THE BIG SQUEEZE SUNGOLD SHINES Field days still going strong PAGE 14-15 BOWING OUT SA’s James Stacey quits dairy PAGE 6 MG holds price at $5.60kg/MS PAGE 3 It’s crunch time for farmers in the Murray Darling Basin PAGE 7 MARCH, 2016 ISSUE 67 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au www.lely.com.au innovators in agriculture Maximise your productivity... ...WITH A LELY ASTRONAUT A4 ROBOTIC MILKING SYSTEM The robot ensures the highest achievable milk quality while its unique management tools ensures you have full control over your herd. Call Lely Australia today on 1300 946 306 for more information.
Transcript
THE BIG SQUEEZE
SUNGOLD SHINESField days still going strongPAGE 14-15
BOWING OUTSA’s James Stacey quits dairy PAGE 6
MG holds price at $5.60kg/MS PAGE 3
It’s crunch time for farmers in the Murray Darling Basin PAGE 7
An improved pasture focus and good seasonal conditions has seen Andrew Wilson, from Woodlawn in northern NSW, grow production by 18%. Page 26-27
PHOTO: GORDON COLLIE
Hopes dashed as $5.60kg/MS holds
AUSTRALIAN MILK production and profitability is expected to trend up-wards for the next two seasons before levelling off to 2020, according to five year projections at the ABARES Outlook Conference in Canberra last week .
ABARES senior economist Peter Col-lins told the conference that farm gate milk prices were expected to improve from an average 48.7 cents in 2016-17 to a peak of 51.1 cents by 2018-19.
Firming Australian prospects would reflect continuing short term gains in world prices for cheese, butter and milk powder, Mr Collins said.
Australian milk production is expected to lift 2% to 9.8 billion litres in 2016-17, before peaking above 10 bil-lion litres.
Most of the gain would come from improved yields reflecting better genet-ics, farm management and increased use of grain feeding, particularly in Victoria and Tasmania. The dairy herd is expected to rise slowly to about 1.79 million over the next five years.
Dairy to grow for next two years
FARMERS ARE disappointed but unsurprised by the news that Murray Goulburn will maintain its opening price of $5.60kg/MS announced as part of a half-yearly financial statement last week.
South Australian farmer Matt Seeliger took to Twitter with the hashtag #605keepthedrea-malive, adding that anyone who believed $6.05kg/MS was going to be reached by Murray Goul-burn “must have been living in a cave.”
South west Victorian Murray Goulburn supplier Craig Dettling said the announcement wasn’t a shock.
“If you were following their commentary it was obvious commodity prices had to come up to achieve higher prices, so it’s not unexpected,” Mr Dettling said.
“Everyone would have liked to have $6.05 but given what’s
happening in global markets and with prices in other countries we didn’t expect anything more.”
Mr Dettling said his farm would cope with the stagnant price.
“We budget on opening and have contingencies for step-downs and see step-ups as extras. We’re comfortable with it.”
Port Campbell farmer Ross Powell said he was grateful that the price hadn’t gone down.
Mr Powell said he had bud-geted for $5.60 this season and hadn’t been confident of step-ups.
“Historically $5.60 is a rea-sonable price but we haven’t had price increases to cover the extra costs we’ve had over the years,” he said. “It makes it hard for a lot of farmers; our costs are rising but our price isn’t.”
Announcing a $10 million Net Profit After Tax, down from $15.2 million in the first half of 2015,
managing director Gary Helou said continued low commodity prices had hurt the co-operative’s ingredients and nutritionals seg-ments, with revenue down 13% to $517 million.
“Against this backdrop, MG has continued to perform well, with substantial further prog-ress made in moving product mix from commodity products towards higher-margin, value-added or ready-to-consume dairy food,” Mr Helou said.
He said farmgate milk prices are “significantly above those achieved when global commod-ity prices were last at these low levels.”
The co-operative also announced it will launch its own Devondale Natra Start infant formula, to strengthen its offer-ing from the Devondale brand in China, where it is already a lead-ing UHT and consumer milk brand.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
4 // AUSTRALIAN DAIRY CONFERENCE
FARMING LOBBY groups are in a vicious cycle of declining memberships, rising costs and reduced farmer engagement which could see them become increasingly irrelevant in a rapidly changing environment, according to a consultant hired by the National Farmers Federation.
Speaking on a panel with Australian Dairy Farmers president Simone Jolliffe, United Dairyfarmers president Adam Jenkins and Moxey Farms general manager Quentin Moxey at the Australian Dairy Conference in Shepparton last month, FTI Consulting’s Rob Hadler said activists groups such as Animals Australia and Get Up were “killing” farmers in the media and government.
Farm lobby groups needed to streamline costs and communications if they were to compete.
“Your right to farm is under threat – whether it’s bobby calves with Animals Australia, the use of with GM feed or genetic technology through Greenpeace, or climate change with Get Up.
“Unless you can compete with those organisations you will not have a seat at the table. And that’s happening now – it’s not a future threat,” he said.
Mr Hadler, who worked on a nine month project to improve operations at NFF last year, said he dug into the membership and financial position of all the state and commodity councils and concluded all were “broke or
would be broke within the next five years”. Since the review, the NFF has agreed it will need to end duplication at state and commodity levels as much as possible, creating one organisation that could be more effective at much lower cost.
But Australian Dairy Farmers president Simone Jolliffe said while ADF would remain aligned with the NFF and contribute to it on a variety of levels “there’s times when we would need to sit out on our own and advocate for things very specific to dairy”.
She cited the recent China FTA
as an example.“We were really driving for
outcomes that were specifically beneficial to dairy. And the only way we could do that was as a dairy organisation with a strong voice.”
Mrs Jolliffe conceded there were still some efficiencies to be gained for issues that related to the whole of agriculture and through some “shared servicing”.
“It’s considering what the model might look in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years to best service agriculture and to best service dairy,” she said.
Mrs Jolliffe said at a national level, ADF’s business memberships had gone up the last 12 months, and her understanding at a state level was that memberships were stable.
She said a major review was not needed as it was only three years ago that the ADF had gone through
a major restructure.“Financial efficiency is
something that we are always conscious of and looking for ways to improve, and there will be challenges to overcome in streamlining everything that we do, but our priority is to ensure dairy farmers do have effective and strong representation, relevance and accountability.”
United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Adam Jenkins said there was room for improvement in how the groups communicated with members and engaged farmers.
“Maybe we haven’t done a job since we changed to deregulation in picking up the new technologies that we need to do, to make sure we can advocate
effectively,” he said.“We need make sure
we are relevant and we are communicating. We need to lift the lid off how we advocate, on how we do things, and how we make things, we need to all be prepared to change.”
Gooloogong dairy farmer Quentin Moxey said there was a lot of duplication in terms of the communication from industry and member bodies and there was a need for some consolidation to ensure it was relevant and efficient.
“One hundred percent respect to where we’ve got and how we got here, but we need to take a clean view,” Mr Moxey said.
“(We should) support our organisations, they are on the journey and the discussion is hap-pening but I’m fully in support of change, consolidation and new ways.”
THEY SAID IT...
“None of us would enter into long term contracts if it wasn’t of value to us as processors, which ultimately is for the farmers.”
– Philip Tracy, Murray Goulburn.
“We’ll have to review the way we farm if water prices keep going north.” - Nick Ryan, Lancaster
“Farmers say they never have any money until the farm next door comes up for sale.”
– David Williams, Kidder Williams Ltd.
“Have more ‘hey, why not?’ moments in your business and your personal lives.”
– Janet Moxey, Moxey Farms.
“It’s amazing the amount of people in the city think we milk once a day, five days a week.”
– Wayne Somerville, Jonsey’s Dairy Fresh.
“The speed of technological advancement has outpaced, by a long way, our ability to turn data into better actions on farm.”
– Dr Cameron Clark, University of Sydney.
“The operating environment for dairy processors is very challenging versus our global counterparts.”
– Michael Harvey, Rabobank Australia. “(A2 and Bellamy’s Organic show) it’s not always about size and scale. It can be about business model and investment.”
- Barry Irvin, Bega Cheese.
“As farmers we need to protect our image, even at farmer level. We need to be fulfilling our obligations in relation to keeping our image safe and clean. Making sure we do all the right things and lead the world in that space. That’s protecting the right to play in this high value space.”
– Philip Tracy, Murray Goulburn.
“We’re silly if we think we are the only ones that can play the provenance card. Provenance alone won’t do it for you. You need a branding strategy that carries that provenance piece with it, and it’s about building brand loyalty.” – Barry Irvin, Bega Cheese.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
AUSTRALIAN DAIRY CONFERENCE // 5
LEADERSHIP THOUGH strong gover-nance is critical for farmers, and the sector more broadly, if the dairy industry is going to seize the opportunities of the decades ahead.
That was the message from Rabobank director and former Fonterra chair Sir Henry van der Heyden to the delegates at this year’s Australian Dairy Conference.
A fourth generation dairy farmer, Mr van der Heyden and his wife started out as a share farmers and have grown the busi-ness to have dairy investments in both the North and South Islands in New Zealand, as well as the US and South America.
“Governance is about creating share-holder value through growth,” he said.
“I’m only involved in businesses where I can pull that lever for growth. It’s such an important part of the value creation chain.”
Mr van der Heyden said the Australian and New Zealand dairy industries could no longer rest on their natural advantages, and while there are huge opportunities the landscape is highly competitive.
“Consumers want a Rolls Royce but only want to pay for a Skoda,” he said.
“We have to deliver more and more, cheaper and cheaper and at the same time actually try to create some value. We are really being squeezed.
“We cannot stand still, we cannot do the same. It’s not an option.
“We have to produce more, produce it better, at a higher quality, with lower inputs of time, resources and costs.”
He said leadership, including at farm level, was the key to meeting this challenge.
“The first part of successful leadership is lifting governance,” he said.
Sound business management, and accountability to a board, was important
if farm businesses were to maximise value and grow.
“Having a board and a three to five year plan keeps the banks happy and can actu-ally save money and minimise risk.”
He said a board should be made up of people that were already successful and could really challenge what you are doing on farm.
“It’s getting people at a strategic level to bring their knowledge and experience to the business. It may be monthly, it may only be quarterly, but it can give you ideas, energy and momentum to drive your busi-ness.”
He said boards could add value by look-ing to the bigger picture and focussing on business objectives and that separating governance from representation was key.
“There’s always this blur when you sit on a cooperative board – are you there as a governor or are you there representing farmers?
“One of the best innovations when we formed Fonterra was to separate those two roles.
“When you are on the board as a gover-nor your focus has to be much more to the global marketplace; while the sharehold-ers councillors represent the voice of the farmers.
“So much value got created in that sep-aration alone.”
He said diversity of opinion, back-ground, age and gender was also critical to creating successful leadership.
“You cannot dismiss capability, but gender and diversity are very important.”
Mr van der Heyden also highlighted Rabobank’s Executive Development Pro-gram as a valuable tool for farmers to develop their business management skills.
Strong governance critical to success
On strong governance: ■ Have an annual budget that you
own
■ Report against your budget at least quarterly
■ Have a 3-5 year business plan (strategic goals, what does it look like)
■ Have a succession plan
■ Have some form of governance
(board) over your business.
On leadership: ■ Have a vision and a strategy
■ Put a robust governance framework in place
■ Understand the end customer
■ Set out new ideas and innovations. Learn from others
■ Use technology to help reduce input costs.
VOX POP:At morning tea on Day Two, Dairy News asked delegates what they had enjoyed at the ADC Conference so far and why:
“I thought Richard (Westlake) was a very interesting and an engaging presenter and what he said about advisory boards mat-tered to us, so it was food for thought.”
- Michelle Brown, Dunrobin Dairy Farm, Tasmania
“I liked Jeanette (Moxey) this morning because they started off so small and now, with their good manage-ment and their planning, they’ve got a huge farm milking 3800 cows. Just showing anything is possible and you can achieve so much with good management.”
- Zoe Brown, Dunrobin Dairy Farm, Tasmania
“The main thing I’ve got out of the conference is the importance of governance, and really out-sourcing ideas and so forth into our business. And the other thing that I really thought was good was the water session yesterday. As much as it was hard to hear, it was what we needed to hear, and I applaud them for getting someone in (David Williams) to whack us around the ears and give us a bit of a reality check. I think we need to step away from what we are drowning in and look at it from the outside. That doesn’t mean to say that I think it’s all right, or fair what is being dished up to us, but we have to concentrate on what we can control.”
- Susan Wearden, Taripta Dairy, Kyabram
“Yesterday was pretty good. I enjoyed listen-ing to the differ-ent processors over here. Being in WA we don’t get to hear a lot about what’s going on over
here. David Williams was good, but water is not an issue for me. It’s been a great learning experience and I’ll be able to take it home and talk to Dad about things I’ve learned and try and implement a few things at home.”
– Luke Ieraci, Brunswick WA
“I like today a bit better because it was practical and made me think - about what an advi-sory board might look like, and both Moxey farms and the Billings’ farm, showing how they look after their staff and value their staff.”
– Brenda McLachlan, BEC Feed Solutions.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
6 // NEWS
ONE OF South Austra-lia’s most outspoken dairy farmers is leaving the industry and firing a few parting shots on the way out.
Faced with a poten-tial $800,000 bill for a new dairy, James Stacey has instead decided to buy more land and focus on different agricultural pur-suits.
He’s reluctant to leave dairy but he sees little alternative due to the likelihood of continued depressed milk prices and stagnating values for dairy land.
At the end of April he will sell all his cows.
“We’re moving out of dairy but maintaining the hay and contracting and moving into grain and seed production and will run beef cattle as well.”
With nearly 6000 fol-lowers on Twitter, Mr Stacey is one of dairy’s most active commentators and has no plans to quit the social media platform.
“I enjoy social media,” he said. “I’ll continue to highlight potential chal-lenges and opportuni-ties for agriculture in the future and I’ll continue to question the compulsory levy collection and how that’s spent in whatever industry I’m involved in.
“Representation is very important but account-ability in how producers’
money is spent is critical.”Mr Stacey completed a
trade after school before returning to the family farm at Langhorne Creek 20 years ago.
He and wife Rachael stepped up from 25% to 50% sharefarmers before purchasing and leasing parts of the farm and run-ning it since 2002.
At the moment the 140ha property has 160 cows producing 1.3 million litres a year. The farm won the Red Sky Dairy Busi-ness of the Year award in 2008 and was a finalist in 2010.
Mr Stacey says dairy has been good to the family and ending the link will be hard, but his head has overruled his heart.
Head overruled heart in decision to quit dairyingRICK BAYNE
“We live in a peri-urban zone so our asset value is influenced by that encroachment,” he said.
“I didn’t believe spend-ing $800,000 on a dairy would add any value to our property and buying more land is expensive.
“We have to move stock across the road four times a day. If we built a new dairy that prob-lem would be fixed but I couldn’t see any justifica-tion in spending a large sum of money and then get a milk price that this coming season (which) is potentially going to be between $5 and $5.50/kg/MS.”
“That doesn’t excite me too much in terms of making a return on invest-ment.”
Mr Stacey says crop-ping land has retained or increased its value in the region while dairy land has stagnated or gone back-wards.
The Staceys plan to purchase more unim-proved farmland for crop-ping.
“We’ve chosen an option that is probably safer than investing more into dairy,” Mr Stacey added.
“We priced robots and conventional dairies but it’s got to the point that the risk profile of investing in steel and concrete isn’t that exciting.”
Citing a reduction in competition since the demise of UDP, Mr Stacey says that if dairy is to grow
in South Australia it will be along the Murray River or in the south-east, not in the Adelaide Hills.
“Dairy has a future, like all agricultural produc-tion because people need to eat and drink milk, but I think we’re in for a couple of years that are going to be pretty tight with milk prices as the world supply and demand balances out,” he said.
His cows are being sold to a bigger farm which will expand its herd to 700.
“They’ve got a new dairy so they can get those economies of scale. You can secure a long-term milk supply agree-ment a lot better if you’ve got volume. Where I’m located I can’t achieve the necessary size to create savings.”
Describing dairy as a low-risk, low-return industry, Mr Stacey says there’s been a shift to higher value dairy prod-ucts with smaller proces-sors seeking to add more
value to milk.“Those players pay a
little bit more than export-ers but because the export price is under pressure, there’s not a lot of pres-sure on the domestic pro-cessors to pay any more than what they’re paying at the moment.”
Despite his exit, Mr Stacey said good busi-nesses awareness of their cost structures will con-tinue to prosper.
“Those on the margins will be under pressure,” he adds. “They will continue to make money as long as seasons are favourable but throw in a drought or two and it’s going to be harder.”
Despite moving on, he’s still agitating for cost sav-ings and ensuring farmer levy money is well spent.
“Some companies are improving logistics through milk swaps but in South Australia you’ve got four different transport companies carting milk around a small region.
That doesn’t make a lot of economic sense to me.
“As agriculture changes there are fewer farm-ers but there’s still a large pool of research and extension money. I think some industries are strug-gling to work out how they can spend that money effectively.”
Mr Stacey is particu-larly disappointed that money invested in devel-oping genetically modified technology for pasture production isn’t being rolled out to Australian dairy farmers.
“We need new tech-nology of dairy farms to improve our productivity. We’ve developed the tech-nology and should be able to use it.
“Industry and govern-ment is all about inno-vation but with Dairy Australia putting GM grass on the back burner is inno-vation really what they want?”– Sorghum biofuel trial, p.9
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Dai ry NewS aUSTraLia march 2016
news // 7
THe AusTrAliAn Dairy Industry Council wants the Federal Gov-ernment to delay a cru-cial decision on the Murray Darling Basin Plan by at least 12 months.
ADIC’s water task-force chair, Daryl Hoey, said the final amount to be recovered for the environ-ment, known as the Sustain-able Diver-sion Limit Adjustment Mechanism, should not be finalised until the socio-economic effects were properly measured and the full 650GL nominated in the plan to come from environmental projects was determined.
The water taskforce will ramp up its lobby-ing efforts in the coming weeks in order to ensure the final amount of water recovered for the envi-ronment under the MDBP does not devastate the region’s dairy commu-nities, which are already feeling the impacts of less water through reduced allocations and drought.
Mr Hoey (pictured) said it is also critical that the additional 450GL which could be secured for the environment be ‘paused’ until the full
2750GL of water removed from agricultural produc-tion is achieved.
“We need the (June 2016) deadline pushed out by at least 12 months,” he said.
He said neither the industry nor the MDBA had modelled how jobs or farms in the region could be affected if the
extra 450GL water was removed, but it would be “significant”.
“You’ve got to get to a critical tip-ping point in some regions about just
how much critical mass you need, how much water you need, just to keep some of these areas viable.
“Farmers can only afford to pay so much.”
He said resetting the troubled Connections project – a two-stage proj-ect to modernise and rationalise the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District’s ageing water infrastructure - was also crucial to ensur-ing the region could deliver the necessary efficiencies to meet the targets in the MDBP.
He said with the SDL Adjustment Mechanism scheduled to be finalised by the end of June, the next few months were key.
However, he remained cautiously optimistic the right people were listening.
Basin Plan at crucial tipping point
“Farmers can only afford to pay so much.”
– ADIC water taskforce chair
Daryl Hoey.
MAdeleine BrennAn“From what we can
gather from Canberra there some politicians making noise but there’s no political party that’s pushing back on some of
the items,” Mr Hoey said. “They understand it.
“There may be some farmers and politicians talking about turning the whole thing on its head or
scrapping the whole thing, but there’s no political appetite for that.
“We are better off slow-ing the process down and getting the right outcome.”
Connections project vital to region’s successCOHunA dAiry farmer John Keely is holding on to his water for dear life.
“I haven’t sold it and I won’t sell it,” the irrigator and Nuffield scholar says.
“It’s our greatest asset and I put a far greater value on it than what they’ve offered us.”
By ‘they’ he means the Commonwealth Environ-ment Water Holder, and Mr Keely says although sell-ing water entitlements has helped some farmers ‘out of a bind’, the effects are damaging to the region in the long-term.
“There’s untold amounts land that is not in produc-tion at all, even over the winter months, there’s noth-ing.”
to page 8
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
8 // NEWS
He said the need for water at an affordable price was make or break for the region.
“Water is the most precious resource we’ve got here, without it, here in northern Victoria, this area would be no different to the other side of Swan Hill. It’s a simple as that. We’d be back to one or two farms between Echuca and Swan Hill.”
Mr Keely said although the Connections program had so far failed to deliver, it was essential upgrades to the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District – one of the oldest and largest in Victoria – go ahead.
“We really need the Connections program to be delivered and modernised,” he said. “If we don’t, we’re left with a structure that becomes obsolete and the costs of repairing it becomes so ridiculous you endan-ger everyone in the system.”
He also believed the additional 450GL potentially earmarked for the environment “would kill us” if allo-cated now.
“It’s not offset, so it has real potential to be detri-mental to the Murray Dairy region as well as in NSW.”
He said the cost of purchasing temporary water already meant farmers couldn’t afford to have any more water taken out of the region.
“People would be snapping up $140/ML now – the cheapest you can get at the moment is about $210/ML.”
Despite the challenges, Mr Keely said he was opti-mistic the issues could be worked through.
“There’s a bright future, there is a future here for the industry,” he said. “Irrigating farmers have already done a lot of adapting over the last 10-15 years, and we will continue to look at all technologies and take on whatever we think is best for our farms.
“But we need to be profitable to see some of those changes through.”• Note: At the time of going to press, Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville was due to meet with farmers at Echuca to discuss the Connections program, water trad-ing and the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
Connections project vital to region’s success
FROM PAGE 7
ICE CREAM will be the big success story for dairy co-op Norco in South East Asia, helping to drive annual growth in supplier milk production by a solid five percent, chairman Greg McNamara said last week.
Mr McNamara, who delivered a positive address at the ABARES Outlook Conference in Canberra on March 1, said Norco had successfully pioneered the air freighting of milk into China, where it sells on supermarket shelves for $8 to $10/litre, cashing in on a perception that UHT product is not fresh enough.
But ice cream is set to be the product star with an intensive program over the past 18 months aimed at developing flavours and packaging for Asian tastes.
Total ice cream sales now comprise more than 20% of the co-operatives’ $510 million annual turnover.
“There has been a real challenge for us in educating the Asian market and in educating ourselves to meet their needs,” Mr McNamara said.
“This process has been crucial for us
to maintain our product premiums and our marketing edge.”
He said the Norco brand and its tradition in dairying for more than a century was a key part of the narrative for Asian customers.
Reliability of supply was also critical.“We are not in the seasonal
commodity business,” he said.Mr McNamara said maintaining a
geographic spread of milk suppliers was a key element of intake security. The co-operative is actively seeking to expand its milk intake and has taken on 13 new start-up farms in the last 12 months.
New participants in dairying typically started with 80 to 100 cows and are encouraged to build up numbers and production.
Mr McNamara said producers new to dairying are welcomed for the fresh perspective they bring to the industry,
being open to adopting new farming methods and technologies.
It was also a key part of encouraging generational change.
At the other end of the production scale, there was also interest from corporate suppliers looking to start up
large new dairies.“We have a number of policies to
support our farmers and are investing in technology and innovation to improve productivity and profitability. We must produce more from what we have,” Mr McNamara said.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
NEWS // 9
THE PROTRACTED saga around the sale of the Australia’s largest dairy Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) Company appears to be over with the Foreign Investment Review Board and Treasurer Scott Morrison granting approval for the sale of the business to Chinese company Moonlake Investments.
Last month, Tasmanian business woman Jan Cameron led a lobbying effort to halt the sale, saying it threatened local food security and was not in the national interest.
Following the announcement, she told the ABC’s World Today program: “(The Chinese) are trying secure proper-ties in Australia to support their population. I don’t blame them for that, but to some degree it’s at our expense.
“The Australian public have to understand that because of the need to secure food security in China, they will never sell the agricultural properties they buy here.”
Tasmanian Indepen-dent Senator Andrew Wilkie also expressed his disappointment at the sale.
“Shipping out bulk low value commodi-ties, whether it be milk or woodchips, isn’t the answer to Tasmania’s eco-nomic challenges. If you want to add value and grow the economy, then a prestigious place of origin VDL food brand, espe-cially one with associ-ated tourism components, would have been a much better option.”
Treasurer Scott Mor-rison said there was no reason to object to the sale – which is already foreign-owned by New Zealand’s New Plymouth District Council – and that it was not a threat to Australian jobs or food supply.
“Moon Lake Investments have given guarantees that all current VDL employees will be offered ongoing employment with Moon Lake on terms no less favourable than their current employment arrangements,” Mr Morrison said.
“Moon Lake has also committed to undertake a number of investment projects in the VDL farms, which will provide additional economic activity to the Tasmanian economy, and based upon Moon Lake’s estimates will result in a near doubling of employment at VDL (of an expected 95 jobs).”
He said the company, owned by Chinese billionaire Lu Xianfeng (pictured), would continue to supply the milk produced at
VDL under the same contractual terms that are currently in place.
“This provides assur-ance that there will not be an impact on the supply of milk and milk prod-ucts in Australia. Indeed, the investment that Moon Lake proposes to under-take may result in an increased supply,” he said.
Tasmania’s peak farm-ing organisation also wel-comed the news.
“Moon Lake Invest-ments’ continued invest-ment in the sector will further reinforce the importance of the dairy industry, and agribusi-ness in general, to the Tas-manian economy,” TFGA CEO Peter Skillern said.
“We look forward to building a close working relationship with Mr Lu into the future.”
The Treasurer said the company has commit-ted to honour the terms of environmental and cul-tural agreements entered into by VDL, including with the local Aboriginal
Go-ahead granted for VDL sale
Lu Xianfeng.(SOURCE: NINGBO.GOV.CN)
community. “This also includes
the ‘in principle’ approval for construction of a ‘Devil Proof Fence’ at its Woolnorth property
to help reduce the spread of Devil Facial Tumour Disease among the Tasmanian Devil population,” he said.
The company will also
be subject to new tax laws which aim to reduce tax avoidance by foreign companies through prosecution or forced sale of assets.
“Shipping out bulk low value commodities, whether it be milk or woodchips, isn’t the answer to Tasmania’s economic challenges.”
– Senator Andrew Wilkie
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Dai ry News aUsTraLia march 2016
10 // news
LARGe scALe solar power could begin to transform energy consumption across the agriculture sector in as little as 18 months, according to leading University of Queensland scientist, Paul Meredith.
“It will be a no brainer as the cost of battery
storage comes down dramatically,” said Professor Meredith, whose role as clean energy program director oversees the commercial and research functions of a solar farm at Gatton Campus, the largest of any university in the world.
“Solar will have great application to agriculture, from farms right through the food processing chain.
“We will see solar used to power irrigation, heating and cooling, leading the renewable impact and maximising the economic return to producers.”
Professor Meredith led an inspection tour of the solar facility at the Queensland Farmers Federation (QFF) renewable energy day held at Gatton on February 16.
The Gatton solar farm, which includes more than 30,000 solar panels, generated more than six gigawatt (gW) hours of electricity in its first year, returning $750,000 to the university.
It provides a unique comparison of fixed panels with sophisticated single axis sun trackers and pole-mounted dual axis solar arrays.
The single-axis system was generating 10 to 15% more power (than the fixed panels) and the dual axis 20 to 25% more.
A new lithium polymer battery system commissioned just before Christmas is capable of storing 600 kilowatts (kW)
of peak power. It will enhance the university’s research of commercial scale solar.
The price of battery-stored power, such as the much hyped Tesla Powerwall, is predicted to fall below $1/kW and as the technology becomes a commercial proposition batteries would be routinely installed with new solar panels.
“Solar is set to make real business sense for agriculture in the near future,” Professor Meredith said.
Cheap solar era edges closer as battery storage costs fallGoRdon coLLie
QFF ENERGY project manager Andrew Chamberlin said there were major savings to be made from more efficient use of energy.
The extent of savings – some more than 50% – were highlighted in extensive farm energy audits covering hundreds of farms in Queensland and across Australia.
The QFF has established the Energy Savers Plus website as a one-stop shop for producers seeking information.
In the dairy industry, many producers across the country are already reaping the benefits identified under a major Dairy Australia program to showcase smarter use of energy.
Case studies illustrating the value to be recovered include Queensland producers Matthew and Allison Cahill from Rathdowney who are enjoying significant energy savings at their robotic dairy.
Greater water use efficiency resulted from the installation of a centre pivot irrigator for pastures and silage which delivers better production while using less pumping energy.
As a result of an on-farm energy audit, the Cahills have also highlighted savings within their dairy, from installing a milk pre-cooling system to replacing their effluent sump pump.
Farmers thinking of developing or adopting energy savings technologies have plenty of incentive, with the Gatton day highlighting funding grants and loans available.
Gabriele Sartori, a business development specialist with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, said about $1.4 billion in grant funding was yet to be allocated for projects which contributed to knowledge sharing of energy savings from research and development through to pre-commercial phases.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) also helps fund a growing group of multi-million dollar projects.
The corporation’s head of portfolio management Paul Greenup said an innovative approach had been taken to supporting smaller projects, such as farm-scale works, by partnering with major banks and lending institutions.
The CEFC has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars, typically matched by the lenders, which were then able to offer customers short term loans at reduced interest rates.
eneRGy sAvinGs theRe foR the tAkinG
Queensland producer Matthew Cahill from Rathdowney is enjoying significant energy savings at their robotic dairy.
The energy forum also showcased the latest technologies to extract
value from agricultural waste producing energy and biogas.
Affordable battery storage technology will transform energy use in the decade ahead.
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
NEWS // 11
AGL ENERGY and NSW dairy industry body, Dairy Connect, have signed a Cooperation Agreement which aims to cut energy costs and improve environmental sustainability for dairy farmers.
AGL managing director and CEO, Andy Vesey, signed the agreement with Dairy Connect CEO, Mr Mike Logan, on the Drury’s robotic dairies at Upper Landsdowne, near Taree, New South Wales on February 26.
The agreement will see three digital meter trials conducted on three dairies on the NSW mid-north coast – including the Drury farm, Gloucester farmer Graham Forbes and Taree dairy farmer Peter Neal - to better understand their energy consumption and usage patterns, especially the
role automation plays in changing electricity use.
The solutions will be worked out based upon the energy use audits of the three farms in the trial, gathered over three to six months and may include technologies such as solar battery storage, small wind turbines or use of digital meters to facilitate tariffs rates better suited for when dairies are using power during the day.
Mr Logan said farmers are always looking for solutions that lower costs and are environmentally friendly.
“Any energy savings that can be translated into cost reductions for farmers will be of tremendous value to producers and doing it in an environmentally sustainable way also is important,” Mr Logan said.
New energy trails will help dairies cut costs
Once the trial is complete, the partnership will see new energy packages developed for dairy farmers that suit different types of farms.
“AGL is committed to supporting and working with agriculture in
regional and rural NSW and we see a tremendous opportunity working with Dairy Connect to deliver benefits to the dairy industry through new energy and renewable solutions,” Mr Vesey said.
AGL’s Andy Vesey pictured with Upper Landsowne dairy farmer Tiffany Drury.
A NEW electronic off-road bike has made its debut in Australia.
The UBCO bike created a lot of interest when it was unveiled at the Sungold Field Days in south-west Victoria as part of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise pavilion.
The lightweight bike is designed to carry tools and be used in any agricultural environment.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise business devel-opment manager Ben Miqueu said the bike could easily fit into Australian farming systems.
“It’s only slightly more expensive than a stan-dard farm bike but they go 100km on one charge,” Mr Miqueu said.
It costs about $1 to charge the battery and it can also be charged on a solar panel.
Mr Miqueu said the electronic bike could go 50,000km before the battery needed replacement.
“The technology around batteries is getting better all the time. In theory you’d be able to ride it for about a week without charging it.”
Mr Miqueu said the manufacturers were looking for Australian distributors and service personnel.
Power to go off-road
Tim Allen from UBCO with lightweight electronic offroad bike in New Zealand Trade and Enterprise pavilion.
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12 // AROUND THE REGIONS
Gippsland
Farmers get the view from up northFARMERS FROM west and south Gippsland toured to some of northern NSW’s leading dairy and beef farms recently in a tour organised by Notman Pasture Seeds.
The group of 17 dairy farmers toured Neal’s Dairy on Oxley Island, Hurrell’s Dairy in Comboyne, Sundown Valley Pastoral Company, Walcha Dairy, Cord-ingley’s at Walcha & Maslen’s Dairy at Gloucester.
The focus of the tour was to provide farmers, many from the Drouin South Discussion Group, with an opportunity to look at the way in which the dairy and beef industry in other states had devel-oped.
“The tour explored first-hand the opportunitie s and challenges that face dairy and beef farmers in other parts of Australia,” said Peter Notman, manager of Notman Pasture Seeds.
“It was the attention to detail on a large scale aimed at creating efficien-cy’s on farm that were the focal point of many conversations.
“Almost every aspect of the farms
visited was designed to make the day-to-day activities easier, minimise stress to livestock and ultimately maximise per-formance”
A visit to industry leader Sundown Valley Pastoral Company, which has Australia’s largest high performance pasture program, with 20,000ha of improved pastures, was a highlight for many on the trip.
Sundown Valley’s technology, infra-structure, management and pasture renewal practices are second to none. Manager Matthew Monk explained all the properties can be managed from a central database hundreds of kilome-tres away in Brisbane and the finishing pastures, consisting of high quality fes-cues, perennial ryegrass and clovers, are like dairy but on a far larger scale.
Cutting edge cattle yards allowed a staggering 750 cattle per day taken in and out of the property.
Similar efficiencies were seen Walcha Dairy, a farm with three prop-erties: a 477ha dairy, 148ha heifer raising facility 10km north of the dairy and new
388 irrigated heifer facility at Guyra.Walcha Dairy, established in 2008,
has been strategically fenced into 46 well-sized and resourced paddocks, allowing all animals to achieve their maximum productivity.
Matt Loader, who milks 300 at Krowera, said the group was surprised
at the attention to detail of the setup leading to exceptional labour efficiency.
“Excellent all weather laneways pro-vide B-Double access to every paddock, and all paddocks are angled towards to dairy to minimise walking distances to the dairy.
“The herd size of over 1000 cows can
be accommodated without much fuss. The workplace enhances the ease of milking, consisting of an 80-unit rotary with milk meters, electronic cup remov-ers, automatic teat sprayers”.
The visit proved great value for the dairy farmers, with the discussion group
Stu Beverly, Rob Mortlock, Neville Staley, Les Bland, Peter Neal, Chris Maslen, Peter Notman, Billy Gray, Matt Loader, Jenny Custance, Matt Hall, Greg Billing, Adam Sheedy, Dave Barry, Geoff Warriner, Adam Fisher, Mark Hammond, Shiona Berry take in the sights at Oxley Island.
TO PAGE 13
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
AROUND THE REGIONS // 13
identifying opportunities to grow production on a per cow basis.
Current production is just over 550kg/MS per cow, feeding 2.37 tonne of grain. Pasture consumption is 9.7 tonne by consultant Matt Hall’s calculations.
Presently silage is being made, with the farm’s largest silage conservation typically occurring in February.
Peter Notman said the group also felt production on a per cow basis could be enhanced substantially with improved genetics.
“It was great to have a discussion group come in and scrutinise the financial outcomes and performance as they don’t typically have the same scrutiny given the distance from other dairies.”
Peter said the discussions in the group were robust and the trip was a great benefit.
“Most importantly it gave them an insight into business operations in a number of agricultural sectors,” he said.
FROM PAGE 12
Gippsland
THE TASMANIAN Dairy Conference and Awards Dinner on March 16 is shaping up to be a fantastic event with an engaging program and something for everyone.
The mix of practi-cal and topical sessions include: Climate adapta-tion; feed budgeting; water
quality impacts; personal health; farm safety; indus-try outlook; farm innova-tion.
The guest speaker for the awards dinner will be operations manager for Bellamy’s Organic, Rod Lyons. To find out more register visit www.dairytas.com.au
TasmaniaSomething for everyone
WINNERS IN the Dairy Indus-try Association of Australia WA Dairy product competitions were announced at the Cottesloe Golf Club at a gala awards dinner on February 27.
Perth gelato franchise, Gela-tino, was the big winner picking up the coveted Grand Cham-pion Dairy Product trophy for its Banana Gelato.
Another big winner on the night was Lion Dairy & Drinks, which won the Champion Milk (Pura Milk) and Champion Fla-voured Milk (Masters Spear-mint) categories. Champion cheese went to Borello Cheese (Romano), Champion Cream was awarded to Bannister Downs Dairy (Fresh Cream) while Cham-pion Dairy Dessert went to Ice
Cream and Co for its Raspberry Cheese-cake Tartlet. Over the Moon Organics picked up an Innova-tion Award for its Kefir Probiotic Drink, while Ha Ve Harvey Cheese won the Cham-pion Goat/Sheep Product.
Western AustraliaBanana Gelato scoops major win
South AustraliaGetting the mix rightIT’S THAT time again when the South Australian region comes together to discuss the sector and where it’s headed, as well as celebrate its achievements.
The focus this year will be on bringing together some of the key elements
that make up a successful dairy farm business: the people, the cows and innovation.
And this year’s conference dinner will be a farewell for long-standing SADA CEO Ken Lyons to celebrate his extensive contribution to the industry.
The dinner is being coordinated by SADA. Look out for your dinner invitation in the mail, or contact SADA on (08) 8293 2399 to reserve your place.
Put March 23 in your diary now. Visit www.dairysa.come.au for more details.
NSWCheck in with the health forumA ‘CHECK your farm health, Choose your path’ forum will be held at Club Taree, Taree on March 22 from 9.30am - 3pm. The program supports healthy, resilient, family and farm businesses by giving participants access to health information and services.
Topics will include: assessing the financial health of your business; succession planning options; seasonal con-ditions; and ‘Know your personal health’ heath checks. RSVP: Albert Mullen Hunter Local Land Services, [email protected]; Jen Haberecht, Rural Resilience Program, [email protected] or visit dairynsw.com.au for more details.
Cream and Co for its Raspberry Cheese-cake Tartlet. Over the Moon Organics picked up an Innova-tion Award for its Kefir Probiotic Drink, while Ha Ve Harvey Cheese won the Cham-pion Goat/Sheep Product.
Banana Gelato scoops major winCream and Co for its Raspberry Cheese-cake Tartlet. Over the Moon Organics picked up an Innova-tion Award for its Kefir Probiotic Drink, while Ha Ve Harvey Cheese won the Cham-pion Goat/Sheep Product.
Banana Gelato scoops major win
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
14 // AROUND THE REGIONS
VICTORIA’S BIGGEST field days with a dairy focus have given farmers a pre-view of things to come for the industry.
The Sungold Field Days at Allansford in south-west Vic-toria attracted thousands of people over three days on Feb-ruary 10-12.
Field Days chairman Tony Rea said the event was in its 35th year and continued to go from strength to strength.
“We’ve sold out of exhibit space for the second year in a row and we’ve got 20 new exhibits,” Mr Rea said.
“There’s an abundance of new and innovative products on display which I’m sure will inspire people.”
Mr Rea said the mood was buoyant despite tough weather conditions with farmers look-ing for ways to continue grow-ing their businesses.
“We’re facing exciting times in the region as we try to take advantage of the free trade agreements that will soon to come into full effect,” he said.
For the first time a team from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise set up a pavilion to display the wares of 10 differ-ent Kiwi companies.
Other new attractions included drone demonstra-tions, a vintage car, truck and tractor procession and the steepest 4WD ramp in the world.
Framlingham farmers Ali-ster and Renee Murfett won the Dairy Australia-Rural Finance Rural Achiever of the Year award.
The couple started in the industry in 2001 in Tasma-nia before moving to Victo-ria where they moved through share farming positions and now own two farms.
They purchased their first farm in 2008 and now milk 220 cows on 144ha. They pur-chased a second dairy in 2014 which is now milking 270 cows on 189ha and are in the pro-
TO PAGE 15
view of things to come for the
The Sungold Field Days at Allansford in south-west Vic-
people over three days on Feb-
Field Days chairman Tony
“We’ve sold out of exhibit
“There’s an abundance of new and innovative products
buoyant despite tough weather
ing for ways to continue grow-
which is now milking 270 cows
1
2
3
4
6
7 8
5
Western VictoriaSungold shines for another year
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AROUND THE REGIONS // 15
MEMBERS OF Subtropical Dairy and the Young Dairy Network will tour Western Australia (WA) this month.
Participants will tour across the WA Dairy Industry from March 12-19 to see how various farm businesses have grown over the last five years by around 100 cows per farm.
The tour will also take in some of WA’s excellent tour-ist spots like the Margaret River region.
Visit http://dairyinfo.biz/events/ for more details.
Sub TropicalQld farmers set to head west
New board member banks on lending a hand
Murray Dairy
MURRAY DAIRY has appointed Shepparton based Rabobank senior rural manager Andrew Mann as the newest member to the Murray Dairy Board.
Mr Mann holds a Bach-elor of Applied Science (Agriculture), Graduate Diploma of Rural Science (Grain Production) and is a recent graduate of the
Fairley Leadership Pro-gram.
He has been involved in the dairy industry through Agribusiness banking, ini-tially in the Murray Dairy region, before gaining extensive experience in South Australia, NSW and QLD and then returning to the Murray Dairy region eight years ago.
“This appointment
is not only an exciting opportunity to continue my involvement in the dairy industry, but also to participate first hand in the continued sustainable growth of the industry across the Murray Dairy Region,” Andrew said.
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1 Rural Achievers Award runners up Nicole and Lachlan Tindall with Lachlan’s mum Glenys.
2 Food and wine legend Herman Sculz (Biodynamic Farms and Timboon Farmhouse Cheese).
3 Best commercial site exhibit winner Tomas Bazterrica, GEA Australia.
4 The Isuzu iron summit is the steepest 4WD ramp in the world.
5 The old tractor display was popular with farmers.
6 Rural Achievers Award winners Alistair and R enae Murfi tt.
7 Warren Holland and son John, 2, from Edenhope.
8 Year 12 Emmanuel College student Alice Keogh with 8-week old Cocker Spaniel pup Jess.
cess of redeveloping the farm.
“We were shocked to be nominated,” Mr Mur-fett said.
“We only look at our-selves as a couple who had a dream. That dream to own our own farm has come true. Dairy has been a challenging but reward-ing industry for us.”
Runners up were Cast-erton farmers Lachlan and Nicole Tindall who farm with his parents Glenys and John and milk 650 cows on 810ha. Lachlan has been a driving force behind the farm’s growth and success despite being in an area with less than 600mm annual rainfall.
Mr Tindall is involved with Focus Farms, dis-cussion groups and farm pasture trials and his oper-
ation relies heavily on con-served fodder and high quality silage which helps the farm to achieve 590kg /MS per annum.
Mr Rea said the award finalists reflected a new generation of young farm-ers coming into the indus-try.
“Dairy has a wonder-ful future and despite what you might here there’s a lot of young people coming into it,” he said.
Best site award was won by Donehues Lei-sure; Best commercial site GEA Australia; Best farm machinery exhibit Swayn and McCabe; Best small business exhibit Grass Growers; Rural Award Macrovet and Permazyme Ag; and the Graham Col-lins Innovation Award was won by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Sungold shines
FROM PAGE 14
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Dai ry News aUsTraLia march 2016
16 // OPINION
EDITORIAL
mILkIng IT...
RumInATIng
WHEN investment banker and agribusiness giant David Williams
fronted the Australian Dairy Conference last month dressed as a
bandit, it was more than just a cheap visual gag.
His message that “bastards like him” were coming for
‘your’ water, was a sobering reminder of the ever chang-
ing and complex landscape that is access to water - and the
environmental, economic and political forces that govern it.
Mr Williams told delegates of the success of his investment in
Tasmanian water entitlements – making about $7 million from
a $10 million investment.
Water is an increasingly precious resource, and Mr Williams
pointed out demand would only increase from other commodi-
ties, including almonds and walnuts.
In addition to increased competition from ‘ruthless bastards’,
comes a bastard of another kind - the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
If you were cynical you would suggest that the entire thing is
designed to be so complex and impossible to understand that the
details would elude many of the people it affects and could slip
through the radar. (A Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment
Mechanism – really?!)
Thankfully, farmers are far too invested and are currently being
well served by member bodies and lobby groups proposing prac-
tical solutions in the interests of the Murray Darling communi-
ties they represent.
It will be interesting to see if governments – both state and
federal – can concede that the timeframes for the plan need to be
adjusted as the ADIC is suggesting (page 7) in order to avoid per-
manently damaging many of the communities across the Basin.
The fact that it is an election year – and that the Water Min-
ister is now Deputy Prime Minister – bodes well for the sector.
But we all know strange things can happen when you expect a
sensible outcome from a federal and state agreement.
And then of course there is the additional challenge, and even
less predictable one, of the weather and that damn need for rain
– at roughly the right time and in roughly the right quantities.
Given all these factors, you don’t have to be a gambler to know
the odds of a positive outcome for dairy farmers in the Murray
Darling Basin seem stacked. But what is farming without opti-
mism and resilience?
Water woes at every turn
The Audi of milks FOLLOWING on from the launch of its cream, the roll out of Fonterra’s Anchor brand continues with its premium milk in Victorian Woolworths stores. Fonterra says the milk offers up to 40% longer refrigeration life (from 15 to 21 days), thanks to new microfiltration technology (and not additional preservatives) produced at the company’s Cobden plant in south-west Victoria. Going by the TV advert, the brand is looking to be the Audi or Lexus equivalent of milk. And while the unique and clean taste and extended shelf life will definitely hold consumer appeal, it remains to be seen if consumers will embrace the $2.49/litre premium price. Because unlike an Audi, not many people will see that these consumers are discerning enough to afford a premium milk brand – so does it hold the same appeal? Full credit to Fonterra for trying…
Happy families FULL marks also to Mark and Sam Billing from Craiglands Farm at Larpent in south-west Victoria for sharing their award-winning approach to staff management outlined at this year’s Australian Dairy Conference. The couple shared some great tips for managing teams and getting the best out of staff by creating a sense of belonging and ownership to the whole operation. They said it is important that staff become like family, which is to applauded. (Unless, this editor noted, your family has more factions than an Australian Labor Party conference and only gets together at Christmas - in which case, aren’t we lucky we can choose our friends staff)?!)
A different kind of milk Poole DAIRY Australia’s latest addition to its Legendairy campaign highlights the offbeat (and imaginary) world of water slide tester Deb Poole and her equally offbeat husband and trainer Gary as they share their quirky suburban story. The campaign uses character and humour to show the nutritional benefits of dairy and the message “Refuel, Replenish and Rehydrate”. Creatively it’s more than a homage to comedian Chris Lilley’s show ‘We Can be Heroes’ and the Deb Poole story seems to have been equally polarising on social media. Some find it funny. Others think it misses the mark. Humour is a subjective tool but the dollars used to fund the campaign are not. Let’s hope it translates into boosted sales as well. You can check it out at http://debpoole.legendairy.com.au/
GM cows aren’t so bad after allSOME 600 people have died from complications of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Three years since the disease surfaced scientists still cannot find a treatment or prevention. (Infected camels are thought to be the initial source of MERS.) But according to our sister publication Dairy News NZ, international researchers using genetically modi-fied cows have created antibodies that combat the disease, perhaps pointing towards a vaccine. The sci-entists have used cows to better understand human immunity, in this experi-ment tweaking the cows’ genomes so that they carry a human chromosome.
or directors of RNG Publishing Limited. WWW.DAIRYNEWSAUSTRALIA.COM.AU
HeadOfficeTop Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
Phone+64.9.307 0399 Fax+64.9.307 0122
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Dai ry NewS aUSTraLia march 2016
opinion // 17
iT’S no exaggeration to say it’s been a challenging season.
We’ve seen a fundamental imbalance in global supply and demand, driven by the lifting of production quotas in Europe and ongoing Russian trade sanctions, pushing further product onto the market.
The Middle East was a major destination for cheese, but imports have fallen this season off the back of low oil prices.
China’s economy has softened, and last year global dairy prices hit their lowest levels in over a decade.
Locally, a prolonged El Nino has seen Australia enter a period of drought, and as production costs have increased, milk collection has dropped.
At Fonterra Australia, we’ve encountered some challenges of our own with a fire at our Stanhope plant in December 2014.
Milk that would ordinarily be going into high value cheese is instead going into skim milk powder.
The key to tackling these challenges is having the right strategy.
Rather than trying to do it all, processors need to focus on their strengths.
Fonterra has global scale, and we are able to leverage that scale to focus on areas where we have a comparative advantage.
In New Zealand, we can produce commodity powders more efficiently than anywhere else in the world.
A number of our New Zealand sites are capable of producing over 1000 tonnes of powders every day.
Compare this with our largest powder site in Australia, Darnum, which can produce a maximum of 300 tonnes of powder a day running at full capacity.
There is no sense in replicating what we have in New Zealand here in Australia.
We need to focus on our strengths, which is why our focus is on higher value-added products – cheese, whey, and nutritionals, complementing our retail and foodservice businesses.
Milk costs more to make in Australia, so we need to squeeze value out of every drop to generate sustainable returns.
Cheese, whey, and nutritionals deliver on that investment. We can make these products efficiently, and generate a higher return.
Our A$120 million investment to rebuild our cheese capability at Stanhope is central to this strategy.
Whey and skim from cheese production will go into our nutritionals at Darnum and Dennington, so we won’t be wasting a drop.
It will complement our consumer retail and foodservice businesses, with the fats from milk production at Cobden going into Western Star butter.
The Australian market is ideally placed to concentrate on value-added products; however it doesn’t mean focussing exclusively on boutique products and ignoring bulk.
Bulk to boutique is not an “either/or” prospect. We can leverage our presence in bulk to expand into boutique, de-risking our investment.
On the bulk side, Fonterra’s joint venture between our Darnum site and Chinese food manufacturer Beingmate connects us to 80,000 points of sale in China.
Beingmate is one of China’s largest infant formula companies, and we’ve purchased a 20% stake in the business, setting up a distribution channel that will reach millions of Chinese families. It allows us to reach Chinese consumers directly and efficiently, delivering a high-value, high-quality product.
We’ve been able to parlay that into the boutique.
We’ve established a
Abhy MAhArAj, coMMerciAl direcTor, FonTerrA AuSTrAliA
Boutique products alone not the panacea for dairy challenges
strategic agreement with boutique infant formula producer Bellamy’s Organic, utilising our manufacturing expertise to create their premium product.
Because we can do bulk and do it well, it gave Bellamy’s the confidence that we could deliver on boutique.
We’ve just launched Anchor Milk into Australia – it’s a boutique product
aimed at the more discerning milk drinker.
We know Australia is a crowded marketplace for milk, with over a dozen brands on the market.
We’re all looking for that edge to differentiate ourselves from every other milk in the dairy case.
Anchor uses microfiltration to create a superior fresh taste, with a longer shelf-life, and is a first for the Australian
market. Anchor complements
the milk we’re processing on behalf of Woolworths for their private label.
Boutique is not the panacea for current global dairy challenges – at least, not on its own.
It has a place in the market, but to be globally relevant, we need to have the bulk as well as the boutique.
For companies like
Fonterra, bulk is our bread and butter, but boutique is the cream on top.• This is an edited extract of
a speech Maharaj delivered at the Australian Dairy Conference, February 17, 2016
Fonterra Australia commercial director Abhy Maharaj.
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LAST MONTH I wrote some weird things in the world affecting a range of food and metal commodi-ties, but this month I want to focus on some poten-tially profound changes in the overall structure of dairy markets and trade that could have lasting effect.
It might not be the greatest time to focus on this – just while we’re bouncing around at the bottom of a deep com-modity pricing cycle – or “super-cycle” as it is now being called.
But it’s nonetheless worth spending some time considering whether the dairy industry is merely travelling though the roughest parts of a deep trough that will slowly
right itself … or whether these are early days of fun-damental changes in the structure of the global industry. There’s been a quick reshaping in the imbalance of trade.
In the past two calen-dar years major exporters clocked a surplus of 2.5bn litres, while 2016 will see only a small part of that surplus eroded, unless some major weather or market shocks occur.
But behind those num-bers, some of the funda-mentals are shifting - with biggest changes on the supply-side.
It is naive (and really early) to pass off the effects of removing the quota cap from European dairy farmers as a subtle adjustment in volumes as has long been forecast by the EU’s own ag officials.
Competitive farmers across several countries with pent up productive capacity are unleashing their potential and moving to more efficient operat-ing models.
Their companies have laid down the stainless steel ahead of the surge, as no-one expects it to be temporary.
EU processors and
traders have muscled up with higher volumes of ingredients to market into the world.
The product volumes from the additional 7bn litres of exportable milk supplied in 2015 and likely in 2016, added to the loss of the Russian market, has encouraged the Europe-ans to be more aggressive, expanding their market share elsewhere.
But there will be plenty of casualties within the EU in the massive adjustment to come. Small uncompet-itive processors without a spread of markets and products – and their sup-pliers – are already doing it tough and that will get worse.
Many small traditional farmers will painfully sub-sist, burn a lot of tyres and drive their tractors large distances, and get cash out of frightened politi-cians, but gradually exit under the stress of vola-tile margins and rising compliance costs.
But the net effect at least in the short-term is that Europe’s milk supply will expand.
Meanwhile NZ dairy’s ability to sustain the faith of bank and equity inves-tors will be wearing thin with a third poor price year next season.
Growth was projected on the back of a Chi-nese appetite that was expected to roar on for a decade or more.
Many of the recently established, highly-geared
farms carry the great-est exposure to the cycle, but while banks would be unwise to call their debt in, it means further invest-ments in farm expansions or conversions will be harder to finance.
While Europe is likely to expand to its natural physical limits, NZ may struggle to grow, and sadly some efficient operators might go out with this phase.
If banks act on conven-tional non-ag priorities, land values are at risk and a deeper problem for the industry will develop.
Not much to see in the US in comparison, as it will probably chug on and keep expanding. But with a flat home market, all of the growth has to find markets elsewhere.
The profound change going on within that industry is one of reskill-ing and retooling plants to get more value out of every litre – and producing products that meet cus-tomer rather than regula-tory requirements. They’ll keep getting better at that game.
The composition of the demand-side for traded
products has rapidly restructured.
South East Asia, the Middle East and North African are the largest export regions.
They might in the past have plodded along with growth tracking changes in regional GDP, but in 2015 these countries col-lectively bought four times more product than China.
These buyers however seem much more price-sensitive than in the past.
It is certainly not “dairy at any cost” and they will fill their supply chain pipe-lines taking opportunities to save, making for bump-ier demand.
China is now a vastly different prospect to what it was. Long gone are the days of a market where overall dairy demand was growing at 6-10% per annum, now growth is reported to be less than 2%.
Chinese buyers are learning to live with smaller stocks of ingre-dients (unlike the moun-tains of corn it hordes) and are now far less reliant on imported commodity milk powder after learning from the panic buying mis-takes in 2013 and 2014.
Bigger farms are pump-ing out more milk as the transition to higher self-sufficiency gathers pace.
Important niches are developing in that market.
Chinese consum-ers that can afford higher priced nutritional dairy ingredients are seeking greater access to imported finished product, often in brands and packages sold in retail stores in the coun-tries of source.
Other changes are also shaping demand and supply.
If Russia comes back from the chill to buy West-ern foods any time soon, it will be a much smaller buyer with poorer con-sumers and dodgy credit.
Latin America once played a much bigger role in trade – balanc-ing product needs across the continent and gradu-ally increasing exporters. But three major countries – Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela – are now polit-ically and economically more turbulent than ever, sure to discourage signifi-cant inward investment.
Nothing is getting simpler out there in the future. Buckle up!
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
18 // MARKETS
Photo: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS).
Super-cycle or a shifting landscape?
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RECENT GUIDANCE suggesting that farmgate milk prices for those in southern export regions are likely to remain around the $5.60kg/MS opening price mark have confirmed what many farmers had quietly suspected.
With dairy commodity prices around 30% lower than prior-year levels and 7% below where they were at the start of the season, the market recovery required to meet some of the more optimistic forecasts still appears some way off.
Given the likelihood that farmgate pricing will remain under pressure, it’s worth taking a look at the situation for inputs, to assess whether any margin relief is on the horizon on the cost front.
Let’s start with grain. Feed grain represents around 30% of
the average southern exporting region farm’s total costs, according to the Dairy Farm Monitor Project.
Grain prices tracked above the five year average for most of 2014 and 2015. Smaller Australian harvests combined with strong export demand to tighten supplies.
The first months of 2016 have seen grain prices falling however.
This is likely due in part to the effects of record global wheat stocks weakening global prices; however
Australian grain has been trading at a premium to the world market for some time now, suggesting local factors are also at play.
The most recent crop estimates by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences put total wheat production for 2015/16 up 5% compared to the previous season, at 24.2 million tonnes, and barley up 4% to 8.5 million tonnes.
In addition to weak global prices and increased production, selling by Aus-tralian grain farmers has accelerated in recent weeks as growers look to gener-ate cash to cover seasonal interest and fertiliser payments.
With the international market con-sidered likely to remain depressed, reduced export pressure will help
moderate any price rebound once this period passes.
With dry conditions and expensive irrigation water contributing to lower pasture production on many farms, hay demand has been higher than usual for most of 2014 and 2015.
With supplies (particularly of protein hay) under pres-sure and stocks tight for much of this period, prices have remained above the five year average.
As has been the case with grain markets, some relief for buyers has been noted at the start of 2016, as milder weather and rainfall in many regions boosted pasture availability.
Many farmers have also completed stocking their sheds for the season, and others suspended purchasing as higher prices proved uneconomic.
Tasmania and Gippsland have been among the exceptions; fodder demand in these regions remains strong.
Assuming average rainfall for the autumn period, fodder is likely to be less of an issue through the remainder of the season, as top-up purchasing occurs in a market where increased pasture production weighs on demand, and prices.
According to the Bureau of Mete-orology, the December to February period has seen a gradual decrease in rainfall deficits across many dairying regions (southwest WA has seen much
more rain than average).Northeast Tasmania, south-west
Victoria and west and south Gippsland remain drier than average, incurring the attendant extra fodder and water costs.
The outlook for the coming three months suggests further improvements are likely, with the chance of exceeding average rainfall around or above 50% for all dairying areas except for central and northern Queensland.
El Nino is well past its peak, and cli-mate models predict that a neutral pat-tern will resume in late autumn or early winter.
In the meantime, El Nino could
still contribute towards the expected below-average rainfall across northern Queensland.
On the other hand, warmer than average sea surface temperatures may
result in localised warmer weather and increased rainfall, particularly in Tasmania.
For those in irrigation areas, water pricing and allocation has been a further significant source of cost pressure this season.
This looks set to continue in the short term, with fierce competition keeping the aver-age price for temporary water
high. However, low availability and reluc-
tance to sell is being indicated by rela-tively few parcels (mostly of small size) being traded.
Overall however, the tightening margin pressure from elevated input costs that has characterised the last few seasons, looks set to ease at least slightly over the next few months.
The outlook is uncertain and highly weather-dependent, but on balance margin relief in the short term looks more likely to come from the market for farm inputs, than it does from that for dairy commodities.
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
MARKETS // 19
Cheaper inputs offer hope
GLOBAL IMPACTJOHN DROPPERT
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
Tightening margin pressure from elevanted input costs looks set to ease at least slightly over the next few months.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
20 // BREEDING MANAGEMENT
IF DAIRY farming careers have milestones, Symon Jones has just reached a significant one.
The Gunns Plains dairy farmer on Tasmania’s rich north-west coast was recently elected chairman of DairyTas, the island state’s dairy industry service delivery program.
Symon (pictured) got into dairying almost accidentally, having set his sights on being a farrier through Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
But as he was about to walk out the door, one of his lecturers persuaded him to stay on for an extra two years and do an associate diploma in animal production and management.
He was doing a bit of shearing at the time to make ends meet and had begun to think he’d probably get into the trading side of the agricultural business.
After completing his studies he spent some time with a livestock agent on the north-west
tablelands of NSW before returning home to work in livestock with Roberts Ltd, a long-established Tasmanian agricultural agency and merchandiser.
While it was clear Symon was going to be working in agriculture in some way the idea of actually farming had not occurred to him in a realistic way.
“I was brought up with horses and I did my farm apprenticeship on a cropping farm at Devonport,” he said.
“Mum was off a farm so I must have got the farming gene from her.”Discovering a liking for farm life
Somewhere along the
way a friend said he knew of a job on a dairy farm at Merseylea.
Symon took it and quickly discovered a liking for farm life.
Later he progressed
to a share farming arrangement in the Circular Head district and eventually he was able to begin fulfilling his dream when he bought a run down 78ha farm with 120 cows at Gunns Plains.
That was in 1993.
“At that stage I would have gone anywhere to get my own place.
“When this place came up it was what I could afford and it had
the added advantage of being close to my parents,” who live in nearby Ulverstone.
And so the die was cast.
Twenty-three years
later he’s still there although things have changed quite a bit.
Today he milks a herd of 480-500 at peak on 161ha in a fully pasture based system.
“We budget on 190,000kg/MS. Our production target is around – 385-390kg/MS per cow,” he said. “It’s now pretty much the common measure in Tasmania -- to produce one kg/MS for each kg of liveweight.
“At present we are trying to improve our genetics.
“We’re using New Zealand LIC genetics to get cows that are better suited to our farm. Earlier on we probably had animals that were too big. This is a very wet area and the bigger cows have a higher maintenance requirement. Plus they are hard on the ground.”
For the past three years Symon has been using Jersey and cross-bred bulls to bring the liveweights of the herd down.
“Our ideal is a medium framed cross-bred cow around 400-450kg,” he said.
“The advantage is they are an all purpose cow that suits our system. When we get them down around that weight we can
New DairyTas chair knows the hard yardsRICHARD MEREDITH
WHO: Symon Jones WHERE: Gunns Plains WHAT: Crossbreeding
“It’s an ongoing challenge to weigh up the adoption of new technologies...”
increase our stocking rate when we need to.” Change is a constant
“We’re constantly monitoring and adjusting to get a good balance of size, stocking rate, good fertility and production.”
In his early years on the farm Symon worked mostly alone, rebuilding the neglected piece of land he had purchased.
During this time he had little social life and not much time for close family and friends.
“The days were long. It was extremely labour intensive and at that time I only had myself to do the work. It was a huge sacrifice in some ways.”
He thinks his determination and commitment to developing the property grew out of a desire to achieve and to prove to himself that he could make a go of it.
“I hardly saw anyone for the first five years.”
He managed to attend a few dairy events and make some farmer contacts and met his wife, Louise, through these outings.
Raised on a dairy farm, she understood the challenges he faced.
Today Louise works as an interior designer in Ulverstone while on the farm Symon employs one fulltime staff member who is like his second in charge, and three casual milkers who work a rotational roster. Symon does all the paddock work.
“Looking back on the early days here, I probably worked too hard,” he said.
“I made a lot of mistakes along the way, which probably added to my workload but I think coming from a non-dairy background I didn’t cut any corners because I didn’t know what they were.
“I think when you’re brought up on a dairy farm, you know the routine. It’s easier to slip into the groove, though many leave dairying too because they’ve done it all their lives.
“I was probably more motivated through not having the dairy background. I wanted to prove it to myself – that I could do it. I was focused. And I enjoyed it.
“I’d probably say I’ve been lucky to survive the highs and lows of price volatility. I’ve seen the
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Dai ry NewS aUSTraLia march 2016
breeding management // 21
New DairyTas chair knows the hard yardsproperty and production and cow numbers all improve in that time.”Building greater resilience
Having gone through the driest summer in living memory, Tasmanian dairy farmers are focusing on building greater resilience into their systems to manage the anticipated increase in climate variability in coming seasons.
“We have some irrigation infrastructure here and we’re looking into extending and improving it. One of our big challenges is weighing up the introduction of more centre pivots on a small scale. It is expensive on a per hectare basis especially on undulating land.”
Technology in all its forms is ubiquitous across the agricultural sector from improved pastures to animal genetics, business systems to robotics.
“It’s an ongoing challenge to weigh up the adoption of new technologies, when to do it and what the cost and return will be,” Symon said.
“In farming it’s not a revolution; it happens over time.
“We need more drought tolerant or dry climate pasture species that require less water and are better yielding. Similarly, animal improvements through genomic science will influence the development of every dairy herd.
“Producing high genetic merit animals is a way for AI centres to stay ahead of the game. Better animals mean more sales and farmers are encouraged to buy.”
Symon believes science and technology is not just changing what farmers do but the way farming is perceived and it is altering the economic modelling of a viable dairy farm.
Talk of barriers to entering dairying, especially for young people, has been going on for years.
“Five years ago the thinking was you must aim to have a 50-60 unit rotary and 800-1000
cows in order to build a profitable, viable dairy farm. Technology is changing that.
“Inevitably the cost of technology decreases as the uptake increases. Robotics today can bring a smaller dryland farming area, once considered not commercially viable, back into potentially profitable production with 100ha and centre pivot irrigation.”
One of Symon’s key priorities as the new chairman of DairyTas is to support current dairy farmers and to encourage new dairy farmers to enter the industry.Improving the image of dairying
“We need to continually improve the image of dairying in the community. Farming is changing. Technology is changing. Farmers can achieve a work-life balance and be profitable. People are interested and want to know more. We have good stories to tell.”
While the focus is often on attracting young people to the industry through share farming arrangements, Symon takes a more holistic view seeing the importance of attracting big business and investors as well.
“Their involvement can provide the stepping stones for new entrants. Share farming is just one way. There are equity partnerships, profit sharing and a range of buy in options at different levels of equity.”
For the would-be dairy farmer, technology is a game changer adding an element of science and business discipline that wasn’t there before.
“With the spread of technology through the industry we need, and I think we can attract, people with different thinking. We use GPS systems for farm mapping, robotic milking systems, improved pasture species and animal genetics that can be analysed and understood by the farmer in their decision making. And then there’s the whole area of financial and business management.
“These developments can be very appealing to
young people thinking about a career in dairy farming. If you have good grass production areas there are opportunities. There are now a wider range of potential business models.
“One size definitely doesn’t fit all.”
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
22 // ANIMAL HEALTH
AUTUMN IS here and with it comes diseases associated with damp conditions.
This month’s article focuses on coccidiosis during the post-weaning period.
Coccidiosis is a disease of young stock that causes significant economic losses to both dairy and beef industries worldwide, estimated to be US$400 million per year.
Coccidiosis is caused by a parasite (Eimeria bovis and Eimeria zuernii) that infects the intestinal cells.
The life cycle of these parasites is complex.
Single cell oocysts (eggs) are passed in the faeces of cattle and can remain in the environment for long periods of time, where
they can remain infective. This is especially true
in moist, shady areas. The oocysts are
ingested by susceptible cattle and after many stages of transformation and replication, another generation of oocysts are produced and passed in the faeces of the infected animal.
The multiplication rate of these parasites is phenomenal, with one ingested oocyst producing
as many as 23 million oocysts in the next generation.
This helps explain why coccidiosis outbreaks can quickly get out of control.
Oocysts mature within the intestinal cells of the animal, leading to rupture of the cell – this is what is responsible for the disease and the clinical signs that develop.
The severity of disease is directly related to the number of oocysts ingested.
In mild infections, there is minimal damage to the intestinal cells as they can rapidly be replaced and the damage can be quickly repaired.
Coccidiosis in the spotlight
THE VET GROUPGEMMA CHUCK
Stress such as transport, weaning, dietary changes, management procedures and other health problems can precipitate an outbreak of coccidiosis.
It is estimated that 95% of coccidial infections are subclinical where the animals do not show any obvious signs of disease.
However, while there
is often no sign of disease these mild infections can cause a reduction in growth rates.
Low exposure to coccidia will result in development of immunity to that particular species to coccidia.
In severe infections, the majority of the intestinal cells are infected which, upon rupturing, results in severe intestinal damage and blood loss in the faeces.
As few as 50,000 infective oocysts are required to cause severe disease in a susceptible young calf.
Coccidiosis primarily occurs in susceptible young stock when there is crowding, stress and high environmental exposure.
Stress such as transport, weaning, dietary changes,
management procedures and other health problems can precipitate an outbreak of coccidiosis.
The clinical signs of coccidiosis can include
diarrhoea (which may contain blood), straining, loss of appetite, weight loss and even death.
Severely affected animals often have faecal staining around their tail and hind legs and may stand away from the mob.
Your veterinarian will make a diagnosis of coccidiosis based on clinical signs, faecal samples and
sometimes post-mortems of affected animals.
Diagnosis is essential for prompt and specific treatment to enable the best prognosis.
Recovery can be slow and some animals remain permanently unthrifty.
There is a high risk of coccidiosis in dairy heifers where the same ‘calf paddocks’ are used year after year.
Coccidial oocysts can survive in the environment for up to two years in optimal conditions.
Outbreaks often occur in different groups of calves reared in the same paddocks from one season to the next.
Paddocks should be managed to reduce the environmental exposure to coccidial oocysts.
This can be achieved using an “all-in all-out”
system with rotation of smaller paddocks or use of moveable hot wires in larger paddocks.
Reducing the stocking density will reduce the risk of disease during ‘at-risk’ times of the year.
The use of in-feed coccidiostats, such as monensin (Rumensin®) and lasalocid (Bovatec®) can help prevent coccidiosis.
The ration (grain, pellets) should be checked prior to feeding to determine the level of coccidiostat.
Intake needs to be consistent from day-to-day and in sufficient quantities to be effective.
There should be consideration of how the ration is fed to accommodate this.
Daily feeding in troughs allows all stock to be checked and any animal that does not
come up for feed can be easily identified.
Daily feeding also allows a good estimation of ration intake per animal and preferential feeding of smaller animals in a separate group.
Troughs should be moved every two to three days to avoid pugging and increased contamination with coccidial oocysts in these areas.
Finally, good weaning management and reduction of stress will help prevent coccidiosis.
It is best to stagger stressful events such as weaning, vaccination, dehorning, turnout and transport.
A time period of even 24–36 hours between events can be enough to reduce the risk of disease.
Cattle can tolerate multiple smaller stressful events much better than one large stressor. www.thevetgroup.com.au
The clinical signs of coccidiosis can include diarrhoea (which may contain blood), straining, loss of appetite, weight loss and even death.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
ANIMAL HEALTH // 23
FOR MANY Australian herds, dry-off time for the spring calving cows is now approaching.
For each cow, drying-off is the single biggest opportunity to make a difference to change the infection status of a cow. It is also the best chance to reduce the risk of mastitis at the subsequent calving.
It worth a conversation with your vet about treat-ment options. To have this discussion your vet would ideally like to know:
■ What is your Bulk Milk Cell Count history for the last two years?
■ Are you always in premium? Is it stable, or rising? What are you aiming for?
■ What are the mastitis bacteria likely to be in your herd? The most common subclinical infections in high cell count cows are Strep uberis & Staph aureus. If you have cultures or a PCR test showing the presence of Strep ag in your herd, you will need special consideration.)
■ How many are likely to be infected? ■ Do you have either herd test results, or a cell
count summary? ■ Should all cows be treated, or will cows be
selected for treatment? If they are to be selected, on what basis will that selection be made?
■ How long is your preferred length of the dry period?
■ Do you have a history of higher than optimal levels of clinical mastitis around calving?(If more than 5% of cows have mastitis within the first two weeks following calving, it is likely to be a significant problem).
■ Should you be considering the use of a teat sealant?
■ What is the environmental risk (rain, mud) likely to be during the subsequent calving period?
■ What is your budget?
ROD DYSON, DAIRY FOCUS
Questions for a safe dry-off
Diagnostic tool could aid expensive problemTHE WINNER of this year’s Dairy Science and Innovation Award will inve stigate Mycoplasma bovis - an emerging cause of contagious mastitis.
Dr Nadeeka Wawe-gama (pictured right), from the University of Melbourne, has received the Dairy Australia award announced at the 2016 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in Canberra.
Over twelve months Dr Wawegama, who holds a PhD in veterinary microbi-ology from the University of Melbourne, will use the $22,000 award to research
the prevalence of Myco-plasma bovis infection in Australian dairy herds.
Dr Wawegama said the infection has been identi-fied as a significant prob-lem in the nation’s herds since 2006 and that earlier studies have found at least 50% of the national herd suffers from subclinical mastitis.
“It’s a problem that costs the industry more than $60 million a year…” she said.
“The identification of carrier animals is para-mount as there is a lack of treatment options and no effective diagnostic tool.”
Dr Wawegama has
developed a sensitive testing tool to identify infected cows and her goal is to use the award to enable her to demonstrate its suitability in ascertain-ing the true prevalence of Mycoplasma bovis in Aus-
tralia’s cows.“Mastitis is a seri-
ous problem that impacts the health of animals and farm profitability so I am delighted we have such a worthy recipient for this year’s award,” said Dr
Mani Iyer, Dairy Austra-lia’s program manager for Product Innovation.
The Dairy Science and Innovation Award is a national competitive prize popular among young sci-entists.
The MaxCare range of milk replacers has been created to deliver maximum growth, nutrition and health support for calves like Kim and Khloé in the all-important first few weeks. Choose from Essential, Premium and Ultimate for different levels of performance depending on the particular needs of your animals. Available now. To learn more visit our website or call 0439 773 145. maxumanimal.com.au
The deliver maximum growth, nutrition and health support for calves like Kim and Khloé in the all-important first few weeks. Choose from Essential, Premium and Ultimate for different levels of performance depending on the particular needs of your animals. Available now. To learn more visit our website or call 0439 773 145.
You always want to do your best for them. They’re like family.
She says we’re like family.
Cool. That means we’ll be snorkling on the Barrier Reef this Christmas.
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
24 // FARM WORLD PREVIEW
IT’S THAT time again!The Farm World Field
Days will be held at Lard-ner Park near Warragul, Victoria, from Thursday, April 7 to Sunday, April 10 and Larners Park.
Lardners Park CEO Mark Cockerall said the event will be bigger and better than ever.
“Farm World has grown to be one of Austra-lia’s largest regional agri-cultural events providing a unique platform for farm machinery manufacturers, suppliers and distributors to launch new products and to showcase their ranges,” Mark said.
“Exhibitors find it to be
an essential venue to high-light changes in technol-ogy, and to maintain and establish new contacts.”
Mark said Farm World 2016 has incorporated a number of new initiatives and, with over 750 exhib-itors, visitors will find a comprehensive range of products and displays to
inspect and to gather the latest information to make important buying deci-sions.
The theme for Farm World 2016 is ‘Dairy – an industry on the move’, showcasing the impor-tance of the industry to the future of the region, and a focus on best prac-tice, innovation and future careers.
“The dairy industry is Gippsland’s largest agri-cultural commodity and accounts for over 20% of Australia’s milk supply,” Mark said.
“GippsDairy and Dairy Australia are valued spon-sors, and the event builds on Dairy Australia’s ’Leg-endairy’ theme, show-casing the resilience and pride of the Australian dairy industry.”
The Dairy Australia
stand at Farm World will highlight the various local projects being undertaken including Focus Farms and introducing adaptive tech-nologies to increase farm productivity.
“Dairy farmers’ con-fidence in the future of the industry in Gippsland remains buoyant and investing for the future will be a priority,” Mark said.
“Advances in farm machinery, genetics and technology continue to play an important role in improving farm productiv-ity and the newest innova-tions and improvements will be on show, such as robotic milking systems, sexed semen, the auto-matic teat dipping and liner flushing system, mas-titis detection and pasture improvement methods.”
Program highlightsYoung farmers are the future of the dairy industry A STIMULATING innovation added to this year’s program is the Young Farmers Confer-ence which will run from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Sat-urday, April 9. The confer-ence’s emphasis will be on prime areas of interest for young farmers, partic-ularly in the dairy sector, such as new technology, succession planning, alter-nate farming business structures and leadership opportunities in agricul-ture.
The conference will feature a range of Aus-tralian and international speakers and is supported by the Commonwealth
Bank, GippsDairy, Dairy Australia’s Young Dairy Network, Victorian Farm-ers Federation, Young Agribusiness Profession-als, Young Potato People and Victorian Young Farmers.
Inspirational women in the dairy industry THE SIGNIFICANT role that women play within the dairy industry will be a highlight of the Women in Agriculture luncheon to be held on Thursday, April 7. Janet Moxey, Dr Sinead De Gooyer and Dairy Aus-tralia’s Kelly Ward will share their stories and insights. The function fol-lows the ongoing success of ‘Ladies Day – Women in Agriculture’ and, link-ing in with the Farm World dairy theme, the Women
A world of opportunity awaits at expo
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
FARM WORLD PREVIEW // 25
in Agriculture luncheon is supported by Legendairy and Farm World strate-gic partners the Common-wealth Bank, Evans Petroleum BP and the Baw Baw Shire Council.
The inaugural Farm World Equestrian ExpoTHE CONSTRUCTION of a new Baw Baw Eques-trian Centre on the west-ern boundary of Lardner Park means that the ‘Farm World Equestrian Expo’ will be an exhilarating new addition to Farm World 2016.
This will add a whole new dimension to the field days and its inclu-sion reflects the size and importance of the horse industry to both Gippsland and the regions surrounding Melbourne.
Visitors to the expo will be able to inspect a selec-tion of dedicated eques-trian-related exhibitors, attend a variety of master classes with advice from the best in the industry, and watch or participate in dressage on the Thursday and Friday, or show jump-ing competitions on Satur-day and Sunday. A ticket to Farm World includes entry to the Equestrian Expo.
Lots of demonstrationsAS USUAL a wide-rang-ing demonstration, pre-sentation and activity program is a feature of Farm World. The Farm World website features the complete program.
A diverse collection of current farm machinery will be put through its paces and a lubricant specialist will be on hand at the BP Ultimate Pavilion to advise on lubrication matters. Throughout each day visitors can watch demonstrations of a
portable sawmill, plasma cutting machines, as well as the ever-popular Lion Dairy animal nursery, ‘Animals of Oz’, AFL football activities, sheep dog yard trials and the Australian Travelling Fishing Show.
A highlight each year is the ‘Farm World – Tractor & Machinery Association Machine of the Year’ awards, which acknowledge significant developments in farm machinery in two classes – Best Powered Machine and Best Unpowered Machine.
Animal health is criti-cal for a productive enter-prise and the Gippsland Veterinary Hospital will have Dr Stephanie Bullen on hand on their site available from 10am on Friday to meet and discuss parasite control with farmers. Dr Bullen is at the forefront of the science in this area and is passionate about helping farmers to implement better parasite control on an individual farm basis. Over the past three years Stephanie has undertaken research looking at parasite control and resistance on dairy farms.
New Farm World appTO ASSIST visitors in planning their trip to Farm World, a new free mobile app is now available. Suit-able for both iPhone and Android, it includes an interactive map with GPS to assist in navigating the site. Visitors can search where exhibitors are located and what products they will be promoting. The app can be down-loaded by searching ‘farm-world’ from the ‘iTunes App Store’ or through ‘Google Play’ for an Android version. Alterna-tively, you can use the fol-
lowing link and then select your preferred version to download the APP http://bit.ly/farmworld
Farm World is run in conjunction and supported by strategic partners, the Commonwealth Bank, Evans Petroleum BP
and the Baw Baw Shire Council.
For more information about Farm World 2016 or to book tickets to the Farm World Women in Agriculture luncheon or the Young Farmers conference, visit www.lardnerpark.com.au
A world of opportunity awaits at expo
www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
26 // PASTURE SEEDS
ESTABLISHING BETTER summer pastures and improved management of them is at the heart of a business plan being implemented by northern NSW dairyfarmer Andrew Wilson, who aims to milk more cows and achieve an extra 400 litres per lactation.
“I’ve already seen positive results in the first year with production up 18% thanks to a combination of improved pasture performance and much better seasonal conditions,” Andrew said.
Apart from increased production per cow, the farm’s production potential will be boosted by increasing herd size to 300 milking cows to
significantly improve enterprise profitability.
Andrew (pictured) and his wife Kelly Boyd have been farming Torokina at Woodlawn, just north of Lismore, for 20 years.
A decision to sign up as the Northern Rivers Resource Efficiency Focus Farm has been a great learning experience, according to Andrew.
A support group consisting of seven local farmers, together with his accountant, agribusiness banker and vet, has been an integral part of the program.
The group gather every six to seven weeks on farm with meetings facilitated by Phil Shannon, a well-known dairy farm consultant from northern Victoria, and Bill Fulkerson of Norco.
At the start of the two
year project, Andrew set goals for the business which he is striving to achieve over the short and long-term.
The adoption of new management options are hotly discussed and debated at the group meetings, though the final say sits with Andrew after he has considered likely scenarios and outcomes.
Their experience is being shared with the dairy farming community in the region through regular farm open days, with the next event on March 17. There is a dedicated page of the Subtropical Dairy Programme website.
Andrew said the input of Phil Shannon has been invaluable in helping him see the bigger picture and set achievable, cost-effective performance
goals.He has been running
240 cows on an effective milking area of about 77ha which includes 36ha of irrigation.
The acquisition of a neighbouring 32ha block will grow the milking area while also allowing the 120 heifer replacements required to be grazed on this area.
Production has reached 1.4 million litres this year with the aim of boosting volume to around 1.8 million litres from 300 cows, producing an average 6000 litres.
“We want to achieve this by feeding just 4kg of grain, plus 1kg molasses in the bails over summer, with the rest coming from grazed or conserved pasture.
“The (Focus Farm) project has helped
Pasture focus pays off at WoodlawnGORDON COLLIE
me recognise that the economics of home-grown feed really stack up,” Andrew said.
Regular soil testing has shown that the soil is very fertile with most soil nutrients being at ‘luxury’ levels.
This was demonstrated through the preparation of a Fert$mart Plan for the property that provided a timely insight into more cost effective nutrient options, including better use of dairy effluent.
“I used a lot of poultry manure a couple of years ago and applying superphosphate and potash was not giving the expected results.
“So we’ve now pulled back to just applying urea with a focus on improving management to make the best use of available pasture.
“The saving on fertiliser inputs has been in the order of $15,000 to $20,000 this year.
“We also have plans to evaluate options for re-using our effluent through the irrigation system through the project.”
Andrew said he was assured of an abundant winter feed supply by over sowing the whole milking area to ryegrass with the high performance variety Nourish under the set sprinkler irrigation and the balance short season Tetila.
Getting good summer performance was much more of a challenge with opportunity for significant improvements through better management of kikuyu and seteria pastures.
To improve summer feed quality he has begun the regular use of urea applied at the equivalent of 80 kg/ha/ month.
“This has produced real benefits with the kikuyu able to compete better with the seteria. The result
has been an increase on last year of over 30,000L/month,” he said.
The kikuyu pasture is carefully managed with regular topping to keep it short and maintain the best quality possible.
“The feed bulk just explodes in the summer and to keep it at an optimum level has real benefits,” Andrew said.
He has decided that the purchase of a 5m mower will be a good investment to help get across paddocks quickly and keep growth under control.
Andrew is also embarking on a major pasture renewal program, the first since he has been back on the property.
In this, pastures are sprayed out with eight litres of Roundup per hectare with the ground then cultivated and either soybean or millet grown to provide opportunities, over the two years, to get rid of
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pasture seeds // 27
Pasture focus pays off at Woodlawn
couch and other weeds.“I want to get away
from cropping again, but it’s necessary in the short term to work a rotation to establish kikuyu or setaria pastures,” Andrew said.
He uses the traditional Whittet kikuyu and has introduced a newer cultivar Acacia. Solander seteria has also performed well.
Andrew finds that there is about a three week quality feed gap when the property is oversown to rye each April and this is filled with round bale silage made during periods of flush pasture growth.
Last year Andrew used about 500 bales fed in the paddock, but has plans to chop the silage and feed out from a bun onto a feed pad.
This will have the benefits of improving feed utilisation and also providing some flexibility with managing the herd off pastures when conditions are extremely wet.
Andrew plans to invest about $50,000 in a feedmill to process wheat, corn or barley purchased in bulk and estimates the payback period will only be about two years.
He is also excited
about the potential of a new cold tolerant kikuyu variety being trialled in the region.
“I’m keen to try some,” he said. “It looks like being able to provide good quality pasture for 10 months of the year, extending grazing at both ends of the season.
“You should never under estimate the value of kikuyu for dairy production in this region. Treating it like ryegrass produces real benefits,” Andrew said.
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
28 // PASTURE SEEDS
Silver lucernes shine brightlySINCE THEIR development in 2012 by plant breeder Dr Ian Kaehne, the Sil-verado and Silverosa GT lucernes have proved they are solid performers.
The former principal research sci-entist at the South Australian Research and Development Institute – who also bred Sceptre, Eureka and Hunter-field Lucernes - said he aimed to meet the demand for persistent, high-qual-ity, high-yielding and versatile winter-
active lucernes.“The aim in breeding Silverado was
to break away from the short stand-life, poor quality and sensitivity to grazing of highly winter-active varieties and develop a benchmark variety which now has a proven reputation for long-term maintenance of high production and quality,” Ian said.
He said Silverado is very persistent TO PAGE 29
Travis Thompson, who milks 500 cows near Wagga Wagga, says he has been impressed with the amount of leaf on the Silversoa GT and the soft stalks.
Dr Ian Kaehne pictured with a Silverado crop, growing near Bordertown, SA, which yielded 1000kg/ha.
For more information visit www.heritageseeds.com.au or call 1800 007 333
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
PASTURE SEEDS // 29
Answers: A1 B4 C2 D3
How good is your eye?A BIG shout out to the Accelerating Change team at Murray Dairy who put the Performance Innovation Team at Don Stewart’s farm to the test to see if they could judge by eye the pasture mass and quality characteristics Accelerating Change has been collecting. Can you match the nutritive results (on the right) with the pasture species (on the left)?• For the answers go to the bottom of the page.
How good is your eye?
in all Australian lucerne growing areas - from intense selection under irrigation in Queensland and under dry-land conditions near Clare, SA.
“The parents were also selected for high quality, dis-ease resistant growth at a high rainfall site in the Adelaide Hills.”
Ian said the oldest irrigated stands have maintained production of both seed and hay, and been grazed for pro-longed periods for 11 years.
“Stands used for intensive hay production in Queensland are maintaining high production into their fifth year, and dryland stands used for hay and prolonged intensive grazing have maintained production for up to seven years.”
Silverosa GT was developed from a cross between Sil-verado and a patented salt tolerant germplasm which Ian said extends the area of use of lucerne from sites with the equivalent of 5,000 ppm salinity into moderately saline areas with salinity levels up to the equivalent of 10,000 ppm.
Silverosa GT was selected in Queensland on a saline site with a high watertable.
“The salt tolerant germplasm is also extremely toler-ant to continuous grazing and this characteristic has been incorporated into Silverosa GT,” Ian said.
Brad Forsyth from Monto, Qld, who mainly produces silage and hay, said Silverado is a great, year-round per-former.
“It has no real effects from pests or diseases and excel-lent hay quality because of its high leaf-to-stem ratio. From August 2013 to August 2014, this Silverado produced 25.1 tonnes DM/ha.”
Meanwhile, Travis Thompson, who milks over 500 cows near Wagga Wagga, said despite a brutally hot, dry summer, the Silverosa GT (under a centre pivot) did a fan-tastic job of producing top quality hay to go into the cows‘ daily feed mix.
“I’m impressed with the amount of leaf on the plant and the soft stalks,“ Travis said. “We grazed the stand through until spring when it was again used to supply hay to the dairy.”
Ian said the high quality of both ‘Silver’ lucernes is evidenced by four key components: high leaf/stem ratio; high leaf disease resistance; leaf retention during adverse weather events; and frost tolerance.
He said the Silverado and Silverosa GT were also selected for persistence, recovery and maintenance of production under frequent defoliation with up to 10 cuts per year and both have regularly produced in excess of 25 tonnes per hectare per year under irrigation in Queensland.
“Both varieties have proven adaptation to the wide range of environments and diverse management prac-tices used on Australian dairy farms.” www.uppermurrayseeds.com.au
Silver lucernes shine brightly
FROM PAGE 28
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
30 // PASTURE SEEDS
DAIRY FARMERS are looking for high production, long persistence and high protein in autumn crops as they try to bounce back from a dry summer.
Some are turning to old pasture favourites while others are looking for new options as they seek quick feed production and lasting impact.
Either way, farmers are being advised to stick to proven techniques to make sure they get the best results.
Tamworth-based agronomist with Elders, Tony Christian, said farmers had been holding back waiting for rains to break a prolonged dry spell but now needed to start planting.
“The smart guys will put something in because the rain is going to come eventually and they’re going to need the feed anyway,” Tony said.
Farmers are looking to high production fescues and ryegrass varieties, he said.
“Hummer Fescue is a new fine-leaf tall fescue that’s like a soft ryegrass, not the old typical hard fescue. It’s high production and high protein so it suits dairy.”
Some farmers are putting in a mixed system with clover or Lucerne
underneath to boost protein.
“They’re after a lift in protein more than anything else,” Tony said.
Despite the dry spell, Tony said the mood among local farmers is pretty good.
“You have to be an optimist to be a farmer. They’re looking at the long-range forecasts and the supposed El Nino is finishing, although it’s still pretty dry right now.”
Peter Notman from Notman Seeds in Western Victoria said that no matter what pastures farmers were growing, they need to stick to the basic management systems.
“Weed control, seed-soil contact, fertility and timing stay the same,” he said. “Your past experiences will give you a good idea how long a pasture base will last.”
Peter said farmers were looking for “a little bit of old with the new”.
In perennial pasture bases one of the old varieties, Matrix, is defying the odds to remain popular.
“It still stacks up incredibly well in production and persistence,” Peter said. “It’s 12 or 15 years old but still popular because it’s got excellent levels of persistence.”
Peter said there was a
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Matrix Perennial Ryegrass on the right showing it’s a real stayer. PICTURE: PETER NOTMAN.
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Dai ry NewS aUSTraLia march 2016
pasture seeds // 31
Perfect pasture mixes the old, the new and the know how
trend towards perennial pastures.
“There’s always new things coming on the market but there’s doubt about how they will persist. If we offered 5% production but said we’re not sure about persistency, the farmer choice will be strongly in getting perennial ryegrasses that persist.
“That’s probably why you see Matrix doing so well. It’s up at the top with productivity and right up the top with persistence.”
Peter added that farms with winter calving are looking for quick feed and using annuals and Italians.
Of newer varieties, Barrier ryegrass, a ryegrass meadow fescue cross, is proving popular for its resistance to pests.
“There are pockets where pasture has been knocked out by African black beetles, red-headed cockchafers and other pests,” he said. “If they are a major problem there are some new technologies on the market to consider, such as Barrier.”
Short term ryegrasses are generally used in areas where there is trouble getting persistence with perennials, while annual ryegrass can be planted when quick autumn and winter feed is required.
Italian Ryegrass aren’t as fast but long season cultivars such as Surge, Megabite Premium, Sonik
or Nourish can deliver continued growth into late spring and early summer when annuals drop away.
Southern Green ryecorn can be sown with ryegrass to extend feed supply and quality into spring.
Shane Fitzgerald from Petrik Soil Technology said farmers were looking from the ground up to get the most out of autumn.
“An efficient soil can maintain profitability through challenging periods,” he said. “The dairy soil environment is easy to improve.
“The organic matter present and manure inputs from the animals can easily be used to improve the robustness of the system when converted through to humus. Soils higher in humus have built-in resilience to remain productive through drier periods or lower nutrient inputs.”
Shane said dairy farmers were turning to soil health inoculants because of their effectiveness in building humus resources. Higher humus levels increase the soil’s moisture holding capacity, the plants rooting depth and water infiltration.
Glenn Marriott from Ag Challenge Consulting in Gippsland urged farmers to walk their land
and think carefully about the species they select for autumn.
“It’s horses for courses and you’ve got to know your land,” Glenn said. “Some people swear by
their $10 seed, some by their $3.50 seed. There are arguments for and against. It depends on cash flow; some think they can justify the extra $7 a kilo.”
Glenn said persistency and performance were the two major attractions for farmers when selecting autumn crops.
“Persistency is one thing people talk about,
but there are arguments to the contrary that persistence isn’t the biggest deal,” he added.
He said the mood of Gippsland farmers coming into the new season varied
between regions. “The mood depends
where you are,” he said. “The difference in rainfall from the south to the north of Gippsland is just remarkable.”
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monthlyCropmark Seeds Australia Pty Ltd
Freephone: 1800 889 039Freefax: 1800 889 037
SONIK IS AVAILABLE FROM YOURLOCAL SEED MERCHANT OR FARM
MERCHANDISE OUTLET
www.cropmark.com.au
For further information on Sonik, contact our regional agronomists:
North & East Victoria, NSW: Adam Sheedy – 0428 132 096
Western Districts, SA, Tasmania: Bruce Hume – 0427 607 375
Sonik –fast, reliable winter feed
Sonik – rapid establishment and strong winter activityTake the worry out of winter feeding.Sonik is the winter feed champion, with rapid establishmentand strong growth rates over autumn, winter and springproviding the feed platform you need for greatlivestock performance.
Sonik is ideal for over-sowing into run-out or damagedpastures, rejuvenating paddocks or for full cultivationas short term (1-2 year) specialist pastures.
Sonik has excellent tiller density for higher yield,persistence and better ground cover.
To view the performance of Sonikin trials, visit our web site:www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx
Trial Data
Dai ry News aUsTraLia march 2016
32 // pasture seeds
aCId sOILs, rainfall, high soil aluminium and iron, and significant leaching potential are presenting particular problems in Australia, especially coastal growing regions.
Which is why, a year after it came on the market, the fused calcium, magnesium, silicate, phosphate fertiliser FertAg 0-8-0 is winning friends in
Fertiliser nips leaching in the bud
the farming sector, said Fertoz Agriculture agronomist Andrew Kennett.
“The product isn’t water soluble so it stays where it is spread; it doesn’t leach away with rain like conventional fertilisers,” Andrew said.
“In acidic soils it mineralises and digests soil acid, providing plants with the available nutrients as well as silicon to sweeten the pasture while providing a liming action with high calcium and magnesium.”
Andrew said the high availability of nutrients and no runoff/leaching means farmers using FertAg 0-8-0 benefit from reduced fertiliser costs of about $30 a hectare.
He said the first shipment of 200 tonnes of FertAg 0-8-0 arrived in February 2015 for sale in Queensland and northern NSW and since then nearly 1000 tonnes has been sold.
Andrew expects the market to be strong because the area is prone to soil acidity and poor response to mainstream superphosphate and liming products.
The product is already widely used in Asia as an alternative to mainstream fertilisers, especially in areas of high rainfall and acid soils and the product can be used by both organic and non-organic farmers.
Ian Cork runs a dairy farm near Dorrigo with some holdings of beef “as a part-time sideline”.
He experimented on a 4.4ha block using FertAg as the phosphorus base.
Ian planted forage sorghum (pictured above) and was pleased to collect 100 bales off the first cut.
“If the fertiliser holds up I’ll get another 100 bales, which will be an excellent production,” he said.
For the sorghum, Ian didn’t add lime or dolomite to the soil, although he did put in a 50:50 mix of potash and urea “so FertAg can’t take all the credit”, he joked.
“The fused magnesium and calcium sounded like a good idea so I thought I’d give it a go.”
He said the crop looked excellent. “I’ll do a soil test afterwards to see if the slower release has allowed more of it to stay put.”
He plans on mixing the sorghum with barley and a good rye grass.
“Plant roots that come in contact with FertAg 0-8-0 will easily ‘digest’, or solubilise its nutrients using the acid root exudates,” Andrew said.
“In an acid environment of say pH 5.5 the product will release 25% of its nutrients in 24 hours and keeps releasing without leaching or lockup in the soil.
“It is compatible with nitrogen, potassium and sulphur fertilisers for blending other macro elements.”
FertAg 0-8-0 has a high silicon content of 11% of which 96% is plant available with phosphorus at 8% with 96% also plant available.
This means it is highly acid soluble, with the silicate slowly released over a period of one to nine months, depending on rainfall, soil acidity and plant access.
Andrew said recent information from the WA Department of Agriculture (Swan River Catchment) indicates the phosphate leaching from an application of FertAg 0-8-0 is on average 13 times less than soluble P fertiliser (super/MAP) in heavy rainfall.
“FertAg 0-8-0 will remain where it is placed,” he said. “And the P remains 96% plant available as the silica prevents the aluminium locking up the phosphorus.”
He said application is simple – the product is easily broadcast, no lumps or blocking spreaders.
“Rainfall, irrigation or mechanical action will incorporate the product into root zone.”
www.fertag.com
Cropmark Seeds Australia Pty LtdFreephone: 1800 889 039
Freefax: 1800 889 037
ZOOMTM
IS AVAILABLE FROM YOURLOCAL SEED MERCHANT OR FARM
MERCHANDISE OUTLET
www.cropmark.com.au
ZoomTM – the kingof annual ryegrasses
ZoomTM is a specialist winter feed. An ideal break cropbetween maize and other crops, it is very quick to establishand shows exceptional autumn/winter growth and rapidre-growth. ZoomTM offers the advantages of excellentpalatability and high metabolisable energy content.
ZoomTM can provide multiple grazings over autumnand winter before being shut up for high qualitysilage in the spring.
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:
North & East Victoria, NSW: Adam Sheedy – 0428 132 096
Western Districts, SA, Tasmania: Bruce Hume – 0427 607 375
DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 33
Harrows put to good useA SET of chain link harrows with an 8 metre working width is being worked on a daily basis to clean paddocks on a Finley dairy farm.
Gerrit Visscher (known as Gerry) and his family came out to Australia from the Netherlands in 2000 to take up dairy-ing here.
Gerry had decided, because of regulations and quotas, that there was no possibility of continuing on farming in their home country where, incidentally, their cows were shedded for six months of the year.
Gerry and Tineke have three sons; ‘DJ’ is 30, Marty (pictured) is 23 and Jeroen is 20, and all work on the farm. A daughter works off farm at the Albury hospital.
Their herd of 700 cows, 95% of which, Gerry said, are Holsteins, are milked on an 80 stand rotary shed, which they put in during 2003.
He said they can milk 450 cows in an hour, and there were 520 milkers at the time of our visit. They have one other full-time employee and one casual to help with the milking.
The property covers 485 hectares
(1200 acres) and they irrigate from the channel through Murray Irrigation.
They had good rain in early February and at the time of our visit in late Feb-ruary were preparing the paddocks for sowing in the first half of March.
They use a Speed-tiller to work the ground up and culti-vate 280 to 320 hect-ares (700 to 800 acres) before sowing with rye-grass and shaftal, with oats ‘over the top’ for quicker feed.
Most of the land can be irrigated, depend-ing on the cost of water, with two blocks of dry-land which include
lucerne.Last year they had 50 hectares of
lucerne and will put in 100 this year. Soon after taking up the farm they
met Richard van Dooren, who now runs Ag Machinery Australia, importing a range of machinery including Schuite-maker and Saphir brands.
Richard called on them for advice when he, too, was looking to settle in Australia.
The Visschers purchased a new Schuitemaker feeder wagon in 2004
and the Schuitemaker loader wagon that they bought in 2011 started Rich-ard off on importing the machines.
They have had their Saphir Per-fekt S4 chain link harrows for three years now, also purchased through Ag Machinery Australia.
The harrows are mainly used to go around their array of hay feeders to spread manure, particularly after the morning milking.
They have 20 feeders that they have welded up themselves in their impres-
sive workshop, each holding two large square bales.
Marty is the main operator of the harrows, pulling them behind a John Deere 7530 tractor.
“It only takes ten minutes each day, four times around in the paddock with the feeders and it’s finished”, he explained. “One year we used it to smooth the paddocks before sowing.”
Marty said it helps with the cleanli-ness on the place and the paddocks are softer for the cows to sit in.
Richard said that the Saphir harrows guarantee maximum stability and ideal working quality.
The pitched sup-port frame and the freely suspended net provide for very good working quality.
They make all their own pit silage; Gerry said it is frustrating not getting the con-tractors in when you want them at the crit-ical time for the crop.
They do all the silage work them-selves and find that it
is cheaper that way.In the experience of this writer, the
farm is unusual in that there is no arti-ficial insemination undertaken on the property.
Twenty-five to 30 pure Holstein bulls go in with the cows in June and are taken out in January.
Gerry said that this is cheaper with little stress. The vet comes in three times a year to scan the cows. Calving starts in March and goes through to the
TO PAGE 34
WORKING CLOTHESCHRIS DINGLE
SAPHIR
Saphir pasture harrows, strong and heavy duty built to last. Double smudge bar on 3 point linkage, 24 ft with hydraulic fold, Ideal machine to begin your pasture renovations year over year
The Schuitemaker Perfekta slurry tankers Sizes from 12 000 to 36 000 litres Perfekta tanks and chassis are fully galvanised Your choice of axles include single, tandem or
Schuitemaker Calypso muck spreaders 11 and 18 tonne models available Single or tandem axle Vertical beaters Galvanised side panels Robust and low maintenance machine Built by SR for more than 60 years Suitable for lime, gypsum, compost and manure
Contact AG Machinery Australia on 0411529531 Or email us [email protected] Visit our website at www.agmachineryaustralia.com.au
See us at Farm World
2016 on site
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DAI RY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2016
34 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTSMACHINERY & PRODUCTS
New option in mixer wagons arrives in OzLELY AUSTRALIA has announced the release of the Tulip Biga vertical mixer range to the Austra-lian market.
Managing director Clive Edwards said Lely has been testing these mixers in Australia since late 2014 to ensure that
they have the correct spec-ifications for this market.
“We have very different conditions here in Austra-lia compared to the rest of
the world so it is impor-tant that we enter the market with confidence knowing that the Tulip Biga is designed to suit our unique conditions,” Clive said.
“The augers are designed to process even the most difficult materials as well as the toughest round bales to achieve a quick homogeneous mix.”
He said the new Tulip Biga vertical feed mixer wagon has been built with the latest innovative mixing technology solu-tions, including a unique auger construction, heavy duty construction and reduced power require-ments.
“Its heavy duty frame, unique design and innova-tive advancements make for a perfect mix to suit all Australian conditions and terrain.”
The Tulip Biga range is available in two models; the Biga 20 Maxi Twin Eco+, and the Biga 24 Maxi Twin Eco+, with a mixing capacity of 20m3 and 24m3 respectively.
Globally there are over 7,000 Tulip Biga vertical feed mixers working, with some of these machines working 22 hours a day in
large dairies in the United States.
Clive said the Tulip Biga range has been con-structed with high quality components, a heavy duty planetary gearbox and a unique auger that is made from X60 steel that lasts longer than normal steel.
“The mixer tub has been constructed with a 25mm thick heavy duty bottom floor plate, and 8mm thick tubs walls and the heavy duty gearbox is covered by a five year warranty.
“All of these features ensure a low service maintenance and a long reliable machine life,” he said.
The Biga 20 comes standard with a single axle and can be optioned up to a tandem axle while the Biga 24 is standard with tandem axle.
The feed mix is dis-charged at the front of the mixer onto a 1,000mm wide stainless steel con-veyor that is hydraulically operated for the left or right discharge.
For feeding into troughs an optional 1,150mm foldable con-veyor extension is avail-able for both models.www.lely.com
Harrows put to good use
FROM PAGE 33
end of October. The herd is self-replacing; they keep all the heifers and only buy in bulls. “After the third pregnancy test”, Gerry added, “if a cow is not in calf, she’s gone.”
They use a John Deere 7530 to pull the loader wagon, the Speedtiller and the Saphir harrows at various times.
“It’s actually bigger than we need but it’s the eas-iest to swap over – we have done it with the 125hp tractor.”
They also have a JCB Telehandler and another three John Deere tractors, all with front end loaders.
A Connor Shea 8000 series seeder is use at sowing time. They also have a Kuhn mower and Lely tedder and rake.
The John Deere 8000 Series Self-Propelled Forage Harvesters deliver reliability, excellent cutting performance and more profi tability to your bottom line. With eight all-new models, ranging from 251 to 555 kW, the 8000 Series delivers easier serviceability, improved crop fl ow and a best-in-class cab for all-day comfort and better visibility.
We’ve also added new optional Active Fill Control (AFC) technology. AFC is a unique system which makes it easier than ever to fi ll trailers on-the-go. Crop loss is reduced when integrated cameras monitor how full the trailer is and adjusts the amount of crop fl ow to ensure you never spill any forage. The automated AFC system works perfectly even in low light conditions, which means you can work for longer and push your performance further.
To learn more about the new 8000 Series SPFH and the limited time fi nance offer, visit your local John Deere dealer today. Nothing Runs Like a Deere™.
Beyond forward thinking.FORAGE THINKING.
* Conditions apply. Finance available through John Deere Financial Limited to approved commercial applicants only. Offer is based on 30% deposit, GST back and 3 year term with 3 annual repayments. Fees and charges apply. If not amended or withdrawn earlier, the promotion expires on 31/03/2016. Other terms and rates are available. JohnDeere. com.au/8000Series
2 8
BOOKING DEADLINE: March 30 MATERIAL DEADLINE: April5PUBLISHED: April 12CONTACT: CHRIS DINGLE T: 0417 735 001 E: [email protected]
TECHNOLOGY AND ENERGYMore dairy farmers are adopting technology that helps reduce costs and save time, including management software; automated irrigation systems; robotic milking; and heat detection devices. A special report in the April edition of Dairy News Australia showcases some of the latest technology helping farmers improve their efficiency and profitability.
SPECIAL REPORT
NEXT ISSUE: APRIL
TULIP BIGA FEED MIXER WAGONS, DESIGNED TO SUIT OUR UNIQUE CONDITIONS!
The NEW heavy duty Tulip Biga vertical feed mixer wagons have been built to handle our unique Australian conditions, as well as constructed with high quality materials for low service maintainance.
• Available in 20m3 or 24m3 Maxi Twin Eco+.• Its unique auger construction provides for a fast and rapid
homogeneous mixing, resulting in healthy cows & high milk yield.
• Heavy duty construction ensures a durable machine life.• Heavy duty planetary gearbox with 5 year warranty
(Conditions Apply).
• Reduced power requirements.• Single or dual axle models available.• Hydraulically operated 1000mm width front conveyor in
stainless steel with left or right dischage.
For more information contact Lely Australia on 1300 946 306 or email [email protected]
*Loan terms, Fees & Lending Criteria Apply. Lely Finance is a division of De Lage Landen Pty Limited. ABN 20 101 692 040
