt, told a Farmer Power meeting at Noorat that an average farm in his client base milking 450-500 cows would have

to pay an extra $150,000 for feed and $10,000 for power this season.

That represents a 15% hike in feed prices and an average 50% increase in power costs.The additional costs are compounded by a 10% drop in earnings with an estimated $100,000 reduction in their milk price. He feared there would be only one more

step-up this financial year.Smith said increases in

living costs and other farm costs were putting a tight squeeze on dairy farmers.

“That projected $260,000 reduction in cash flow may need to be financed by some farmers and will reduce the farm profit in most cases,” he said.

“I’ve never seen it so bad.”

Smith said the flow-on effect was hurting rural communities. “It is hurt-ing dairy service providers and rural regions. You can see why there are so many empty shops around.

“We need to let the pol-iticians know the reality of the problem.

“We’ve got to get the message to Canberra and the message needs to be put out loud and clear.”

Rising costs stifle cash flowRURAL TOWNS and agribusinesses are feeling the pinch as dairy farmers close their wallets to ride out a financial crisis in the industry.

Tony McVilly from the Claas Harvest Centre in Warrnambool told a Farmer Power meeting in Noorat that businesses were struggling because dairy farmers were finding it tough.

“The money isn’t there anymore. Pol-iticians need to understand how much it affects towns,” he said.

“There are plenty of spare shops around.”

McVilly said industry and government power brokers needed to be aware of the serious situation.

“If we can help from the trade services industry, we will. We’ve got to make sure we are heard in Melbourne and Canberra.”

Charles Dillon from Dillon’s Dairy Sup-plies said that last year 98% of clients were on trade terms but this year 60-70% were past 90 days with their bills.

“They haven’t got money to spend with us. Small towns will die because of it,” he said.

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THE UNITED Dairyfarmers of Victoria and leaders of the Farmer Power move-ment have agreed to work together on gaining government financial assistance for dairy farmers.

Following a meeting in Warrnambool on January 31, the UDV and Farmer Power released a joint statement declaring they would work together to seek immediate financial assistance for farmers.

“Dairy is our state’s biggest export earner. Together we need to support our farmers for the future of the state,” the statement said.

Collaboration was not on the agenda at the initial Farmer Power meeting held in Noorat on January 14. At that stage, Farmer Power leaders met the UDV, VFF

and Dairy Australia but planned to continue as a separate grass roots organ-isation “until they are pre-pared to make changes and recognise the problems in the industry”, according to Chris Gleeson.

Gleeson defended the formation of a new group despite criticism at the inaugural meet-ing that the industry was already over-represented.

“At least we’re doing something. We want everyone to be united but the UDV doesn’t have the people power. I’d say 80% (at the inaugural meeting) were right behind us,” Gleeson said.

At the meeting, UDV state president Kerry Callow defended the organisation and said it wanted to work with farmers. “It would help if we had your help,” she said. “We are getting somewhere but it takes time.”

Now, both groups will be going to banks to get their support and then to government to get financial assistance for farmers.

UDV president Kerry Callow said the viability of dairy farmers has been threatened by unsustainable milk prices and they needed government support.

“Dairy farmers are suffering from a dramatic slump in farmgate milk prices in the face of a high Australian dollar and rising input costs and the impact of the carbon tax,” Callow said.

VFF president Peter Tuohey said dairy farmers were sick of being ignored by governments, while other sectors were given vast sums to stay afloat.

“The federal and state governments – past and present – have a long history of pouring billions of dollars into keep-ing foreign-owned car makers in Austra-lia,” Tuohey said.

“We’ve seen Toyota, Ford and General Motors (Holden) gaining vast sums to protect Australian jobs, yet dairying employs almost as

many workers on farms and in dairy processing,” Tuohey said.

The car manufacturing sector employs 45,000 people across the coun-try compared to 43,500 dairy farmers and processing workers.

“Why is a Ford worker in Geelong more important than a dairy farmer in Noorat?” Tuohey asked.

Most experts recognise that the local car industry will not be viable in the long term.

“But most of us, including the Prime Minister recognise the enormous poten-tial for our agriculture sector - with dairy being an important component - in the growing middle classes of our regional neighbours,” Tuohey said.

UDV and Farmer Power join forces

Kerry Callow

THE WESTERN Australian Farm-ers Federation has rejected Wesfarm-ers chief executive Richard Goyder’s claims that poor farmgate prices in WA were due to an oversupply.

WAFarmers Dairy Section presi-dent, Phil Depiazzi, has called on pro-cessors and retailers to meet to ensure the viability of the local industry.

“The issue with milk prices has gone on for far too long and now is the time for action,” Depiazzi said.

“Richard Goyder has made public comment stating that poor farm gate milk prices were due to an oversupply,

and that is simply wrong. “There is no oversupply of milk in

Western Australia and we will again be short of milk this summer, unable to supply domestic market needs.

“On projections using data from Dairy Australia, Western Australia will be unable to meet domestic market supply for six months of the year and there needs to be an understanding that to have a sufficient milk supply, there needs to be a slight surplus.”

Depiazzi said dairy farmers were struggling and the WAFarmers Dairy Section would now seek a joint meet-

ing between farmers, processors and retailers.

“If it was a simple case of supply and demand, as suggested by Mr Goyder, then farmers should have received around 55 cents per litre as we did in 2008 under similar conditions.

“Mr Goyder said ‘if farmers are pre-pared to sell milk to suppliers at the prices they do, then that’s their pre-rogative. This is the market at work’; we believe the market is not working.

“The last time farmers had any market power was in 1999, when farm-ers, processors and retailers were able

to negotiate a farm gate price. “At the time, 48 cents per litre was

required to ensure the State had suffi-cient milk supply to meet local demand.

“We don’t hold Coles responsible for what has happened to milk prices over the last 10 years since deregulation; however we do hold them responsible for the way they have used their power over last two years.

“Coles are a big part of the problem, but they can be a much bigger part of the solution.”

Depiazzi’s calls for a meeting follow a reported released by the WAFarmers

Dairy Section Council and the Collec-tive Bargaining Group of WA (CBG) into sustainable milk pricing in West-ern Australia.

Depiazzi said there were no sur-prises in the report which clearly showed current farmgate milk prices were not sustainable.

“WAFarmers’ long held position is that current farmgate prices are not sustainable. There is not enough return on asset to encourage new entrants into the industry and not enough return on capital for current dairy farmers to invest in their infrastructure.”

Coles’ claims of milk oversupply ridiculous – WA farmers


NEWS: FARMER POWER // 5

SIX HUNDRED south-west Victorian dairy farmers have united on a survival quest and more are expected to join the fold.

The farmers have launched an independent grass roots group under the banner ‘Farmer Power’ to fight for a fairer price for their milk.

The movement is now branching out from south-west Victoria into other dairying regions. One was held in Warrnambool, attended by Bob Katter, and the another is planned for Tongala on Febru-ary 13 with Senator Barn-aby Joyce, Dick Smith and Ausbuy’s Lynne Wlkinson.

The south-west Victorian farmers along with service providers and local community members held a ‘crisis’ meeting at Noorat on January 14 where they vowed to fight for better milk prices and more respect and leadership for dairy farmers.

Some speakers were reduced to tears as they told of their struggle to survive.

Others vented their anger at industry bodies, supermarkets, politicians and processors.

The ‘Farmer Power’ group has since been involved in a series of political and industry

meetings and is devel-oping a list of demands to put to milk factories, politicians and industry groups.

At the inaugural meet-ing, dairy farmers and ser-vice providers painted a bleak picture of the imme-diate future with low milk prices unable to match increased production, feed and financing costs.

The meeting was organised by local dairy farmers Chris Gleeson and Phillip Bond who said it was prompted by ‘crisis’ in the industry and a lack of understanding by politi-cians and lack of action by industry bodies.

The group has estab-lished its own website, www.farmerpower.com.au, is becoming incorporated and has started a public awareness campaign, including tractor rallies outside supermarkets in Warrnambool, to draw attention to their plight.

Gleeson said the imme-diate aim was to keep farmers afloat.

“Our first priority is to get to the Federal Gov-ernment to provide assis-tance for farmers. We have met with Victorian Minis-ter Peter Walsh and he has agreed to help us get to the Federal Government.”

Admitting there was no quick fix solution, Gleeson said the group had not yet developed specific plans on how it would provide lasting change for farm-

ers but was determined to make a difference.

“It’s not going to happen overnight but we have to have change to survive. We’re already moving on our first prior-ity to get assistance from the government to keep farmers afloat and then to address the farm gate price.”

Gleeson said he was buoyed by response to the new group. “It has been overwhelming…the phone hasn’t stopped,” he said.

“It’s going national now. We’ve had media calling from every state. We had six ministers here for a meeting last week –

not bad for a group that only started three weeks ago.”

The group is in the pro-cess of becoming incorpo-rated and is encouraging farmers to join for what Gleeson said would be a “minimal fee”.

He defended the for-mation of a new group despite criticism at the inaugural meeting that the industry was already over-represented.

“We want it to be pos-itive, to get fair trade for our local milk, to get milk back into schools and to get an education cam-paign about the benefits of dairy.”

He said the attention grabbed by the group was already helping farmers.

Gleeson said the number of farms, produc-tion and profitability had fallen over the past decade while the average age of dairy farmers was increas-ing.

“It’s time for farm-ers to put their heads together and say we’ve had enough,” he said. “We’re in crisis and we have to do something about it.

“We should have had this meeting 12 months ago but our industry failed us so we had to do it our-selves.”

Major issues to be tack-

led by the farmers include the need for a better and fairer farm-gate price for milk, returning Austra-lian dairy products back on supermarket shelves, gaining more industry support from governments, and an independent review of industry representative structures.

They also called for protection against subsidised dairy imports, more direct say for dairy farmers in industry organisations and incentives for young

people to join the industry.

Australian Dairy Farm-ers president Noel Camp-bell said a lot was done that wasn’t seen by all farmers.

Power movement spreadsRICK BAYNE

Phillip Bond and Chris Gleeson

Garry Smith, Mike Hamblin and Chris Gleeson face the audience at Noorat.

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6 // NEWS: NOORAT MEETING

THE PRICE of dairy land in south-west Victoria has fallen by up to 45% as “motivated sellers” seek to offload their farms.

However, farmers are still having trouble finding buyers due to low levels of confidence and financial impediments facing young people trying to enter the industry.

Charles Stewart Real Estate Warrnambool branch manager Nick Adamson told a dairy industry crisis meeting at Noorat that it was a “tough gig” trying to convince people to buy dairy farms in the current climate.

Financially stressed farms have seen their value stripped by up to 45%.

“If a farmer is highly motived to sell, their land has probably fallen

by 35-45%,” Adamson said. “Highly motivated means they are financially stressed which means their land often requires further capital invest-ment to become a viable option.”

Adamson said the price of better quality farms without as much financial

stress and not requiring capital investment from a purchaser had fallen 8-15% since the peaks of 2008-09.

Adamson said Charles Stewart had 40 dairy farms for sale on its website from between Winchelsea and the South Australian border.

Some have been for sale for as long as two years.

“There has been a marked increase in the number of farms on the market, plus we have others not on the web-site. We’re only one of many companies selling dairy farms. From talking to industry colleagues and valuers, there is a com-plete over-supply at the moment,” he said.

Adamson added that grazing industries were not much better placed and properties had fallen 20-25% in the same period.

He said people looking to enter the dairy industry needed $2-3 million. “It’s hard to get young people in because of poor return on current invest-ments and bank lending criteria.” – Rick Bayne

Property prices plunge 45%

Nick Adamson

A WARRNAMBOOL vet and farm consultant told those at the Noorat dairy meeting that every farm he worked with would record a tax loss this financial year.

Mike Hamblin said processors were a large part of the problem.

“We need to discuss improved payment systems with the processors and be prepared to vote with our feet if they don’t change the structure,” he said.

“We grow most of our grass in four months but the seasonal pricing system is forcing farmers to go to split calving.”

Hamblin said many dairy farmers needed immediate help to keep paying their debts and he suggested “interest-free survival loans”.

“This is about the only measure

immediate enough to save farms in desperate trouble,” he said.

Hamblin also called for Non-Commercial Loss legislation to be repealed to encourage more investment in the industry and advocated a consumer levy on white milk to be paid to dairy farmers.

“Our problem is that our expenses are more than our income.”

The Federal Government and dairy industry should negotiate free trade agreements, repeal the carbon tax, introduce tax incentives to invest in ‘real’ agriculture and introduce more practical work force regulations.

Hamblin asked the 500-strong audience if they knew the name of the Shadow Minister for Agriculture (John Cobb). Only a handful raised their hands. “I had to look up his name on the internet,” he said.

“The Government and independents

are not much help and Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig is missing in action. We need Cobb down here batting for us.”

Liberal Federal Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, and State Member for South West Coast, Dennis Napthine, attended the meeting and vowed to help the dairy farmers.

Hamblin said the dairy industry was in crisis. “We need to send a strong message to governments and industry that we’re hurting,” he said. “We need to bombard politicians and the rural media and let them know what is really happening.

“There are farms that are going to the wall and there will be a reasonably significant number unless something changes soon. Those with significant debt are in a lot of trouble.”

Hamblin proposed a series of initiatives which he believed could ease

the burden for dairy farmers.He also urged farmers to stop all

shopping from the two supermarkets and to urge the broader community to follow their lead.

“You’ve got to wonder how milk can be cheaper than bottled water in this country and how an industry can survive when farmers are being paid less than the cost of production.”

Payment systems hurt farmers

THE NUMBER of mortgagee auctions on farms in south-west Victoria is at record levels.

Elders Rural Services banking manager in Warrnambool, Barry O’Neill, told a dairy crisis meeting in Noorat that there were more mortgagee auctions recently than at any time in memory.

“A lot don’t advertise that way, but that’s the reality of it,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said land values continued to fall due to lack of buyer pressure.

“Plenty of farmers who bought at the peak and borrowed plenty now owe more than what the farm is worth,” he said.

O’Neill told the audience that the low milk prices, the strong Australian dollar and over-supply of properties on the market had led to lower land values.

“If interest rates were high you would have a perfect storm,” he said.

“Most banks will fund a negative cash flow for a year or two, but if it is year upon year some tough decisions will need to be made.”

“We have had a steady stream of phone calls from people you just cannot help.”

O’Neill said he knew examples of farm-ers with equity as low as 10-15%.

“Increasing income is the only answer,” he said. – Rick Bayne

Mortgagee auctions at record levels

Barry O’Neill

Warrnambool consultant Mike Hamblin says processors are a large part of the problem.

RICK BAYNE

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8 // NEWS

A PROTOTYPE robotic milk-ing arm unveiled in New Zealand recently could make automated dairies a realistic proposition for large pasture-based dairies in Australia.

The arm could be attached to existing rotary milking systems so farmers would not have to invest in a brand new milk platform.

The development has excited Tasmanian dairy farmer Paul Lambert, who has long been interested in robotic milking plat-forms. Lambert will speak at the Dairy Innovators Forum, to be held on the Sunshine Coast on February 26-27.

The Nuffield Scholar is plan-ning to develop a robotic milk-ing system dairy enterprise that would milk 2200 cows on 550ha of irrigation, producing 15 mil-lion litres per year and milking 270 cows per hour.

His vision is that the farm

would be operated as a semi-vol-untary system with high labour efficiency (300 cows/FTE vs 125 cows/FTE compared with a con-ventional system), divided into three herds of roughly 730 cows each.

In addition his vision is the system would have a feed pad, automatic gates in the paddocks that are controlled remotely and powered by solar energy.

Lambert will discuss auto-mated milking, explore virtual fencing and remote cow manage-ment and discuss energy alterna-tives including solar.

He said the recent develop-ment in New Zealand makes his ambitions much more realistic as costs of automated milking sys-tems are much more expensive in Australia than in Europe.

Current automated milk-ing systems also require a new approach to grazing that doesn’t

suit every farm.Lambert met another Nuffield

Scholar, Murray King, two years ago. King is developing the arm with several other NZ dairy farmers and New Zealand company Scott Technology through the company, Scott Milktech. They aim to commercialise the system within 12 months.

The “six-axis robot” uses an arm to lift milking cups on a rotary dairy milking system onto the teats of cows that are usually milked twice daily.

While other automated sys-tems had been created interna-tionally, the Milktech venture had focused on making the robotic arm suitable for existing rotary milking systems.

The joint venture had achieved a 95% success rate in the placement of the four cups within a 15-second to 20-second

time frame on a cow, King said. “That is what is crucial to fit

into a commercial dairy, to get the throughput of cows per hour.”

A demonstration on a New Zealand dairy farm in December showed the system, which uses a camera and software to co-ordi-nate then locate the cups on the udder and start the milking pro-cess.

Scott Technology chief exec-utive Chris Hopkins said the robotic systems would retail for “several hundred thousand” with the robotic arms paying for them-selves in three to five years.

The robots would be “pro-gressively rolled out” to inter-ested farmers so the system was further refined over time.

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Dairy exports up, total value downAUSTRALIAN DAIRY exports rose in the second half of last year but total value fell, placing pressure on Australian exporters and suppliers.

Dairy Australia data showed exports from July to December was up 9.5% on the previous year but total value fell 2.6%

Whole milk powder prices fell 15.3%. Volume was also down 6.7%.

However, there were better results with butter, with exports up 63.7% and prices up 8.2%, and skim milk powder, with exports up 42.1% in volume and 18.1% in value.

Australian milk production is also slightly ahead com-pared to the same time last year.

Dairy Australia figures show production was 0.5% up from July to December on the previous year but produc-tion for the month of December was down 1.3%.

The overall production figures are below Dairy Austra-lia’s forecast of 2% for 2012-13. However, these were based on an assumption of normal seasonal conditions.

The Fonterra Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction on Feb-ruary 5 shows a solid rise in the GDT Trade Weighted Index (TWI), up 2.4% from the previous auction.

Most of the major product groups were up: the whole milk powder price up sharply at 5.4%, skim milk powder up 0.5%, and butter milk powder up 3.7%; cheese was down slightly -0.1%.

The recent issue of dicyandiamide (or DCD) detected in milk did little to curb buyer interest with participating bid-ders up to 212 from 202 in the previous auction.

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10 // DISASTER

ABOUT 50% of Queensland’s dairy industry has been impacted by the torrential rain and flooding from ex-Cyclone Oswald, with early estimates showing damage and losses to be near $40 million, according to the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation (QDO).

QDO chief executive Adrian Peake said some dairy farms had been inun-dated and evacuated and

many have been without power, telecommunica-tions, and tanker access, with a number of these farms having to discard milk. Other properties have experienced major damage to crops and infra-structure.

Peake said there were still yet properties iso-lated and facing significant issues in terms of power and infrastructure and said there would be some shortages of milk due to

the impacts. “Even while the milk

cabinet could get empty or near empty, there will be no increase in price paid to the farmers, despite the major losses they are now incurring. We call on the retailers to support the industry in this time of need.”

Peake said the flood was a devastating event for many farmers, coming just two years after pre-vious natural disasters

Half of Queensland hit by floodshad impacted the major-ity of the industry just 24 months ago.

“Clearly the situation is critical from this disas-ter for many farmers, and industry is working with the government on coor-dinating the response to help dairy farming fami-lies through this difficult time.” Industry is working on the flood response as a part-nership between QDO, Subtropical Dairy, Dairy Australia, milk processors, and DAFF Queensland,

including daily meetings updating the situation and critical issues.

State and Federal Gov-ernments have escalated Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrange-ments (NDRRA) for five Queensland shires in the wake of ex-cyclone Oswald.

The shires of Bund-aberg, Gympie, North Burnett, Lockyer Valley, and Fraser Coast were declared Category C yes-terday, an assistance level which provides access to

INDIVIDUAL DAMAGE will be severe but only a small number of farms, probably under 20, will be affected by flooding in New South Wales caused by ex-Cyclone Oswald, says Dairy Australia.

No stock losses had yet reported for dairy in NSW, Dairy Australia’s Sue Webster told Dairy News Australia early last week. At that stage some farms will hadn’t been contacted.

“The main focus at present is contacting farmers and making sure they are ok – a couple of farm family farms flooded so it is a very stressful period for many,” she said. “Things are still very much in emergency phase – fodder drops, getting generators in, fixing broken milk-ing machines and access issues. It will take a while for people to tour their properties to assess scope of damage and some will be under water for a while yet.”

It was also too early to tell with milk supply, but deliver-ies to factories were significantly down (10-15% of normal intake) for a couple of days, Webster said. – Pam Tipa

Northern NSW touched by floods

Paddocks under water at Quesera Dairies, Queensland.

Flood waters have damaged paddocks across Queensland.

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DISASTER // 11

Half of Queensland hit by floodsgrants and loans for clean-up and rebuilding mea-sures.

QDO President Brian Tessmann said there were many dairy farm-ers in these shires severely impacted and the assis-tance would be vital to help them with the very difficult rebuilding pro-

cess.“Individual farms

have faced catastrophic losses and we have esti-mated that about half of the Queensland industry has been impacted by this disaster,” Tessmann said.

He said that as QDO continued to assess the damage, it was clear that

more shires and or part shires would need to be added to the list of those in need of greater assis-tance measures, including South Burnett, Glad-stone, Wide Bay, Scenic Rim, Sommerset, Sun-shine Coast, Ipswich and parts of the Darling Downs councils.

He said farmers with urgent needs should con-tact processor field ser-vice officers or the QDO office on 3236 2955 or 24 hour number 0459 362 955 (after hours) while he encouraged farmers in a manageable situation to look out for their neigh-bours.

ONLY A handful of dairy farms have been affected by this season’s Gippsland bushfires so far – one was isolated for a time due to a road block, another had to evacuate the cows to a neighbour’s while others have lost a significant amount of pasture and fencing.

While most dairy farmers are situated in the flatter land and not in forested hill country, some were still affected by the fires – either directly (by bush or grass fires) or indi-rectly through loss of power or road blocks.

The situation around Maffra/Stratford proved worrying for locals as high temperatures and medium-strong north-erly winds could have pushed the fire out of the hills and south to dairy country.

Milk production and collection has not been affected by the fires and hot weather to date.

Julie Iommi, Dairy Australia’s issues management man-ager, said: “The industry has been working hard since the Black Saturday fires and the recent flood events to cap-ture lessons learnt by affected farmers – what worked and what didn’t work.

“Every fire is different and dairy farmers use their local knowledge to develop a plan that suits them and their farm.”

A 75-year-old man has been charged with causing the massive fire in Gippsland that killed one person and destroyed homes.

The fire started on a rural property in Aberfeldy, in Gippsland, on the morning of Thursday, January 17, police said. It burnt at least 75,000ha of land in Aberfeldy, Hey-field and Seaton.

Many Gippsland farmers were counting themselves lucky with lower stock deaths than expected and tales of cattle surviving on farms which were completely burnt. About 60 beef cattle were destroyed on one property.

Department of Primary Industries animal welfare officers have been into affected areas of Dawson, Seaton and Glenmaggie, but they were unable to confirm stock losses.

In Tasmania, following fires in the south and north west of the state, farmers can gain access to $100,000 of fund-ing to rebuild fences. The Tasmanian Farmers and Gra-ziers Association (TFGA) will administer it for all farmers, even if they are not TFGA members.

“This has been a really sensible way of helping farm-ers,” TFGA chief executive Jan Davis said. “Replacing lost fencing is a number one priority to prevent stock wander-ing onto roads or onto neighbouring properties but also for ensuring they can be controlled for mustering for health checks and feeding.

“You feel helpless until those fences are back in place. “Red Cross Appeal money was not available to busi-

nesses, but through this arrangement with the SA and WA Governments, the Tasmanian Government has been able to provide the money and provide it quickly.

“We will be able to use it in conjunction with the sup-pliers and contractors who have already been so generous with their time and resources to leverage the best possi-ble value for money.”

Ms Davis said farmers looking for assistance with fenc-ing following the fires should contact the TFGA in Laun-ceston (6332 1800).

Few dairy farms touched by fires

Andrew and Fiona Burnett’s property at Sexton received more flood damage.

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12 // WORLD NEWS

Arla drops Europe for China, RussiaDANISH DAIRY coop-erative Arla Foods is ditch-ing expansion plans in Europe and increasing its focus on China, Russia and Africa/Middle East.

The co-op aims to double sales of ingredi-ents to the growing food industry outside the EU. At the same time, the focus in Northern Europe moves from expansion to increased profitability and innovation.

Arla notes in markets outside the EU, millions of people have achieved a better standard of living and are demand-ing healthy and safe food products.

Arla Foods chief execu-tive Peder Tuborgh says its exports to Russia, China

and the Middle East & Africa region are growing rapidly.

“We will work hard over the next five years to build on the massive potential that these mar-kets hold for Arla’s prod-ucts,” he says.

Defining Russia, China and the Middle East & Africa as strategic growth markets will see Arla increase investment in marketing, distribution networks and coopera-tion with local partners in these markets between now and 2017. By 2017 the overall revenue from Arla’s strategic business generated in these mar-kets is set to increase from approximately $760 mil-lion to $2.1 billion.

The revised strategy is linked to the abolition of EU milk quotas in 2015.

Without EU quotas it is anticipated that Arla’s milk farmers will produce at least one billion kilos of milk more each year than today. The extra milk cannot be sold as profit-able products in the EU due to growth stagnating, it says.

“We have an opportu-nity to achieve profitable long-term positions in markets outside the EU, and therefore it is impor-tant that the strategy sends a clear signal to the organisation that we need to further develop our sales channels.

“Our dairy prod-ucts need to reach many new consumers as these increased global sales will help to maintain a viable dairy business in northern Europe,”

In recent years, Arla

has strengthened its posi-tions in its core markets in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. Accord-ing to its Strategy 2017, these markets must con-tinue to be developed, but with more focus on refin-ing activities, not primar-ily through expansion via mergers and acquisitions. Tuborgh says Arla has a lot of unutilised potential that

must be put to good use. “We can do this by fur-

ther advancing our rela-tions with customers and consumers, offer-ing more attractive prod-ucts, and finding new ways to inspire our customers. We will continue to focus on the three global brands of Arla, Lurpak og Cas-tello, which must all grow via their individual unique profiles.”

SUDESH KISSUN

UK FARMERS warn they will “name and shame” milk buyers who don’t implement the voluntary dairy industry code of practice in milk supply contracts.

A dairy coalition, made up of farming unions and dairy groups, set up the code in September last year. It was designed to build a fair and functioning marketplace and help secure the long-term future of the UK dairy industry.

Farmers for Action chairman David Handley says despite their efforts, farm gate milk prices for deliveries in January are typically only 3c/L higher than in April 2012. Since then, however, costs of production have risen by 5c/L.

“Farmers need to see improving dairy market conditions translated into farm gate milk price rises,” he says.

NFU dairy board chairman Mansel Raymond says the code applies to all milk buyers, irrespective of size.

“If co-ops, smaller processors or any milk buyer think the code doesn’t apply to them, they are wrong. It is the responsibility of every milk buyer to ensure the voluntary approach to improving milk contracts succeeds. The alternative is legislation and the coalition will not rest until we see better more balanced contracts for dairy farmers.”

NFU Scotland milk committee chairman Gary Mitchell says processors and Dairy UK have suggested the end of March is a realistic time by which contracts will be improved.

“While we’d like to see improvements before this date, we certainly will not sanction delays beyond this. We will challenge retailers and food businesses to only buy milk via compliant contracts or from processors who comply with the code and non-compliance will be made public.”

UK farmers will name and shame

Arla will drop its European expansion plans and expand in China, Russia and Africa/Middle East.

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WORLD NEWS // 13

Record production looms in NZ

THE DAIRY industry is on track to another record milk production season.

Fonterra has con-firmed milk production is slightly ahead of last season. But the weather could still throw a spanner in the works – pasture growth is already easing in parts of the North Island.

While most of the 2011-12 season milk has been processed, an unfavourable autumn would have a minor impact on this season’s production. However, the main concern will be ensuring cows are in top condition for mating and for milk production next season.

Fonterra’s general manager milk supply Steve Murphy says the season is going well and milk flows are continuing to track slightly ahead of last season.

“In general, the weather over the Christ-mas and new year period hasn’t had an impact on our operations,” he told

Dairy News.“Most regions have had

good growing conditions so far, but this is always subject to change based on regional weather events.”

The remnants of Cyclone Evan brought

rain to parts of the upper and central North Island. This has helped farmers in these loca-tions while iso-lated rainfall has kept grass

growing in other centres, says Murphy.

“The central South Island has seen hot dry conditions but not unsea-sonal for this time of year, while the lower South Island has continued to see favourable conditions with regular rainfall and good soil moisture levels.”

DairyNZ’s regional team manager Craig McBeth says while it’s been a good season to date, dry weather is creep-ing into some parts of the country.

Production is falling daily in Northland and Waikato; Bay of Plenty is falling behind this time last year, although over-

all the country is slightly ahead.

McBeth says given these conditions, farm-ers need to start thinking about next season and not milk their lighter cows too aggressively and strip body condition.

“They need to be keep-ing an eye on the individ-ual cows as well as the herd in general for body

condition score. Increas-ingly they should make sure they are well set up for next season because they have already got a lot of milk in the vat. Next season should start to enter more into their deci-sion making from here on.”

McBeth says farmers should consider drying off lighter cows and shipping

known cull cows to the works early.

BNZ senior economist Doug Steel says milk production in New Zealand remains strong despite earlier reservations about weather. Steel expects 2012-13 milk production to be 3% higher than last season’s record production. “The risk of El

Nino about six months ago has dissipated,” he says.

New Zealand milk production data for November 2012 reveals an extended peak to the season. Milk production typically reaches its sea-sonal peak in late October. In 2012 production contin-ued strongly through the month of November. This resulted in production for

November exceeding the previous season by 17.5 million kgMS.

Last season, dairy com-panies processed 19.1 billion litres of milk con-taining 1.69 billion kgMS, a 11% increase over the pre-vious season.

The milk production increase was the first dou-ble-digit increase since 2000-01.

SUDESH KISSUN

Steve Murphy

THE SALE of nitrification inhibitors containing dicyan-diamide (DCD) has been suspended after minor traces of the compound were found in New Zealand milk powder. DCD is used to reduce the environmental footprint by slowing the rate that soil bacteria convert ammonia into nitrate and nitrous oxide. Developed 30 years ago the compound is used in a wide range of industries and poses no food safety concerns.

Major fertiliser companies Ballance and Ravensdown have voluntarily suspended sales of their respective nitrate inhibitors, which contain DCD.

“The reputation of New Zealand as a quality food pro-ducer is as important to us as it is to our farmer owners. So it is reassuring that both the MPI’s and our own peer-reviewed research shows there are no food safety issues with DCD or eco-n,” says Ravensdown chief executive Greg Campbell.

“What’s changed is that last year, organisations like the US Food and Drug Administration added DCD to a list of substances to test for. This, combined with increasingly sophisticated scanning technology now presents a possible trade risk.

“Given the risk to NZ’s dairy export reputation, Ravensdown has taken the initiative and is suspending the single product which uses DCD for this calendar year.

“As DCD has been used safely around the world for 30 years, there has never been a set of international stan-dards around maximum residue level in food prod-ucts. Because no standard exists for DCD, no detectable presence is acceptable. And because zero detection of DCD cannot be guaranteed, Ravensdown has taken the responsible, voluntary step to suspend its use while the trade issues are resolved.”

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14 // OPINION

EDITORIAL

MILKING IT...

RUMINATING

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Minced meatMASTITIS remains one of the main concerns for dairy farmers so it was no surprise to see a large crowd present to hear Dr Neil Charman from Pfizer at the International Dairy Week seminar marquee.

Charman was speak-ing about the difficulties of eradicating mastitis from a dairy herd and gave some tips on how to do so. When asked by one frustrated farmer how to cure some cows that had continued to resist several rounds of treatment, he responded: “The only treatment for those is McDonalds.”

We don’t think he was talking about buying them a Big Mac either.

Heard this before?NAB rolled into IDW to speak and rolled out the old talk about Asia being the future saviour of the Australian dairy industry.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this but it’s getting tired.

It was disappointing for NAB to blow into an event held a week after 600 dairy farmers had shown their obvious concern for the state of the industry and say: Everything will be great in the future.

Could they not have prepared something more current and rel-evant for the audience?

It seems they’re about as in touch with the industry as a long line of politicians out there.

The term ivory tower comes to mind.

Office dangersWE ARE well aware of the disdain many farmers hold for the shiny suits and paper shufflers who work in offices. However, spare a thought for the dangers these people suffer in the day-to-day work life.

Reports from England say the Manchester NHS Trust has banned the use of paperclips because staff kept cutting them-selves.

So, the trust sent out a memo telling employ-ees that all paperclips ‘should be carefully dis-posed of’ and replaced with plastic fasteners.

And you thought life was tough down on the farm.

Blame it on the weatherA SEA-FARING mate tells of an encounter with a marine weath-erman while boating there over the festive season.

This weatherman is responsible for broadcasting weather forecasts to boaties, although his run rate could have been better, says our source.

Picking the weather had become “impossi-ble”, claimed the weath-er watcher, mainly to “global warming”.

Our salty sea-dog laughed out loud. What, he asked, had their excuse been before the world discovered global warming?

THERE IS a groundswell of dairy farmers who want help during this period of low prices and rising costs and they have placed their faith in grassroots lobby group, Farmer Power.

The inaugural Farmer Power meeting at Noorat last month high-lighted disenchantment with the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV), Australian Dairy Farmers and Dairy Australia.

To be fair, all farmers involved with these groups have the best interests of farmers at heart and volunteer many hours that could be spent on farm or with their families.

Dairy Australia is not a lobbying body. It does supply informa-tion to the UDV and ADF to use in their lobbying. If Dairy Australia took a political role it could lose in the vicinity of $30m of funding, according to managing director Ian Halliday.

ADF does not have the budget (or political power) of a Coles, which would spend the ADF’s entire annual budget on its My Kitchen Rules advertisements alone.

The UDV has its own financial pressures. But both lobby groups engage with politicians and industry groups behind the scenes.

Despite creating a new lobby group in what it said was an over-crowded market, Farmer Power has roused politicians by being so vocal.

It has demanded to be heard and politicians have come running. It’s a good year to call for help. The Federal election will be held in September and the Victorian election, although not held for two years, will be closely fought.

Now that Farmer Power has the ears of the politicians, what will they provide? Will they exert enough pressure on the banks to ease the financial pressure? Will they do more than call for another inquiry into supermarket power?

Coalition politicians can talk about stopping soaring electricity prices but this is not believable. Opposition leader Tony Abbott won’t be able to repeal the climate change legislation that Gillard has offset with copious amounts of money for all. Most power cost rises have not come as a result of the climate change legislation, but because of electricity company hikes to cover new infrastructure.

Farmer Power must be wary of politicians and false promises. Bob Katter wants to reregulate the industry. It will never happen, but it will get him headlines.

John Cobb (he who received less than glowing praise at the Noorat meeting) has used the farming community’s pain and angst to fire shots at Labour. Things are tough? Then elect me, he cries.

Farmer Power needs something concrete; something that will help those who have placed their faith in it to deliver. Whether that is short-term loans or something more long-term, now is the time to cash in their noise for something permanent.

We wish them the very best.

Farmer Power must cash in on noise


OPINION // 15

THERE HAS been a plethora of media coverage on all the things that are going wrong in the dairy industry — low milk prices, rising input costs, a dwin-dling ageing farmer group, lack of sup-port from industry bodies and, most famously, the cheap milk available at a couple of well-known supermarkets.

However, quite unfortunately, as is the case with most emotive subjects, there are a lot of assumptions, half-truths and falsehoods being peddled around. The meeting held at Noorat last month was a classic example of this — plenty of emotion and passion for the industry, concern as to how we are all going to survive, but for all the noise and discussion it was concerning to see that the price of discounted milk and the perceived lack of industry sup-port were two of the main topics raised and falsely portrayed as main contribu-tors to this current difficult year.

Yes, the milk price is low, but not as low as it has been in the past and there’s a fair chance it will be lower some time in the future. As we are mostly export-ing our product, more than 70%, the price is set by the world market. The price fluctuates, always has, always will. It’s simple supply and demand.

In regard to input costs, the same applies. Some years are better than others. It’s the nature of all agricultural industries.

As for subsidies, well if you can show me an example in Australia or a com-parable country where subsidies have had a positive impact, I’d be surprised — they are generally an invitation for

complacency or a delay of the inevita-ble. Check out the Australian car man-ufacturing industry.

As for the dwindling number and rising age of farmers, yes, I agree it is happening. In my opinion the most obvious reason is young peoples’ expectations of what a job should be like — 9-to-5 hours, sick leave, holidays etc. Affordable entry-level farms are small family farms (80-150 cows) and they are disappearing as the aforementioned expected working conditions don’t apply. The fact is that these working conditions do exist in this industry. Medium to large farms employ many people on flexible hours with good pay. Unfortunately, we fail to sell ourselves as a desirable workplace where a rewarding and enjoyable career can be had.

As for the industry bodies, they in my opinion cop plenty of unwarranted flak. The two most well-known and widely knocked are the United Dairy Farmers of Victoria (UDV) and Dairy Australia. The UDV is a representative body for dairy farmers in Victoria.

Their primary objective is to get local issues heard at a state level as well as being a sure pathway to access rep-resentatives from local councils, milk

factories or other government organ-isations. The majority of the people in this organisation volunteers their time and does a huge amount of crucial work on our behalf.

As for Dairy Australia, it is a research and development organisation, not a marketing body, partly funded by the government and partly by us farmers. They are a key part of the reason why we have one of the lowest-cost, environmentally sound and efficient

dairy industries in the world. We need to continue to support Dairy Australia through the levy — not blindly but wholly — without this research and development there will be no viable industry as we will fall behind our global competitors.

As for the discounted milk, the less said about this the better. It affects about 8% of the milk produced in Vic-toria and therefore I find it hard to com-prehend how this is the cause of all of our problems. The simple fact is that our milk companies are the ones that sell it to the supermarkets. If you don’t want discounted milk, don’t let your

factory sell unbranded milk. Maybe a few more relevant issues to focus on would be the Aussie dollar, free-trade agreements, transport costs and the efficiency of our milk factories — over-staffed, over-capitalised?

The way I see it, the more we talk about this issue the more free adver-tising we provide for the supermarkets and the great deals they’ve got on milk. There are many issues that need care-ful consideration, discussion and robust

debate that do and will continue to affect the dairy industry, some more pressing than others.

However it’s not a time for panic, or crisis meetings, or block-ades of supermarkets. Rather, it’s a time to re-engage with industry bodies such as the UDV and help the people who do a huge amount of work helping us.

Before you howl me down as a UDV supporter, ask yourself

these two questions: are you a member? And if so, how many meetings have you attended and made a meaningful contri-bution to in the last 12 months?

If the people who attended on Monday are the same as me they wouldn’t have attended any meetings, let alone contributed to them. I there-fore find it extremely hard to listen to people criticise these organisations when, 1) they haven’t tried to contribute to them and 2) they often don’t properly understand what their actual purpose is.

It would be interesting to know how much time and effort the committee members of the newly-formed Farmer

Power have endeavoured to contrib-ute to their local UDV branch over the years.

This, in my view, is a very worthwhile question to them in light of all the crit-icisms they have directed towards the people who have contributed. However, the meeting has been had and it was fan-tastic to see so many people interested in attending. It also has presented the industry with a fantastic opportunity to unite (Farmer Power and the UDV) and discuss and debate these issues and move the industry forward, together in one direction. When we get together in numbers the wider community does take notice and, to a certain extent, understand some of the difficulties we face.

However, we shouldn’t plead for their pity or expect them to under-stand our way of life. After all, we chose to be farmers and we can choose not to be whenever we want. Perhaps instead we should encourage them to buy and enjoy our produce and, if they can afford to, look to the shelf above or below the home brand milk.

It’s our industry and our responsibil-ity to move it forward. It is an industry that is full of hard-working, knowledge-able people who are only too happy to represent us through the appropriate channels. This is not a time to divide further but to unite together to strive for a common goal — a rewarding, sus-tainable industry that the younger gen-eration are encouraged to become part of and that the older generation are excited to hand on.

Supermarkets not main concernLIAM RYAN

Grassmere dairy farmer Liam Ryan puts a different perspective on the ‘Farmer Power’ move in south-west Victoria.

As for the discounted milk, the less said about this the better. It affects about 8% of the milk produced in Victoria and therefore I find it hard to comprehend how this is the cause of all of our problems.


16 // AGRIBUSINESS

LEASING OF farms has occurred for many years and if done right it can offer all parties involved an opportunity to achieve long-term goals.

Landowners (the lessor) lease their property to another person (the lessee) in return for a set or variable amount, depending on production or milk value per year. The lessor effectively hands over control of the property to the lessee, although some terms and con-ditions may be set on how the asset can be used.

Although each situation will be dif-ferent, a successful arrangement will always be based on mutual respect and trust, and a written document that clearly states the expectations of each party.Being a lessor

Leasing may be an option for landowners who want to retire from active farming but don’t wish to engage a sharemilker and are not ready to sell the property. It may also be an option for investors who are mainly interested in capital growth of the land and receiving a reasonable rental for the asset.

Before leasing your property, there are some important questions to ask yourself:

■ What is my motivation? ■ Do I understand I am renting my

asset to another party so they can conduct a dairy business? This will result in limited control.

■ Have I completed a budget and am I comfortable with the rent being received?

■ Am I aware of any agreed capital expenses during the period of the lease or any likely items requiring capital replacement?

■ Have my restrictions been agreed by the lessee?

■ If I have too many restrictions, am I truly ready to lease the farm?

Being a lesseeDairy farmers may lease a property

as a step towards farm ownership but the most common reason for moving from share farming to leasing is to gain complete control and reward for their efforts.

The lessee receives all the rewards from their skills, but also incurs all the risk, e.g. if the milk solid price suddenly decreases it is not reasonable for the lessee to seek a reduction in rent.

In general, a lessee will be a rea-sonably experienced dairy farmer and if they are good operators, then the leasing option will increase their net returns and build wealth.

If you are considering leasing a property for a dairy business, there some important questions to ask first:

■■ Do■I■have■the■skills■to■operate■my■

own■dairy■business?■■■ What■is■my■motivation?■■■ Is■the■budget■I■have■completed■

realistic■and■does■it■consider■all■expenses,■debt■and■lease■payments?■

■■ Have■I■allowed■an■adequate■phys-ical■and■financial■risk■margin?■

■■ Having■met■the■lessors■and■discussed■the■details,■am■I■clear■in■my■responsibilities■and■what■I■am■permitted■to■do■with■their■asset?■

Lease AgreementA written lease agreement is essen-

tial because it defines the expectations of both parties including who is respon-sible for what and financials. Any lease agreement will contain issues needing to be discussed and clarified, and it is important both parties talk about their concerns and how they would work them out.

The discussions involved in prepar-ing a lease agreement give both parties an understanding of each other’s per-spective – a good foundation for build-ing a constructive relationship.

Once the general conditions are agreed upon, the next step is to have them incorporated into a formal lease

agreement. A solicitor may be involved in this step. A trusted farm advisor can also help facilitate the dis-cussion and come up with an agreed arrangement for both parties.

For your lease agree-ment, there are a number of issues to cover and dis-cuss. These include:

■ Titled area being leased, preferably with title details, and actual graz-ing area being leased – these can be very different.

■ Annual charge, method of payment, annual increments if any during the period of the lease. Any adjust-ments in the event of drought or changes to milk price should also be included.

■ Lease term, including a designated date prior to the end of the lease for renewal discussions.

■ Production records: this history may or may not be available, but should be requested, as it will pro-vide an indication of the previ-ous production levels the farm achieved.

■ Insurance: both parties should have public liability insurance to an agreed amount. Insurers have a requirement to be notified if a property is being rented to another party. Property insurance, it is gen-erally each their own.

■ Rates: land rates are normally the responsibility of the lessee, as are

water rates. ■ Death or permanent disability, and

the impact of an unfortunate event for either party on the lease.

■ Infrastructure: the lessor will define the optimum or maximum number of cows the farm can milk and if the lessee decides to milk more then changes to infrastruc-ture will be at their cost.

■ Condition report: conduct a joint inspection and record the state of the farm, tracks, dairy and non dairy infrastructure, fixed plant and equipment, weeds and state of pas-tures. This is critical as memories are not reliable and it is particularly important to highlight and correct any OSH issues.

■ Lessor inspections: normally one inspection per year is adequate.

■ Capital improvements: these can be agreed and stipulated in the lease, including deadlines for work to be completed. The lessee is respon-sible for repairs and maintenance, and capital improvements and replacement by the lessor, but this is negotiable.

■ Plant and equipment: list the age and condition of any fixed plant and equipment at the start to provide a guide for replacement vs repair. This is a major source of potential conflict and must be clear.

■ Disputes: all agreements need a clear method of arbitration, par-ticularly for capital replacement vs repair, e.g. vat repairs are the les-see’s cost, replacement is the les-sor’s cost, but this can depend on the situation and how any damage may have occurred.

■ Water supplies: sources, condition of pumps, and in particular position of water lines and the state of fill around troughs need to be investi-gated and noted.

■ Effluent disposal systems: the state, level of ponds, general level of adequacy of the effluent dis-

posal system and the agreed cow capacity for the system needs to be recorded.

■ Fertiliser: The lessee should receive any soil test results and fer-tiliser histories, and details about the amount applied during the lease should be provided to the lessor. Capital amounts of fertiliser required should be discussed and incorporated into the lease. Parties who differ in their approach to fer-tilisers should not proceed to enter into a lease arrangement.

■ Weeds: current state must be noted. Annual control is the lee-see’s responsibility.

■ Farm productivity: pastures, crop-ping, and pasture renovation are important aspects of the farm’s future productivity. Walk all pad-docks to assess the productivity of the pastures and check the opera-tion and state of the water supply, and condition of fencing. Some leases will specify maximum areas

that can be cultivated and cropped, re-sowing requirements and it is also important to discuss drilling programmes. Photographic records can be useful for comparing at a later date.

■ Supplement reserves should be clearly defined, including any limi-tations on the amount that can be made and removed from the farm. The lessee should purchase any supplementary feed at an agreed price at commencement and then any remaining at termination belongs to them and sale can be negotiated.

■ Renewal and renegotiation: it is important to have a lease termi-nation date and a date before the end of the lease for negotiation on future lease arrangements to begin. Reference: Dairy Australia, the

people in dairy, leasing a dairy prop-erty (planning for the future).• Dean Edwards is a farm consultant with LIC FarmWise in New Zealand.

Dairy farm leasing: An option worth considering

DEANEDWARDS

Leasing can work favourably for both landowners wanting to retire and farmers wanting to take a step towards farm ownership.

“The lessee receives all the rewards from their skills, but also incurs all the risk.”

A major source of potential conflict is repairs of the dairy and equipment.


AGRIBUSINESS // 17

GLOBAL IMPACTGLEN FISHER

Dairy NewS aUSTraLia june, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

agribusiness // 17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pactum makes UHT products for private label and proprietary customers.

Freedom Foods planttargets Asia

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

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

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

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

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

The FTA will fill a number of gaps within the

ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Export demand remains strong

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

gLobaL impacTJohN DropperT

016-017.indd 17 6/06/12 1:41 PM

AUSTRALIA’S DRINKING milk market has been changing over recent years. Supermarkets have been selling a greater share of milk and, put simply, the impact of dollar milk has been about selling more for less.

But plenty of attention is on the private label brands and marketing efforts of major processors, and for good reason given they are ‘the core’ of the market and the destination for one in every four litres of the country’s milk. Yet there has also been some profitable growth in smaller local brands and differentiated products, for some which consumers are willing to pay, and that makes a quick look at these niche products a worthwhile exercise.

Examples of these smaller local brands and their differentiated dairy products can be found in each state across the country. They are generally family-owned businesses that have set out to take control of their returns and have found their own dairy market niche. Of course, this involves some significant additional investment in capabilities, equipment and scale of production. Moreover, getting the products of these businesses into market has invariably also involved some marketing that emphasises product attributes such as provenance, farming practice or processing method.

A few examples: Queensland has Maleny Dairies, with its own branded milks, yoghurts, creams and custards and it has been capitalising on the Maleny sense of place in meeting growing customer demand from Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The Hopper family-owned business attributes its products’ increasing popularity to favourable word of mouth and social media. And with Aztec data suggesting Maleny

Dairies’ supermarket sales volumes are up over 80% and average per litre retail prices of over $2 (for the 12 months to mid January 2013, the 12 months to mid-January 2013), it’s not surprising that the business has been prospering.

In Western Australia there is Bannister Downs which has long been leveraging the ‘free-form’ approach in marketing its range of regular and flavoured milks. The Daubney family-owned business has seen its supermarket sales volumes grow by over 55% and average per litre retail prices of $2.15 in the last year. Bannister too has seen significant volume growth over the last couple of years (see the chart ‘Total supermarket milk sales volumes: Bannister Downs and Maleny Dairies’).

Victoria-based Organic Dairy Farmers Australia has been carving out its niche over the last 10 years in the organic space. The cooperative has historically developed its business on supplying a specialised product for which buyers have been willing to pay a premium. Still, through establishing and expanding its own range of branded products, and teaming up with some joint venture partners, Organic Dairy Farmers Australia has found alternative ways to help grow and deal with changes in the domestic market.

Needless to say, supplying niche products requires a long-term investment horizon and is not an option that will work for everyone. But out there on supermarket shelves around the country there are

A changing milk market

smaller local brands and differentiated products achieving sales and premium prices that are travelling well with bright prospects in a changing market.• Glen Fisher is industry analyst with Dairy Australia.

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18 // BREEDING MANAGEMENT

SALES CALENDAR

DATE SALE WHERE

Feb 22 J&C McKenzie Complete Holstein Dispersal Shepparton Selling Centre, Vic

March 1 Galaview Holsteins 2nd Stage Dispersal Shepparton Selling Centre, Vic

March 4 Hill Valley ‘Best of the Best’ Invitation Sale Kongwak, Vic

March 7 Glenorleigh Holsteins Celebration Sale Allendale East, SA

March 13 Bushlea 90+ 7000 Lts Sale On-Property, Koonwarra, SA

March 14 Kintore Holsteins Complete Autumn Dispersal VLE, Koonwarra, Vic

March 20 Leading Edge Elite Sale II Warragul Showgrounds

MORE UNITED STATES dairy farmers are purchas-ing high quality genetics due to the advances made

in electronic heat detec-tion.

Breeding specialist Kevin Jorgensen, director

Accurate heat detection fast tracks improvements

US breeding specialist Kevin Jorgensen with the Moo Monitor at International Dairy Week.

of dairy programs at Select Sires, told an audience at International Dairy Week that confidence in successful insemination has had a flow-on effect in the improvement of herds.

“People are using better bulls,” he said. “There is more of a chance of getting pregnant because heat detection is more accurate now.”

Jorgensen was in Australia to promote the MooMonitor, which is being sold here by Genetics Australia. He installs and supports users of the system across the US.

GA spokesman Julian Bentley said electronic heat detection would become more common on farms over the coming years.

“The amount of man-agement information you receive allows you to make more accurate, more

FARMERS ARE now able to choose sires that have a higher natural level of disease resistance.

Bulls will then be able to pass this level of disease resistance onto their progeny in the same way they do with other inherited traits, thanks to research in Canada at the University of Guelph.

The heritability of the immune response is similar to that for milk production at around 25%, and is much higher than most other traits associated with health or fertility.

John McDougall of Semex Alli-ance, Canada, launched a range of proven and genomic sires identified as having high immunity under a new Immunity+ brand at International Dairy Week.

McDougall said the new technol-ogy “marks a significant breakthrough in improving disease resistance in cattle which will reduce the use of remedial medication”.

At the core of this latest genetic

breakthrough is High Immune Response (HIR) technology, which identifies cows with different levels of immune response to dis-eases such as mastitis, metritis, keto-sis, retained placenta and Johne’s diseases.

Researchers found that High Immune Responder cows (HIRs) have disease levels that are two to four times lower than those that are Low Immune Responders (LIRs), with the HIRs cows requiring less therapeutic intervention as a result.

Around 10% of bulls are believed to have genes to be classed as HIRs. HIRs have a “more balanced immune response capable of defending the cow against a more diverse range of pathogens”, according to Dr Bonnie Mallard, Professor of Immunogenetics at Guelph, who spearheaded the research.

Testing of the animals takes place over two weeks with the animals being immunised in a similar way to

a vaccination to stimulate the immune system.

Then blood samples and skin thick-ness tests are taken, with the patented HIR technology then determining the strength of the immune response.

An animal only needs to be tested once to determine its genetic immu-nity level. The results allow Semex to determine the highest HIR sires. Cows and bulls can be tested, although in the UK the technology will only be available through the Immunity+ sires.

The test is unique to Semex for the next decade as the company has invested several hundreds of thou-sands of dollars in the research in return for the exclusivity.

timely and more reliable breeding decisions, ulti-mately allowing you to farm more efficiently and profitably,” Bentley said.

Jorgensen said the MooMonitor relieved sev-eral problems dairy farms are finding more difficult to fix, including:

■ Accurate heat detec-tion in large herds

■ Finding labour skilled in heat detection

■ Managing cows for AI in a timely fashion

■ Detecting cystic cows

■ Detecting non cycling cows

■ Keeping a tight calving patternBentley claims the

Moo Monitor is the most accurate cow activity monitor on the market and is specifically designed to work on pasture based cows.

“It is an activity moni-tor, rather than just a heat detector, and will highlight cows that have low activ-ity, are lame, cystic or have other problems.

“MooMonitor not only detects heat but the hour of onset of oestrus in order that farmers can inseminate at the opti-mum time for concep-tion.”

Jorgensen said the MooMonitor has been reported by users to accu-rately detect 95% of cows on heat.

“Fully set up it will identify which cows are in heat, draft them out of the herd at milking and put the information on

the internet so your AI provider knows they are ready.”

The MooMonitor is the only activity monitor on the market where you can change the batteries, and has a radio transmitter in the collar so animals don’t need to be scanned for information.

The radio transmission works two ways – farmers can tell the collars when to download, and even switch them off remotely to save battery life.

Disease-resistant genetics

John McDougall


BREEDING MANAGEMENT // 19

HOLSTEIN■■ Supreme■Exhibit:■Chris■and■Mary■Gleeson,■Elm■Banks■

Polly■Wolly■■ Champion■cow:■Elm■Banks■Polly■Wolly■■ Reserve:■Zanders■family,■Cairnhill■Morsan■Presence■ET■■ Intermediate■champion:■MJ■Sowter,■Murribrook■Goldwyn■

Candace■■ Reserve:■Zanders■family,■Carisma■Cairnhill■Paradise■■ Junior■champion:■Bluechip■Genetics■&■Averill■Leslie,■

Bluechip■Alexander■Whynot■■ Reserve:■Bluechip■Genetics,■Bluechip■Finalcut■Whynot■■ Best■udder:■Elm■Banks■Polly■Wolly

JERSEY

■■ Supreme■Exhibit:■Karin■and■Corey■Couch,■Riverside■Country■Lollypop■EX93

■■ Champion■cow:■Riverside■Country■Lollypop■EX93■■ Reserve:■Riverside■Colettes■Covergirl■EX91■■ Intermediate■champion:■Empire■and■merseybank■Jerseys,■

Prom■View■Jenny■170■■ Reserve:■Riverside■jerseys,■Riverside■Rumours■Ginger■

VG88■■ Junior■champion:■Bushlea■Farms,■Bushlea■Action■Fern-

leaf■11■■ Reserve:■B&V■Wilson■and■family,■Shirlinn■JS■Silkie■■ Best■udder:■Riverside■Country■Lollypop■EX93

ILLAWARRA

■■ Grand■champion■exhibit:■Kinchela■Lee,■Miss■Ruby■■ Champion■cow:■Miss■Ruby■■ Reserve:■T&K■Cochrane,■Kangawarra■Pretty■3012■■ Intermediate■champion:■Warren■Schultz,■Winganna■

Empire■Vision■■ Reserve:■Hayes■family,■Llandovery■Ja-Bob■Stella■822■■ Junior■champion:■TL&UJ■Tidcombe,■Wallumlands■

Blossom■5■■ Reserve:■T&N■Cochrane,■Eagle■Park■Dynamic■Myrtle■■ Best■udder:■Miss■Ruby

AYRSHIRE

■■ Grand■champion■exhibit:■LJ■&■LJ■Burgmann,■Encore■Pardner■Didjago

■■ Champion■cow:■LJ■&■LJ■Burgmann,■Encore■Pardner■Didjago

■■ Reserve:■AC&DE■Biffin,■Woodburn■Park■Trifle■■ Intermediate■champion:■Enterprise■Ayrshires,■Enterprise■

Ristourn■Aara■■ Reserve:■Robyn■McFee,■Magic■Park■Shady■Maiden■■ Junior■champion:■AC&DE■Biggin,■Woodburn■Park■Tira-

misu■■ Reserve:■Paul■&■Vicki■Timbs,■Mayfield■Farms■Reality■Roxy■

(ET)■■ Best■udder:■Encore■Pardner■Didjago

BROWN SWISS

■■ Grand■champion■exhibit:■AH&JA■Rijthoven,■Grasslands■Sentor■Maiden■2nd

■■ Champion■cow:■Grasslands■Sentor■Maiden■2nd■■ Reserve:■AH&JA■Van■Rijthoven,■Grasslands■Dynasty■

Karlee■■ Intermediate■champion:■MR&RJ■Wake,■Benleigh■Pilot■

Gredel■■ Reserve:■Brown■family,■Tandara■Dynasty■Lola■28■■ Junior■champion:■MR&RJ■Wake,■Benleigh■Parker■Jody■ET■■ Reserve:■MR&RJ■Wake,■benleigh■Jupitor■Pastel■2■ET■■ Best■udder:■Grasslands■Dynasty■Karlee

GUERNSEY

■■ Grand■champion■exhibit:■Joyce■family■and■Gass,■Florando■SD■Koala

■■ Champion■cow:■Florando■SD■Koala■■ Reserve:■G&S■Tivendale,■Glenally■Dividend■Mintie■■ Intermediate■champion:■Josh■Smith,■Glenally■GNP■■ Reserve:■Crawford■family,■Brookleigh■Boleros■Flourish■■ Junior■champion:■M&R■Shea,■Rockmar■Miss■Roseblossum■■ Reserve:■Rogers■family,■Carinya-Lee■Prettylace

IDW HONOUR ROLL

BARELY A WEEK after addressing a crowd of 600 farmers at the Noorat dairy meeting he con-vened, Western Victorian dairy farmer Chris Glee-son was accepting the trophy for International Dairy Week supreme exhibit.

Chris and his wife, Mary, of the Elm Banks Holstein Stud, won the ultimate prize for 5-year-old Elm Banks Polly Wolly, which was also named champion Holstein cow and breed exhibit.

The Gleesons bred the cow themselves. Her mother won the junior 2-year-old class in-milk at IDW five years ago.

Polly Wolly is a proven performer on-farm too. Over 305 days last lacta-tion she produced 12,241 litres with 407kg of pro-tein and 466kg of butter-fat.

Karin and Corey Couch, Nirranda, who won the Grand Champion Jersey Cow in 2011, swept the pool in the Jersey breed.

The Western Victorian breeders won ribbons for champion and cow, breed supreme exhibit and best udder for Riverside Coun-try Lollypop EX93, as well as reserve champion cow for Riverside Colettes Covergirl EX91.

In the Illawarra classes, first-time exhibitor Trent Lee entered one cow, which went on to win supreme exhibit with 5-year-old cow Miss Ruby. The cow had calved in mid-November and is out of Sugarloaf Miss Ruby.

In the Ayrshire section, Lloyd and Lynda Burg-mann were awarded grand champion for Encore Pardner Didjago.

This champion cow

went on to sell for $8000 to a Gippsland syndicate – the first time a senior champion of any breed has been offered for sale at IDW.

The cow’s dam, Didjago, also owned by the Burgmanns, is the highest classified Ayrshire in Aus-tralia.

The champion

Guernsey cow, Florando SD Koala, exhibited by Gary Joyce and Kevin Gass, was originally bought from a dispersal sale in 2011 by Joyce, from Macarthur, and Gass, from Simpson.

Breaking up the west-ern Victorian domi-nance of this year’s IDW was Mount Gambier,

SA, exhibitors the Van Rijthoven family.

The Van Rijthoven family won the grand champion Brown Swiss ribbon with 4-year-old cow, Grasslands Sentor Maiden 2nd.

Owner Jennifer Van Rijthoven, said the suc-cessful cow’s dam was a previous IDW champion.

Gleesons cap big week

IDW champ: Chris and Mary Gleeson with children Hannah, Stacey and Chloe (handler Matt Sloan and John McDougall of Semex) and their IDW supreme exhibit, Elm Banks Polly Wolly.

THE BIGGEST deal of Interna-tional Dairy Week wasn’t finalised with a bang of auctioneer Brian Leslie’s gavel but with a handshake in the dairy sheds.

Northern Victorian dairy farmer Darren Crawford, Horizon Hol-steins, Invergordon, purchased the 3-year-old Holstein, Carisma Cairnhill Paradise, for $90,000 – an Australian record for an in-milk animal. The cow, named reserve intermediate champion at IDW last month, is the granddaughter

of 2010 champion Dryfield Dundee Paradise.

Trevor and Rosalie Zanders, Kialla, refused Crawford’s bid for the same cow at last year’s IDW but accepted his offer this year. It certainly says something for per-sistence.

In the ring, prices across all sales were down compared to those held last year in a more buoyant climate.

The 34 lots at the Semex sale averaged $5956 with one lot passed in, compared to $8303 last

year, while 23 head at the Genetics Australia Elite Genetic Merit sale averaged $5756 (three passed in), compared to $5734.

The top price of $14,000 at the Semex sale was paid by Ray Black-burn, Harvey, WA and Steve Hore, Elmar Holsteins, Leitchville for yearling-heifer Avonlea Windbrook Lulu 2.

Top price of $17,300 at the Genetics Australia sale was paid by Bryan and Jo Dickson, Emu Banks Holsteins, Terang, Vic, for Hol-

stein heifer Kaarmona Snowman Destiny, offered by Rohan Sprunt at Bunbartha.

In the two other sales, Ayrshires sold to a top of $8000 for this year’s champion breed exhibit Encore Pardner Didjago, sold by Lloyd and Lynda Burgmann, Drouin, to a Gippsland syndicate.

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20 // MANAGEMENT

NSW NORTH coast dairy farmer Terry Toohey is emphatic.

“If there was only one piece of dairy technology I could afford it would have to be milk meters.”

Monitoring milk flow is such an integral part of his farm management system he reckons every shed in the country should be equipped with them.

Toohey captures daily performance records for every cow in his milk-ing herd through a failsafe electronic animal identification system – a rumen bolus. He was the first dairy farmer in Australia to volunteer his herd for a bolus manufacturer’s trial 10 years ago and has had no regrets.

“You put them in and that’s it. No more missing data or lost tags.”

The milk monitoring program charts

the yield of each cow on a seven day roll-ing average, triggering an alert if pro-duction drops by 20%.

“You can immediately go looking for the reason for the variation. I find it is an essential management tool as we always want to make progress.

“My aim is to have a herd with an average 10,000 litre lactation and we’re not that far off it. We have the genetics to do it and it’s just a matter of feeding to achieve their potential.”

The 14-a-side herringbone dairy he build on the family property Padua Park west of Casino in 1990 is fully comput-erised including automatic drafting facilities for precision animal manage-ment.

Toohey can monitor and manage milking performance from anywhere in Australia as he frequently travels to industry meetings equipped with a mobile phone and a 250mm laptop.

He is vice-president of Dairy Con-nect, NSW and has been active in the Australian Dairy Federation where he chairs the animal health and welfare committee.

Despite being from fifth generation dairy farming stock in the Woodview district, he spent his early career work-ing as a stock and station agent and in rural real estate.

Toohey and his wife Annabelle returned to the home farm in 1997 and have steadily built up their milking herd from 100 to 300 cows. Since their early years back on the farm Terry has also operated a farm contracting business across the far north coast, specialising in contract planting and hay and silage making.

“It gives us another income stream

and I know I’ve got the farming gear to use at the critical time so I finish up with premium feed. I’m interested in quality not quantity,” Toohey said.

A feed pad was an early installation to allow more intensive farming while enjoying a flexible feeding regime and protect paddocks on the 160ha prop-erty from pugging and damage during high rainfall.

Much of the year the cows get most of their feed on the pad which allows a regular dry matter intake around 25kg a day to be maintained. Concentrated manure scraped from the pad is com-posted with chicken litter and waste hay and silage to make a valuable nat-ural fertiliser.

“We generally have enough to treat the whole farm with 10 tonnes a hectare at least once a year,” Toohey said.

He is in the process of buying a 20cu m spreader which he thinks will be another popular addition to his farm contracting business.

Permanent dairy pastures are mainly kikuyu, paspalum and Rhodes grass with a separate cropping area used to grow corn and sorghum for silage pro-duction.

Terry buys in grain and has the flex-ibility to place bulk orders with about 260 tonnes of on farm storage.

The pad feed mix which includes a blend of silage, wheat, corn or barley, brewers wet cake, lucerne, canola meal, molasses and minerals makes up

a major part of the daily diet. About 80% of the feed goes through

the mixing wagon, but Toohey is plac-ing a new emphasis on grain feeding in the dairy where he can manipulate indi-vidual animal intake with a dual feeding system.

Cows can get anywhere from 2 to 8kg of grain a day in the dairy, depending on their production levels.

Heifer calves are fitted with a rumen bolus in their first stomach at about six months of age before being sent to the Inverell district.

“I find they do well in the west and they come back larger and stronger ani-mals a couple of months before calving to get into a feeding routine.”

The heifers are weighed regularly and well fed to ensure a minimum join-ing weight of about 350kg with most having their first calf at 24 to 27 months.

Toohey would one day like to have control over the elements with a cov-ered free-stall barn where the herd could be housed when necessary.

“We’d like to head this way because cow comfort and herd health are impor-tant issues for us,” he said.

He is also planning to make his farm even more productive with the instal-lation of centre pivot irrigation to push pasture growth at critical times.

“It’s all about making progress and continuous improvement. You can’t afford to stop going forward,” Toohey said.

Toohey goes with the flowGORDON COLLIE

Padua Park cows on their feedpad.

Terry Toohey gives a new born calf a lift.

WHO: Terry and Annabelle Toohey WHERE: Casino WHAT: Rumen bolus ID

Annabelle Toohey feeding calves with son Jacob and daughter Hannah.


MANAGEMENT // 21

Farmer mindset on feed inputs shiftingIF A dairy farmer thinks that their cows aren’t capable of raising their production, they’re probably right says Pip Gale.

“Equally, if they think their herd can put more milk in the vat, that’s probably right too,” says the Tasmania-based animal nutritionist.

“I believe that dairy farm-ers are intelligent people who want to make ratio-nal business decisions, therefore they require sound information and exposure to industry achievement.”

Gale says the pre-vailing mindset among many dairy farmers rel-ative to dairy nutrition and feed inputs is beginning to shift as they become more educated around the topic.

“Familiarity is a type of cultural architecture that we are all brought up with,” he says.

“If farmers feel no need to change their production system, fair enough. But, if farmers face a challenge and need to do something else to improve their cows’ nutri-

tion and welfare, they need to realise that they can do so. It will require them to carry out different activities and make strategic financial invest-ments however.”

Gale says that farmers’ adjusting of their mindset, before they begin exploring supplementary feed options for their herd, is key to achieving milk production increases.

He likens farmers continuing a ‘nothing has changed’ attitude with a comment from famed scientist Albert Einstein. Einstein once said that if someone keeps on performing the same action, but expects the outcome to change, that’s a definition of insanity.

“Often a dairy farmer has an issue that they want to address,” says Gale.

“We’ll say yes, we can help, but there has to be a will-ingness to do something different. Farmers have to resolve this in their own minds first.”

Having overcome what can often be a type of fearful-ness [around change], dairy farmers can then get on with a supplementary feeding due diligence, figuring what activ-ities they’ll have to do differently and how to incorporate it into the pasture management systems’ employed on the farm.

“In other words, to change outcomes on a farm, you have to change the activities carried out on the property,” he says.

“Such a change of philosophy is no small matter, but that’s the job of people like myself; to help support that change of mind, to suggest there are actions farmers can or shouldn’t take.”

Gale says that lifting the production of cows that are genetically quite capable of doing so can be achieved rel-atively easily – as long as farmers give themselves permis-sion to begin thinking differently.

Pip Gale

Dairy farmers are urged to carry out a supplementary feeding due diligence on their farms.

Milk production can be achieved relatively easily as long as farmers begin thinking differently.

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22 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Humping and hollowing reclaims land, saves feed DAIRY FARMING and maintaining a healthy and well fed herd on naturally wet land in Gippsland has been a constant challenge for Tim and Grit Cashin over the past six years.

But when what is nor-mally wet at the best of times becomes an unusu-ally wet season, the chal-lenge is even tougher.

The Leongatha South dairy farmers have endured such a season but with new crop initiatives, landscaping measures to open up more farmable land and savings in feed and production costs they are confident of achiev-ing their break-even ambi-tions for 2012/13.

Tim and Grit knew what they were getting in

for when they took over the lease of the 120ha family farm six years ago.

The former Murray Goulburn field officer based at Koroit in West-ern Victoria was returning to his home farm not only for sentimental reasons but also for good business opportunities.

After taking over the lease and buying the herd of Friesian and cross 200 cows, Tim and Grit had only $10,000 equity to revive the farm. They set about expanding the dairy from a 15 to 20-a-side swingover herringbone as a top priority.

“There was a cow flow issue and we wanted to increase the herd to 270-280,” he said.

They have since leased two adjoining proper-ties and now operate off

an 115ha effective milk-ing area.

The Cashins also made adjustments to cope with the high rainfall and flat terrain, a move which has paid off during this tough season.

Humping and hol-lowing was carried out in extremely wet areas to protect feed.

“We’ve put in a hump and hollow system with 12m bays to allow water to run off. This is wet land even in dry years so we needed to improve the drainage,” Cashin said.

The investment has worked. “It was use-less wet and boggy land,” Cashin said. “It is still wet and pugging a bit but it is now milking area. Those four paddocks made a huge difference this year.”

The Cashins have been milking about 240 cows this season, lower than their target of 280. A sal-monella outbreak resulted in a number of lost cows around calving time. They expect to produce 120,000 kg/MS with an average of 505 kg/MS per cow.

“We keep a close eye on the cows and, if there’s any problem, call in the

vets. We know all the local vets,” Cashin said.

The salmonella prob-lem cleared after the rain eased and the Cashins have vaccinated to pre-vent ongoing problems. Production this season is down a bit but that doesn’t bother Cashin.

“Our milk produc-tion is based on our grass production curve, not on chasing milk pay-ment incentives,” he said. “That’s too risky. We farm for the farm, not the pay-ment.”

The lower cow number and lower pasture pro-duction has been offset by lower production costs and other savings.

Cashin said the farm was in the lowest 25% for end of year milk payments from Murray Goulburn “but we can’t get around it because of the payment system”.

“We have July-August calving to miss the worst of the wet season. We couldn’t handle it in May/June.”

He said the past season had been very challenging.

“It was still extremely wet till October 20. Nor-mally mid-September is late so it was very tough.

“Until the start of Sep-tember we were going really well and had a good bank of feed but we strug-gled from there. There was

loads of rain…it wouldn’t let up.

“When it was so wet we had to put the cows on grass and the crops didn’t do so well.”

Silage production was severely curtailed but the Cashins looked at low-cost alternatives to ensure their animals were well fed and “to get them milking”.

The tactic worked. Unusually they produced more milk in November than in October.

Urea was applied by air three times to minimise pasture damage. “It was too wet to drive a spreader on the paddocks so using the plane was the only practical way to spread urea.

“This kept the plants healthy and some nitro-gen in the system so they would be okay to grow when everything dried out.”

One of the approaches used by the Cashins to counteract the wet season and low grass produc-tion was the introduction of turnips as a summer crop. Four hectares were planted in late September and a further 2ha in late October.

“It wasn’t a fantastic crop but it did okay, prob-ably 5-6 tonne.”

They also planted 8ha of millet and can thank an effluent irrigation system

and use of their own equipment for their suc-cess as a low cost.

“We developed the effluent irrigation since being here,” he said. “We can only do the close pad-docks but it really helped this year because we had bugger all silage built up.

“We have stretched our resources till April 15 but will probably have to buy in a load of vetch.”

The Cashins have pulled out additives from grain feed as a cost saving measure and are happy with the results.

“We’re saving about $3500 a month and haven’t seen any differ-ence in production. The cows are going all right without it and we’re on our milk budget.

“A base level of 1.85t grain per cow is being fed with a 225kg balancer mix,” he said.

“It’s not only about how much milk you make, it’s the costs as well,” he added. “It’s a fine line but cost control is one of our main priorities.”

Due to the tough season and low milk prices, the Cashins have deferred capital expendi-ture and limited personal expenses.

Farm working expenses have been checked at $3.58/kg MS after savings were introduced.

WHO: Tim and Grit Cashin WHERE: Leongatha South WHAT: Hump and hollow system

RICK BAYNE

Grit and Tim Cashin with children Charlotte and Jack.

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ANIMAL HEALTH // 23

Triangular liners reduce mastitis riskLINER DESIGNS have changed little in 20 years but Derek Davies told farmers at International Dairy Week that triangular liners can reduce the incidence of mastitis.

Davies, the export sales manager at Avon Dairy Solu-tions, spoke at IDW as part of the seminar program and said triangular liners grip the teat in a different way from the conventional round liner.

Whereas the round liner collapses against the teat from two sides; the triangular liner collapses three ways, giving additional support to the teat during the rest phase.

Avon Dairy Solutions uses the triangular design in its Milk-Rite Ultraliner, distributed in Australia through Global Dairy Systems.

“Milk-Rite triangular liners are well established and known to reduce slips, a common contributor to mastitis because of cross contamination,” Davies said.

“The triangular liners and shells improve efficiency by reducing the amount of air to be moved to open and close the liners during the milk and rest phases.”

Davies said mouthpiece venting, another new innova-tion, also improved milking efficiency.

Air has to be introduced into the milking system to allow the milk to move. Customarily it has been intro-duced through a hole in the claw.

“Introducing the air below the milk can cause vacuum fluctuations when the liner opens and closes; due to the pressure differential in the mouth piece this can push the milk back up the teat,” Davies said.

“Instead, introducing the air above the milk, by putting a vent in the mouthpiece of the liner, allows it to move effi-ciently and quickly away from the teat. Getting this system to work requires some minor checks and/or adjustments on farm, but the efficiency gains can be impressive.”

Calf scours leave long-term impactPROFESSIONAL CALF rearer Simon Glee-son, from Timboon in south western Victo-ria, says he often sees the long-term effects of calf scours in his operation.

The often forgot-ten cost of calf scours is a slower growth rate for calves that do recover.

These calves can strug-gle with depressed growth rates as a result of intesti-nal damage compared to healthy animals.

“We take heifers from weaning up to two years of age and, of the 3000 per year that we handle, often we see the major set-back animals have had as a result of scours,” Glee-son said.

“Their growth rates are diminished, immune sys-tems become suscepti-ble to other bugs and they are difficult to rear into an impressive heifer because of the scours setback.

“Given the value of

calves, it would be a sub-stantial benefit to all of our clients if there was an effective control for rota-virus in particular, so sur-vival and progress weren’t so dependent on treat-ments alone.”

Rotavirus is an issue not just because of its potential to cause scours, but because it often reduces calf immunity and allows other pathogens such as cryptosporidium, E.coli and coronavirus to

flourish, causing further illness in the calf.

Kathryn Davis, program manager animal health and fertility, Dairy Austra-lia, said that scours was the number one calf dis-ease that farmers report to the organisation.

“Scours is a very common and serious dis-ease for calves and is not limited to one area or region, the feedback we’ve received is that it is affect-ing all dairy regions,” Dr

Davis said.“What we hear from

farmers and vets who are testing for pathogens causing calf scours is that there is a lot of rotavi-rus coming through in the results.”

Coopers Animal Health has registered the vaccine Rotavec Corona and said it was the only calf scour vaccine on the Australian market vaccinating against rotavirus, coronavirus and E coli.

Coopers had a stand at International Dairy Week in Tatura last month in conjunction with the Kyabram and Tatura veter-inary clinics.

Farmers at IDW were able to discuss questions on calf scours manage-ment before and after calving and the use of the new vaccine in farm scours planning activities.

They were able to hear from local experts on key calf scours issues specific

to their own operation and learn more about changes they could make to their calving management to improve their calf health.

A recent study by Uni-versity of Sydney research-ers sampled scouring calves nationally and found 96% had rotavirus present on the property – a major disease causing pathogen of scours that currently has no preven-tion – making manage-ment more difficult.

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24 // ANIMAL HEALTH

RETURNING FROM my summer holidays refreshed and enthusiastic, I got some great news.

A new vaccine that I have been waiting to be released for many years is finally on the market. Rotavirus is one of the leading causes of illness in dairy calves. A recent survey showed that an

enormous number of dairy farms in Australia have Rotavirus present and that the majority have more than one viral or bacterial scours organisms causing diarrhoea on their farms.

Over the last decade or so, with improved diagnostic testing available, we have determined that there are four major causes

of calf scours, a disease that costs Aussie dairy farmers around $50 million per year. While vaccination against many of these organisms has been widespread in North America and Europe for many years, we have been without a vaccine for the number one cause of scours, Rotavirus, until now.

Rotavirus is very common, with 96% of farms in Matt Izzo’s

research paper from last year testing positive. Finally, we can prevent this common viral infection with a good vaccination program using Rotovec-Corona vaccine.

But the Rotavirus, Coronavirus and E.coli vaccine that is now available, together with the Salmonella vaccine (which should cover

Calf scours vaccine needs careful management

the “big 4” calf scours pathogens) have to be given to the mother before she starts to produce the colostrum and then the colostrum must be given to the calves in a timely manner.

Many, many times I have written and spoken about the importance of having a sound calf induction protocol that includes ensuring that the calf gets adequate volumes of quality colostrum within the critical first hours of their life. The launch of these great new vaccines should save many lives this season and for many seasons to come. But I want to say it again... calves, primarily due to the type of placenta that cows have, are born without any antibodies at all. On top of that, they have a significantly underdeveloped immune system which is ill equipped to handle the load of pathogens present on most dairy farms.

During the last 3-4 weeks of a cow’s dry period, her udder begins a process known as colostrogenesis, the production of colostrum. During this process, immunoglobulin molecules, known as antibodies, are actively accumulated into the udder. As soon as the cow calves, milk begins to be produced and colostrum production ceases. This is why delaying milking a cow after calving reduces the concentration and quality of that first milking colostrum.

For about the first 24 hours of a calf ’s life, those antibodies in the colostrum are able to be absorbed whole, directly into the blood stream and remain active and able to fight off bacteria and viruses. The ability to absorb colostrum deteriorates extremely quickly and the calf is

virtually unable to absorb colostrum after 24hrs of age. If we wish to vaccinate a cow to produce antibodies to enter the colostrum, it makes sense to give the vaccines before the cow begins to make the colostrum. This is why most vaccines against diseases of calves are given during late pregnancy or early after dry off to maximise the antibody levels when the colostrum is produced.

Despite all of this, if the calf doesn’t get an adequate amount of quality colostrum before the window of opportunity for the absorption of whole antibody molecules slams shut at around 24hrs

after birth, then no matter what you have vaccinated them for, the calves will continue to succumb to scours and disease.

So while I am thrilled to bits that there is now a vaccine that will go a long way towards preventing many of the common causes of calf scours, I hope that all dairy farmers will discuss with their local dairy veterinarian the ways that they can maximise the opportunity to get a calf off to a good start in life.

By dairy farmers working together with their herd vet to plan what vaccines to give, when to maximise the response and minimise any risk and to develop sound calf protocols that ensure that every calf gets the best chance of adequate transfer of passive immunity, I would hope that calf scours, one of the most common causes of economic loss on Australian Dairy farms, will be a lot easier to manage.• Rob Bonanno is the past president of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians Association and a director the Shepparton Veterinary Clinic.

ANIMAL HEALTHROB BONANNO

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ANIMAL HEALTH // 25

THE INSTALLATION of purpose-designed rubber matting has solved a problem with an ageing rotary platform on an East Gippsland dairy.

Paul and Emma Osborn milk 500 Holsteins and crossbreds on their 113ha property at Tinamba, sharefarming for Paul’s father, John, and an uncle, Graeme. They’ve been there since 1999, milking on a 44-unit rotary. They have run-off blocks at Newry and Heyfield, both of 60ha, and almost all the land is irrigated from Lake Glenmaggie, five minutes away.

The Osborns had been experiencing a prob-lem with the 23-year-old rotary platform with worn foot holes and deteriorat-ing concrete in the cows’ standing areas. In places it was getting down to the reinforcing mesh.

They were advised by a local company to treat it by filling in the hollows with resin, epoxy and sand grit, all of which was done pre-Christmas 2011.

“Initially it looked like it would work OK,” explained Paul, “but soon the surface started to blister. It was drilled out and refilled. Still within a month, the grit flattened and the cow standing areas kept deteriorating.”

In the drying off period

in June last year, cows were slipping and skating as they came in to feed in the bail prior to calving. It was a nervous and stress-ful time for both the cows and operators. Paul and Emma lost at least three cows before they had to stop feeding the springers and changed to lead feed-ing in the paddock.

Amid the frustration, Geoff Hague at Hico Herd Improvement Coopera-tive in Maffra told them about Studflex rubber matting and delivered one standard size mat for a week’s trial to see if it would do the job.

Hico is the local dealer for GEA Farm Technolo-gies who are the suppliers of Studflex.

“The cows never baulked and it seemed like the answer,” Osborn said.

In the first week of December last year they fitted the Studflex R sheets to all the remaining stalls. These are stan-dard pre-cut sections for rotary stalls, designed especially for Austra-lian rota-ries. The sheets are 1.7 metres long, .65m at the inside of the rotary, .75m at the outside of the rotary

and 24mm thick.Paul and Emma employ

one full-time worker for milking and farm work. “It took about 2 1/2 to three hours to screw them all down in between milkings, and we brought in extra labour to help with that first milking – just in case. As it turned out we didn’t need them.

“It has made an enor-mous differ-ence. The cows are obviously comfortable standing on it, and we’ve had not one issue of slip-ping since then.”

Mark Haymes, the area manager for GEA Farm

Technologies in Gippsland said that Studflex rubber matting is durable, dimensionally stable

Rubber matting keeps cows comfortable while milking

WHO: Paul and Emma Osborn WHERE: Tinamba WHAT: Rubber matting

CHRIS DINGLE

and cow-friendly. “This rubber compound offers high grip and comfort, sound absorption, and excellent softness. The cows become calmer and quieter when standing. There are Studflex options for all areas of the milking shed.”

As well as the rotary sheets, Studflex is avail-able to fit herringbone sheds with sheets that

have two sides with straight edges and two sides with interlocking edges. Those sizes are 1.74 metres long and 1.25 metres wide. Interlock-ing sloping edges are also available.

For yards and other places around the dairy there are pre-cut sheets with interlocking edges on all four sides, 1.19 metres long and .85m wide.

Osborn said they are now looking at installing extra interlocking Studflex sheets for the entry and exit points off the plat-form to make it more com-fortable for the cows. “It is also an option for where we stand at cups on and off. We are currently using conveyor belting, but it is a harder compound. The Studflex will be easier to stand on.”

Osborn is satisfied with the positive outlook for the dairy industry, saying that they are fairly heavily stocked. “We are happy to bowl along as we have at the moment. We never rule out buying other properties that may become available, and expanding the dairy. Automatic cluster removers are definitely on the agenda.”

Paul and Emma Osborn had tried repairing the worn concrete on their rotary without success, before installing Studflex.

Studflex rubber matting in each cow stall has made an enormous difference, according to Paul Osborn.

“It has made an enormous difference. The cows are obviously comfortable standing on it, and we’ve had not one issue of slipping since then.”

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26 // PASTURE IMPROVEMENT

CHICORY CROPS can produce high amounts of summer and autumn feed due to the plant’s abil-ity to grow a taproot that sources soil moisture at depth.

This can complement perennial ryegrass which produces less growth during summer and autumn.

However, its life cycle needs to be understood and managed to optimise the crop’s productivity,

nutritive value, produc-tion and persistency.

A chicory crop can per-sist for 2-3 years or longer if the plant is allowed to set seed. The plant must be exposed to the pro-longed cold of winter for the reproductive stage to initiate. If sown in spring, chicory will not produce reproductive stems until the following spring. This will keep the feed value high in the first year as the leaves have a higher

feed value than flower stalks.

During autumn, chic-ory normally accumu-lates sugars in the root system to replenish reserves for winter. In winter, plant growth is slowest, although some of the newer cultivars do have better winter activ-ity. Therefore, the gen-eral recommendation has been to avoid severe graz-ing during late autumn and winter.

The grazing frequency should be around 2-3 weeks in spring and pos-sibly into summer where good soil moisture is available. A short rota-tion makes it possible to remove the stems by graz-ing, when they are still hollow and more palat-able, which will also help the nutritive value of the regrowth. It is important to graze the crop down to -5 cm, otherwise slashing is required to remove the

remaining stems.Although there is

some growth during the autumn, the graz-ing intensity should be reduced, ensuring some remaining ‘green leaf ’ for the plant, so it is able to replenish root reserves and persist through winter. Avoid grazing during prolonged water-logging in winter and early spring. This can directly damage the base of the plant and deplete

Manage chicory through autumn

plant reserves.Another problem in

winter and early spring can be the accumulation of water in the base of the hollow stems that were cut or removed by graz-ing. If the cut stem fills with water, it can decom-pose, causing the tap root to rot and kill the plant. Do not cut or graze mature stems in autumn or winter, especially when there are wet conditions and/or saturated soil.

It is accepted that up to 25% of a dairy cow’s total daily diet can be chic-ory without causing bitter taint in milk. However, esti-mated intakes of up to 40% of the total daily diet have been observed on com-mercial farms with no evidence of detrimental impacts.

There is little expe-rience of feeding high intakes of chicory over an extended period on com-mercial farms. At this stage it is probably wise to have it as small to moder-ate component of the diet rather than a major com-ponent of the diet.

Chicory leaf also has a high feed value, making it great milker feed. It is also great feed for growing out heifer replacements. Chicory leaves normally contain high ME and low fibre [12–13 MJ/ kg DM and 18% neutral deter-gent fibre (NDF)] while

the reproductive stems normally have low ME (7 MJ/ kg DM) and high fibre content. Yields between 7 and 9 t DM/ha/year are frequently achieved in the first two or three years of the crop, with sufficient summer rainfall.

At the early stages of stem elongation (late spring or early summer, depending on soil moisture), cows can consume a considerable proportion of the stems,

which are still hollow and palatable. A leaf: stem ratio of 70:30% is considered a good compromise between quality and quantity for grazing cattle.

Chicory responds well to fertiliser, nitrogen and dairy effluent applications.

Chicory is suscepti-ble to root rot diseases during waterlogging con-ditions which makes it unsuitable for some pad-docks/farms. Chicory is not adapted or suited to poorly drained soils and will have poor persis-tence, so better adapted species such as tall fescue should be used on such soils. It is fairly pest resis-tant apart from attack from slugs or Red-legged earth mites during estab-lishment.• This article was provided by Project 3030. For more information visit www.proj-ect3030.com.au

Chicory leaf also has a high feed value, making it great milker feed.

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nutritive values depending mainly on their maturity, but also influenced by soil fertility, moisture condi-tions, etc.

Now, throw in the sea-sonal variation we have

experienced over the last 10-15 years. A risk manage-ment approach to forage planning is needed to deal with the variation.

To help farmers to make better feed supply

decisions in this world of uncertainty and with so many factors determining when, why and what spe-cies/cultivars to sow, DPI, with support from Dairy

PASTURE IMPROVEMENT // 27

Forage plan ensures best resultsA FELLOW EXTEN-SION officer visited a farmer to help him with grazing advice. When he arrived the farmer excit-edly showed his farm map and talked about all the different crop and pas-tures he was trialling, based on advice from a local seed supplier.

This farmer had been convinced to sow eight different types of crops such as lucerne, peren-nial ryegrass, chicory and cereals.

The farmer was excited about the prospect of having lots of winter feed, high quality summer feed and many other agro-nomic advantages in his farming system.

However, reality soon kicked in when they were trying to develop a plan on how to graze them all and to get the crops to grow anywhere near their potential while still being of high quality for the stock.

They worked out if he used at least four different rotation lengths it would still compromise some of the crops. It became apparent that this would be nearly impossible to manage.

The problem wors-ened when the discussion turned to managing the herd’s diet around these different crops. Often when changing from graz-ing one type of crop to another, the micro-organ-isms in the cow’s rumen require a number of days to adjust to changes in the diet to get the most nutri-tionally from the new crop.

This is illustrated by a New Zealand study where cows grazed as much perennial ryegrass as they could eat and were then sent to graze as much lucerne as they could eat.

Their milk produc-tion dropped by 24% for the first three days on the lucerne diet before recov-ering rapidly to be higher than when they were graz-ing the perennial ryegrass.

This was due to the micro-organisms in the rumen needing to adjust

to the new diet.Similar observations

have been made when changing from ryegrass to tall fescue pastures. How-ever, in this case, the milk depression is likely to be due to the cow’s prefer-ence for grazing ryegrass and needing a while to start properly grazing the fescue.

On this particular farm it was clear that the cows would often be under-performing due to rapid changes in the type of feed the cows were eating and the cows needing time to adjust at each change.

As soon as the cows began to adjust they would then be put onto a different type of feed requiring another adjust-ment period, resulting in reduced milk production again.

If supplements were to be fed at the same time, as they often are, the type of supplement might need to be changed with each dif-ferent crop type – another change in diet.

What I am saying is, perhaps some farmers need to have a forage plan that takes into account the whole farm system.

Look at when your herd is calving. When do your animals (milkers, dry and young stock) need the extra feed? Do you need high or medium qual-ity feed for which group? You can buy poor qual-ity feed any time, usu-ally, just ensure you pay low prices for it. Let’s not go into buying on a cents per kilogram dry matter, or heaven forbid, cents per unit of energy (ME) or dollars per kilogram of protein.

A good forage plan needs to be flexible enough to help you nego-tiate the seasonal roller coaster that is dairy farm-ing. We all know there are a range of crop types and cultivars that cover a wide range of sowing and matu-rity dates and there are specific crops suitable for specific conditions (soil temperatures, soil types, rainfall, etc.).

Crops are often given an average nutritive (book) value but all spe-cies have a wide range of

Frank Mickan

FRANK MICKAN

TO PAGE 29

Reality soon kicked in when they were trying to develop a plan on how to graze them all and to get the crops to grow anywhere near their potential while still being of high quality for the stock.

Ultra is a true step up in yield performance, offering consistently high yields across seasons, years and regions.Ultra is high in pasture quality and safe to eat too.For further information on Ultra Enhanced perennial ryegrass, including comprehensive trial data, talk to Notman Pasture Seeds

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Sonik is ideal for over-sowing into run-out or damaged pastures,rejuvenating paddocks or for full cultivation as short term(1-2 year) specialist pastures.

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PASTURE IMPROVEMENT // 29

TRIALS ARE underway to investigate the adap-tation of common broad acre precision farming technology into inten-sively grazed pasture sys-tems.

Using the concept derived by New Zealand-based agricultural innovator Craige McKenzie, a joint project between Western Dairy in WA and the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural (TIA) will ground truth the validity of the “Smart N” system.

The Smart N system uses Weedseeker tech-nology to strategically apply liquid nitrogen (N) to intensively grazed pas-tures.

The system works in the reverse to a weed-seeker boom on a broad-acre farm which only turns on the spray nozzle when a green weed is detected. In “Smart N” mode, the weedseeker sensors are reverse engi-neered so that they are on the majority of the time, and when a high N / high biomass patch of pasture is detected by the NDVI sensor on the weedseeker

unit, the nozzle is turned off.

In intensively grazed dairy pastures, up to 30% of the paddock area has been measured as high N patches from the previous 2-3 grazings. These patches which are the result of urine deposits, generally contain 800-1000 kg/N/ha, and as a result are not responsive to any N applied at commercially used rates.

With up to 30% of the paddock potentially not requiring N, the opportunity exists to reduce N applications, but until this concept was developed in New Zealand, there was no practical way of actually applying N between the urine patches.

While the concept has been demonstrated on a small scale, this project aims to validate the use over larger areas, and to discover any pitfalls in the practical adoption of this technology.

“There are still many unanswered questions that need to be resolved,” said James Hills, the proj-ect leader on the Tasma-

Save nitrogen on pasturesnian side of the project.

“We are still unsure of the sensitivity of the weedseeker sensors, and if they will pick one, two or three grazing rotations worth of urine patches. We would also like to determine how soon after a urine patch is deposited before it will be detected.”

Small scale calibration and validation trials are about to begin at the TIA Dairy Research Facility at Elliott in North West Tasmania to help answer some of these questions.

Urine samples will be applied in strips in a paddock which has been recently cut for silage to ensure that there will be no recent urine patches from grazing animals.

“We will be testing the small boom at different sensitivity settings across these strips every couple of days to see when and what is registering” James said.

Once the most appropriate calibrations have been determined using the small

scale boom, larger demonstrations will begin. Two 6m demonstration boomsprays will be set up with weedseeker sensors and these will be used to run demonstrations on 4 paddocks in Tasmania and 3 in Western Australia.

For further information contact Sam Taylor (WA) on 0429 332 593 or James Hills (Tasmania) on 0409 227 874.• This article was first published in the Dairying for Tomorrow newsletter.

Australia, is developing a Forage Planning process. We hope this will help farmers to think about/assess their annual feed base requirements using a better planned, more informed method.

This process will also look further into the future rather than just the next season.

This Forage Planning process will take into account your farming system, your animals’ needs (when, how much and what quality), what crops/pastures best suit your farming situation, etc.

While we don’t have control over the seasonal varia-tion, weather conditions, cash flow, milk prices and the impact and volatility of overseas milk product prices and world grain prices (due to droughts, poor seasons, etc.), this list of uncertainties have their own influence on farm-ers’ decisions because of the degree of risk they may/may not present.

There are no recipes or right answers for every farmer. Each farmer will have their own attitudes to these risks but they must in the forefront of their minds when farm-ers formulate robust forage plans to minimise the risk of these uncertainties on their livelihoods.

DPI Dairy Services Branch staff will be running pilot Forage Planning groups in 2013-2014 in Victoria’s dairying regions. The groups will meet several times to develop a Forage Plan and discuss what to sow and why.

They will then meet again to discuss management at various stages during the growth of the pastures and/or crops at sowing, germination, grazing and conservation.• Frank Mickan works at the Department of Primary Indus-tries, Ellinbank. He can be contacted at (03) 5624 2259 or via [email protected]

Forage plan ensures best feed results

FROM PAGE 27

Ultra is a true step up in yield performance, offering consistently high yields across seasons, years and regions.Ultra is high in pasture quality and safe to eat too.For further information on Ultra Enhanced perennial ryegrass, including comprehensive trial data, talk to Notman Pasture Seeds

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Weedseeker technology can be used to apply liquid nitrogen.


30 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

“I SHOULD have had one of these years ago!” was Paul Wilms’ reaction when he started using his new scraper in the middle of January this year.

Wilms’ contracting business out of Warra-gul in Victoria’s Gippsland covers a wide range of tasks, including pas-ture renovation, effluent spreading, hay trans-port and round baling and wrapping with a Vicon BalePack combination machine.

But he has just expanded the business even further, through the purchase of a Maxi600 Plougharm Scraper, man-ufactured in New Zealand by HW Industries.

“We will mainly be using the scraper to fix cow tracks on dairy farms and to install feed pads, particularly on steep tracks where trucks can’t get in,” Wilms said, when he was taking delivery of the scraper. He told us that 95% of his customers are dairy farmers, all within 70km of home.

Wilms first saw the scraper at the Mystery Creek fielddays in New

Zealand in June 2012. He said he tries to go there every year, because it seems to be the right time of year, when it’s wet in Gippsland.

The HW scrapers are distributed in Australia by Gendore Tractors and Machinery at Tooradin in West Gippsland. They have had the franchise for about two years and managing director, Derek Genoni, said the scrap-ers were a bit slow to start, but have been going out the door rapidly lately – all over the eastern seaboard.

The Maxi600 has a capacity of 7 cu m, han-dling up to 9 tonnes of material, with a cutting width of 2.6m and needs a 150hp tractor to get the job done. Wilms will be operating it with a 160hp Massey Ferguson 7475

which is in its third season. “The variable transmis-sion is ideal,” he said, “I can use the foot controller and go smoothly from two 2km/h to 30km/h.”

The scraper is fully operated from the tractor cab by simply attaching the hydraulic hoses and going to work. The inter-esting aspect is the scraper operates off the Category 3 bottom linkage arms which provide a greater carrying capacity than the drawbar.

Genoni says doesn’t need a strengthening kit for the drawbar. “This gives it its inbuilt strength. It is very solid but can be made lighter than other scraper types, plus the full width blade can cut right to the edge of the machine.”

The scraper goes where the tractor will go, giving it a high level of manoeu-vrability. “It will be bril-liant for shallow V drains, because it picks up the loose material as it shapes the drain, instead of cre-ating another issue with the removed soil,” Wilms said. “Because it is trac-tor-operated I can take the

soil onto paddocks where it is needed all in the one movement. It fills and empties in 20 seconds.

“You can build the camber on the track, cut and fill in the same spot.”

Operators can top-load crushed rock into the bucket and set the blade at the level required to spread onto the working area. The bucket empties at the front and the blade smooths out the soil as it is pulled along. Slots in the front of the bucket allow the operator to see how full it is either when fill-ing the loose ripped soil or when emptying a top load.

The Maxi 600 has front-mounted, hydrau-lically-engaged rippers and this particular unit has been rigged up partic-ularly for steep country, with a double tilt axle and hydraulic brakes.

Genoni says the HW

Industries Maxi scrapers start at 3.5 cu m and range up to 11 cu m. “The Maxi 400 is ideal for dairy farm-ers to do their own work, because it is easily han-dled by a 100hp tractor. Our most popular model is the Maxi 500 – at 5.5 cu m– and for that you’d need a 125hp tractor. These machines can do three tasks in the one job.

“The best pick-up speed for working the shape of the track is a fast walking pace. It’s so smooth!”

Wilms has been con-tracting for 25 years, start-ing work at 15 with his father, Lyle who still helps out in the PC’s Contract-ing business and Wilms employs another part-time worker. “This machine presents an opportunity to diversify the business, but still fit in with other work.”

WHO: Paul Wilms WHERE: Warragul WHAT: Maxi600 Plougharm Scraper

Versatile scraper ideal for feed pads, tracks

WORKING CLOTHESCHRIS DINGLE

Paul Wilms with the scraper.

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 31

Ag Machinery wins best IDW display

Mariette and Richard Van Dooran of Ag Machinery distribute the range of Schuitemaker machinery in Australia. They won the award for best display of the International Dairy Week Trade & Machinery Field Days.

AG MACHINERY Aus-tralia is the new distribu-tor for the Schuitemaker range of forage harvest-ers, manure spreaders and feed wagons.

Ag Machinery Australia was launched as an agency to import Schuitemaker agricultural machinery late last year by northern Victorian dairy farmers Richard and Mariette Van Dooran.

The Van Doorans have a focus on customer service, ensuring any replacement parts will be distributed overnight.

Their display at last month’s International Dairy Week Trade & Machinery Field Days, sponsored by Dairy News Australia, won the best dis-play award. It featured a Schuitemaker Calypso 110 manure spreader.

The Calypso and SMS wide spreaders are suit-able for spreading stall manure and compost. They are fitted with ver-tical distribution beaters and can be delivered in 8, 10 and 18 ton variants and in single axle or tandem axle models with a steel loading floor and galva-nized side walls as stan-dard.

The manure slide, which is placed in front of the beaters, can also serve as a measuring slide for

fine material.The Calypso and SMS

models are wide spreaders suitable for spreading stall manure, compost, chalk and garden waste among other things. The SMS is fitted with horizontal dis-tribution beaters and the Calypso with vertical dis-tribution beaters. The Calypso can be delivered in 8, 11 and 18 ton vari-ants and in single axle or tandem axle models with a steel loading floor and gal-vanized side walls as stan-dard. The manure slide, which is placed in front of the beaters, can also serve as a measuring slide for fine material.

Due to the clever con-struction of the beaters, the Calypso can produce a wide spread and still distribute a fine uniform layer.

Richard said the Calypso and the SMS were built for a long life. This could be seen in the robust, painted chassis, strengthened side panels, box section upper cage construction and heavy duty scraper floor with a hydraulic drive unit which had a variable speed con-trol, he said.

The Van Doorens left the Netherlands almost nine years ago and run 800 dairy cows on 400ha at Strathmerton in north-

ern Victoria. In 2009, they became the first dairy farmers in Australia to use DeLaval’s voluntary milk-ing system - and have the only robotic system with the cows based indoors.

They are now running both their dairy farm and their machinery distribu-tion business.

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With the Lely Astronaut milking robot every cow has its own rhythm. They can decide whether they would like to eat, rest, or be milked. That gives you the flexibility to manage your own time without fixed routines.

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A NEW silage cutter, the German-made BvL Topstar block cutter, is fast and runs minimal risk of spoiling the stack face, says distributor Webbline.

The company says though traditional shear grabs cut rel-atively cleanly, their design often makes them too slow and unable to pick up enough silage in each load to suit large-scale farmers who need to handle several tonnes daily.

The Topstar has a counter-rotating knife which cuts on three sides. The operator simply drives the forks of the Topstar into the silage stack and presses the third service button on the loader. The top part of the machine then cuts vertically down to the forks, using a scissor action.

Once cut, that whole block of silage is simply lifted out and can be tipped into the feed-out wagon. The cube shape means even the smaller-model Topstar is still capable of taking well over a tonne of silage in a single cut.

Not only does this mean fewer backward-and-forward movements for the loader operator, but the way the Top-star works requires no levering with the loader to get the silage out. It’s simply cut and lifted out like a block of Lego.

Silage block cutter reduces spoilage



Half-track tractor proves worthDAIRY FARMERS often experience limitations in the use of their wheel tractors due to very wet or undulating ground conditions.

Following an extensive evaluation process, Kubota Tractor Australia has introduced the 125hp M126X Power Krawler tractor.

“We have given the M126X Power Krawler half track tractor a really good test on dairy farms in Tasma-nia, Victoria and South Australia,” Kubota product manager Lars Pas-edag said.

This new half-track trac-tor is based on the M126X four wheel tractor and features 400mm wide rubber tracks on the rear axle for a very light footprint and big con-tact area on the ground.

“Whether the tractor was used for feeding out round bales during the wet winter months or spreading fertil-iser in very hilly terrain, our customers have confirmed the fantastic handling of the half-track tractor over a conven-

tional wheeled tractor,” Pasedag said.Unlike full crawler vehicles,

the M126X Power Krawler’s basic manoeuvrability and speed is nearly identical to that of standard four-wheel tractors, so there is no need for special operator training. The longer wheelbase, lower centre of gravity, and independently oscillating rear

tracks improves stability and keeps operators from bouncing on uneven terrain - dramatically increasing operator comfort.

“The M126X Power Krawler steers and drives just like a wheel tractor,” Pasedag said.

“The front axle in fact is identical

to the wheel tractor and the rear rubber tracks on the rear do not leave scuff-ing marks on the ground when turning which protects the soil.”

The larger track footprint offers better traction, especially in wet and hilly conditions which makes this trac-tor very safe when operating on hills,

Pasedag said.The Power Krawler’s rear weight is

distributed over the larger surface area of the rear tracks, which decreases the level of ground compaction by an esti-mated 60% compared to a standard wheel tractor of comparable size; this results in better floatation with less damage to soil.

The Power Krawler’s traction and larger ground contact area also delivers superior stability and straight-

line performance - making for a solid, smoother ride. The rear crawler design is central to the Power Krawler’s special performance capabilities. The synthetic rubber track features hard rubber lugs providing a smoother, quieter ride at higher speeds than typical steel lugs.

Both sides of the tractor are kept in contact with the ground via independently oscillating crawlers. The maintenance and process for changing crawler tracks is user-friendly due to the

split-type drive sprocket design with rotating pins.

“Experience from overseas suggests the tracks should last for between 2000 and 3500 hours depending on work load,” Pasedag said.

“A set of replacement rubber tracks is priced at around $6000 via our spare parts department which is very compet-itive as a set of rear wheels costs the end user around $5000 per set.”www.kubota.com.au

The 125hp M126X Power Krawler has been tested on dairy farmers in Tasmania, Victoria and SA.

“Whether the tractor was used for feeding out round bales during the wet winter months or spreading fertiliser in very hilly terrain, our customers have confirmed the fantastic handling of the half-track tractor over a conventional wheeled tractor.”

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 33

case ih26x5

MAHINDRA, THE top selling trac-tor in the world based on volume, has launched three new tractors to its 10-series – the 4010 Gear ROPS; 5010 HST Cab; and 6110 Shuttle Cab.

The 10-series tractors are a value line of compact economy machines designed for a multitude of uses. The new 10 series models are four-wheel drive and are available now.

Sagar Bhadkamkar, national man-ager, Mahindra Ag & Auto, Australia, said the new tractors are economical, easy to operate, and ideal for general purpose farming and livestock operations.4010 Gear ROPS

The 4010 4WD Gear ROPS fea-

tures a 38hp, 3-cylinder naturally aspi-rated fuel-injected diesel engine. It includes 9F/3R Gear transmission and will be supplied with industrial tyres as standard fitment. Bhadkamkar said the 20-40 engine horsepower segment of the market is the fastest growing seg-ment of the Australian tractor industry.

“To reinforce our product stable of Max 25, Max 28, 4025 and 4035, the 4010 slots right into our range between the ever popular 4035 Power Shuttle and 4025 2WD,” he said.

“The 4010 offers a nice point of dif-ference to the solid and high spec 4035, while still out specifying many of the competitors at this price point.”

5010 HST CabThe all-new 5010 4WD Cab Hydro-

static Drive tractor features a four-cyl-inder, 50hp engine.

The new models continue the strength of the 10 series, with a 3-point lift capacity of 1503kg, which Mahindra says is the best in its class.

Standard features on the new 5010 models include: 1 remote valve, tilt steering wheel, load sensing and cruise control, flat operator’s deck and a sus-pension seat.6110 12F / 12R Shuttle

Each 6010 tractor features a four-cyl-inder, 59hp, turbo-charged and indirect injection engine that Mahindra says is

the best in its class. Standard features on the new 10

series models include: ergonomic and spacious cabs and a flat operator’s plat-form for comfort.

6110 models include 1 remote valve,

tilt steering wheel, flat operator’s deck and a suspension seat.

The 6110 Shuttle Cab features Syn-chro-shuttle with 12 forward and 12 reverse speeds, and a 1600kg hydraulic lift capacity.

New compact Mahindra tractors

GAFFY’S TRACTOR Hire was on hand at Interna-tional Dairy Week, promoting the Seed & Forage Bagger produced by the SA-based company Seed & Forage Bags.

Gaffy’s Tractor Hire, based in Ardmona, hires a range of tractors and agricultural equipment but is also a dealer for Seed & Forage Bags, selling both the grain handling equip-ment and the bags.

Farmers can either hire or buy the machine through Gaffy’s.

Through the bagger, farmers can store grains in a safe, economic, flexible and profitable way, by storing crops or pasture in grain bags on the fields from which they were harvested or any alternate area nearby.

The harvest efficiency is also enhanced by high per-formance and low cost bagging and extraction processes, using inloader and extractor machines which are easily transportable.

Tim Gaffy said they sold the inloader for $23,500 (plus GST and freight). For those wanting to hire the inloader to store grain, the cost works out to $10/tonne.

For more details, contact Gaffy’s Tractor Hire on 0428 100 555, or Seed & Forage Bags on (08) 8352 4999.

Bag your own feed

Tim and David Gaffy in front of the Seed and Forage Bagger at International Dairy Week.

Red Hot deals on Mid-sized tRactoRsNow’s the time to get a special price on mid-sized tractors from Case IH. And, with our 3.9% p.a. finance offer,* talking to your local Case IH dealer about a tractor to suit your needs could really pay off. Visit www.caseih.com for more information.

*Terms and conditions apply. Special retail prices at participating dealers on selected models until 31st May 2013 or while stocks last. Advertised prices do not include GST. Photographs are for illustrative purposes only and may show features or accessories not included in the advertised price. Tractor prices vary by model and specifications. Finance is provided by CNH Capital to approved business applicants only. Advertised finance rate based on 30% deposit, 36 months, annual or monthly repayments. Special prices and finance rate may be available on tractor models not specified in this advertisement. For more information talk to your local Case IH dealer.

MaXXUM 4 cylindeR

From $73,000* (plus GST)

• 101hp turbocharged engine• 16 x 16 semi powershift• 80 litre hydraulics• 2 x remote valves• 3 speed soft start PTO• Heavy duty axles• Deluxe air conditioned cab

with air suspension seat

MaXXUM 6 cylindeR


• 117hp 6 cyl turbocharged/intercooled engine

• 16 x 16 semi powershift• 2 x remote valves• 3 speed soft start PTO• Heavy duty axles• Deluxe air conditioned cab

with air suspension seat

JXU caB


• 86hp 4 cyl turbo/ intercooled engine

• 12x12 clutchless power shuttle

• 2 x remote valves• 3 speed PTO

• 4WD

check out some of these special retail prices available before 31st May 2013:


Outlander 500 XT.


CAN AM and BRP are synonymous with build-ing top-class recreational vehicles with the brand

now taking market share off the established makes with their range of capable Quad bikes.

In 500cc spec, the Outlander XT is a com-fortable and versatile mid-

range machine, that would shame some of the larger capacity ATV’s. In Canary yellow, you will not lose this machine in the pad-dock, unless it’s full of Buttercup!

With its 40 hp V twin, fuel injected Rotax engine there is plenty of go, and the Outlander in 500, 650, 800 and 1000cc are the only ATV’s on the New Zealand market with

Outlander XT great value for moneyBERNARD LILBURN

adjustable power steering, called Tri-mode Dynamic Power Steer (DPS) in Can Am speak. Sounds like a gimmick? Believe

me; it works –with three settings that adjust the amount of assistance provided.

Suspension is key to this machine and it’s a great ride. A torsional trailing arm at the rear provides class-leading comfort and the McPher-son double A arm front suspension keeping it all balanced and plush. Hidden in the front wheels are two big 214mm ventilated disc brakes with twin calipers and a single disc – the same size for the rear. With this bike coming from the US, the left hand brake operates both axles. This provides progressive and con-trolled braking, while the foot brake only operates the rear brakes as is usual.

With front suspension travel of 229mm and rear, 236mm, there is plenty of room to soak up bumps and ground clearance is 279mm. Solidly built, the 500 XT tips the scales at 320 kg, which is heavier than almost all Japanese Quads. This has a bear-ing on towing ability, and is rated at a class-lead-ing 600kg. Rack capacity is 136kg, and the test unit came with the standard heavy duty bumpers front and rear, which adds to the look too.

The Outlander 500 XT is packed with features, such as the selectable 2 and 4 wheel drive system, with the trademarked Visco-Lok front differen-tial. This works by detect-ing slip and diverting traction to the wheel that isn’t spinning, much like the clever All Wheel Drive systems found in expen-sive cars.

A comprehen-sive “multimeter”

dash display keeps track of fuel, time, speed, hours with trip functions along with a rev counter. The 500 XT comes standard with a 3000lb (1500kg) WARN 8 winch with roller fairlead and remote con-trol. Useful!

I went on an 80km “cockies day out” around the hills of Hunterville in the Rangitikei, NZ, run by the Poukiore Dog Trial Club. I was amazed at how well the Outlander treated me, and my daughter, who was very sore after being beaten up by a horse the day before.

We alternated between a 400cc Outlander and the test rig. And the dif-ference is? If the 400 is a Hi-Lux, then the 500 is the latest Range-Rover – such is the difference in power, comfort and ease of oper-ation. We negotiated some hairy slopes on the ride and it was amazing to see the non-Japanese machines scrabble their way up and down the hills with no drama, helped by the excellent CVT trans-missions –meaning that the machine is in the right gear every time!

The engine braking on the 500 isn’t as good as its smaller sibling, but still plentiful enough for strong downhill control.

The Outlander on test is in run-out mode, with the new G2 version with altered styling and a few upgrades imminently due. These machines are very well priced. See your local dealer for a sharp deal.Visit www.canamofferoad.com/au/home to find a dealer near you.

FARM WORLD SHOW PREVIEWIn the March issue of Dairy News we’ll be previewing Farm World. One of the largest field day events in Australia, Farm World attracts visitors from throughout Victoria, southeast of South Australia and Tasmania. It has grown to be Victoria’s largest regional agricultural event, attracting more than 650 exhibitors and 50,000 people to Warragul between March 21st - 24th. Where to go, what to see – all covered in our March preview.BOOKING DEADLINE: February 29 AD MATERIAL DEADLINE: March 6PUBLISHED: March 13CONTACT: MAX HYDE ON 03 5792 1314 OR [email protected]

NEXT ISSUE: MARCH

SPECIAL REPORT

International Dairy Week 2013

Dairy & Machinery Field DaysA tremendous week for the Australian dairy industry

IDW wishes to thank Dairy News Australia for their wonderful support of the second annual field days

and look forward to planning 2014

Congratulations to Ag Machinery Australia for winning the Best Exhibitor SiteCongratulations to Sharyn Griffiths for winning the weekend holiday package

IDW wish to thank and encourage support for the following businesses for the latest in dairy related machinery, products, goods and services

ADF Milking

Ag Machinery Australia

Ag Mat

Archards Irrigation

ATEL

Australian Waste Engineering

Aust Rural

Bale Up Hayfeeders

Basille Bailing

Boltons Hoof Trimming

Brookwood International

BWR Machinery

Claas Harvest Centre

CopRice

Dairy Grooving

Dairy News Australia

Dairy Tech Refrigeration

Daviesway

Eastern Spreaders

Easy Dairy Automation Systems

ET Services

Farm Tech Machinery

Farm Tender

Farmers Marketing Network

Farm Automation Australia

Felco Distribution

Gaffys Tractor Hire

GEA Farm Technologies

Global Dairy Systems

Goulburn Murray Water

GrowGreen

GV Dairy Supplies

High Street Vacuums & Electrical

Home Touch

Hunter Rural

John Sanderson Machinery

Kilter Rural

Kyabram Motorcycle & Power Equipment

Kyabram Veterinary Clinic

Livestock Improvement

Maxi Feeder

Muck Runner Pty Ltd

Michaels Moama

Murray Goulburn

Northern Feed Systems

Norwood Agriculture

Pacific Bio-Tech

Preg Test Australia

Reese Agri

RP Rural Engineering

RPS Industries

Rubicon Water

Seed Force

Skiold & Vacuum Milling Solutions

Steinfort AgVet

Sunergy Solar Water Wind

Thermal Recovery Systems

W&P Pumps

Wind Solar Air

WorkSafe

Site bookings for IDW 2014

will open from 1 August.

Call Robyn Barber 0418 656 082


Freefax: 1800 889 037

ZOOMTM

IS AVAILABLE FROM YOURLOCAL SEED MERCHANT OR FARM

MERCHANDISE OUTLET

www.cropmark.com.au

TrialData

To view the performance of ZoomTM

in trials, visit our web site:www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx

For further information on ZoomTM, contact our regional agronomists:Western Districts, SA, Tasmania: Jason Hill – 0427 607 375North & East Victoria, NSW: Adam Sheedy – 0428 132 096

ZoomTM – the kingof annual ryegrasses

ZoomTM is the latest tetraploid annual ryegrass fromCropmark Seed’s plant breeding programme.

ZoomTM is a specialist winter feed. An ideal break crop betweenmaize and other crops, it is very quick to establish and showsexceptional autumn/winter growth and rapid re-growth. ZoomTM

offers the advantages of excellent palatability and highmetabolisable energy content.

ZoomTM can provide multiple grazings over autumn and winterbefore being shut up for high quality silage in the spring.

Dairy News Feburary 2013

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Transcript of Dairy News Feburary 2013