Agriculture

Dairy sector calls for 1500 international staff in 2022

Dairy sector partners are calling on the Government to allow 1500 international dairy workers into New Zealand in 2022 to help meet the sector’s workforce shortfall, if borders continue to remain closed. DairyNZ, Federated Farmers and Dairy Women’s Network have asked for changes to be made to class exceptions by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Along with the request for additional international workers, the organisations also support international farm workers being able to quarantine in separate housing on-farm, if fully vaccinated and following Covid-19 safety requirements while in quarantine. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says difficulty in obtaining MIQ space has been a key frustration which has hindered the arrival of workers granted dairy class exception visas this year. “Severely limiting the dairy sector’s access to international labour is creating unacceptable levels of stress for farmers and their teams, which presents some risks to animal welfare and limits dairy’s future productivity at a time when our contribution to New Zealand is critical for our wider economy,” says Dr Mackle. In a recent joint DairyNZ and Federated Farmers survey half of dairy farmers reported they were short-staffed. The request comes as New Zealand unemployment rates fell to 3.4 percent to equal the lowest level seen since 2007, shortly before the worst effects of the Global Financial Crisis hit the economy. “We are seeing many core sectors facing challenges filling vacancies due to low unemployment rates. We know from our recent farmer survey that 87 percent of farmers made changes to appeal to local employees, with farmers reporting improved rosters, reduced hours, flexible milking schedules and increased salaries. However, we still have a significant workforce shortage and that’s why we need to reintroduce international staff to help fill some of the gap.” Federated Farmers immigration spokesperson Chris Lewis says farmers need […]

Planning key to combat higher costs to produce milk

Strong financial management, grazing management and people management skills will help dairy farmers buffer rising input costs and produce milk more efficiently. That’s the message from DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle who says despite a high milk price, high-cost pressures are expected to continue for at least the next couple of years. Statistics New Zealand released its latest farm expense price index last month which showed large inflation costs for farmers over the past two years. Four key farming costs have experienced inflation of more than 10 per cent between 2019 and 2021, including fertiliser with a 15.9 per cent increase; cultivation, harvesting and animal feed with an 18.9 per cent increase; electricity with a 21 per cent increase; and stock grazing costs which are 36.9 per cent higher this year than they were in 2019. “The current economic climate is unique and reflects a combination of forces that seldom come together,” says Dr Mackle. “International demand for food, especially dairy products, remains strong, but poor production and high input prices worldwide have limited supply. This means world food prices are currently around a third higher than the same time last year.” DairyNZ principal economist Dr Graeme Doole says shipping prices, on average, are around 600 per cent higher than two years ago due to port delays and closures related to COVID-19, and the prices of ocean freight out of Asia have grown substantially, increasing by 15 times between March and August this year. Urea prices alone have jumped by 67 per cent since August 2020 due to greater global demand for nitrogen. FAO figures suggest nitrogen use has only increased by 1.33 per cent since 2020, but higher seasonal demand, coupled with international supply issues, have pushed up urea prices globally. “In New Zealand, China is our largest […]

Top 10 ways Government could back our dairy farmers

DairyNZ is calling on the Government to partner with dairy farmers to achieve better outcomes, invest more in research and development, and stop overloading farmers with too many regulations. Ten recommendations for Government have been drawn from DairyNZ’s latest ‘View from the Cowshed’ survey of 425 dairy farmers. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says it’s critical the Government work more closely with farmers to support investment in research and development, so farmers can continue working to reduce their environmental footprint, while maintaining profitability. “This year’s survey indicates farmers are making on-farm changes to improve their environmental management and their workplaces, but are feeling under pressure from constant regulatory changes,” said Dr Mackle. “We want to see more focus on ensuring regulations are fair, practical and don’t overburden farmers with too many different requirements. “Dairy is New Zealand’s leading export sector, employs 50,000 Kiwis and is forecast to contribute over $40 billion to our economy this year, so it’s important for our country’s success that farmers are supported to keep contributing to New Zealand.” 57 percent of farmers surveyed said changing Government regulations are causing them stress, with 55 percent also saying perception of dairy farmers by the public and in media was also keeping them up at night. A further 67 percent of farmers feel there isn’t enough support for farmers dealing with mental health issues. Positively, the survey revealed 70 percent of farmers surveyed have a Farm Environment Plan – a key tool farmers use to identify and manage environmental risks through adopting good farming practices. “Dairy farmers are operating in a complex environment and managing a lot of challenges. Around half previously reported being short-staffed and 45 percent don’t have the internet service they need to efficiently run farm operations,” says Dr Mackle. In the past two years, the Government has proposed changes to policy on freshwater management, wintering, climate change, biodiversity and vehicle taxes which would all significantly impact on farmers. These issues may have contributed to 32 percent of farmers saying they feel less positive about farming than 12 months ago – despite strong milk prices. Only 17 percent reported they felt more positive. Matamata dairy farmer Sam Owen says there isn’t one cause of mental health issues in rural […]

Stainless steel pipes in a food factory. Stainless pipe fittings.

HRS meets tight spec for dairy heat exchanger

HRS Heat Exchanges has met a challenging brief to supply a client in Australia with a compact yet efficient heat exchanger to process viscous dairy products. Burra Foods is a leading Australian dairy ingredient processor, producing value-added dairy products for the global food manufacturing market. An upgrade at their processing plant in Korumburra in the State of Victoria necessitated the use of a heat exchanger to warm frozen milk products, but existing building and infrastructure meant that the available space was severely limited. The line in question produces skimmed milk concentrate and cream from frozen concentrates which are then thermalised and cooled to ambient processing temperatures. The required heat exchangers needed to raise the temperature of the product from -5°C to 18°C prior to the final heater, which includes melting the frozen product. After this, the product is then cooled from 10°C to 5°C in the final cooler. Due to the consistency of the skimmed milk concentrate and cream the product is quite viscous, so the heat exchanger needed to resist fouling and provide good heat transfer performance, while also integrating with the Plate Heat Exchangers used in the process in a very limited footprint. The solution was an HRS MI Series corrugated tube heat exchanger which provided the necessary heating and cooling requirements in the tight space available and also resulting in a small pressure drop, another important consideration for this installation. Following an initial enquiry at the end of 2019, the unit was installed in mid-2020, and has exceeded performance expectations since final commissioning, with a production capacity of 5,000 kg of product per hour. Stuart Shattock, Process Engineering Manager at Burra Foods comments: “Other suppliers couldn’t match HRS’s offering in terms of tubular heat exchangers and the level of detail provided. Once we placed the order, there […]

FarmIQ has new kill sheet data integration with ANZCO Foods

A recent API development at FarmIQ has opened the door for automated data sharing with meat processors throughout New Zealand. ANZCO Foods now joins Silver Fern Farms in integrating their kill sheet data with FarmIQ. The days of having to print kill sheets and manually enter data into the likes of Excel can be a thing of the past as a FarmIQ user. ANZCO’s kill sheet data will automatically flow through into the platform enabling farmers to make more accurate and timely decisions by having access to their kill sheets in an easy-to-read report and exportable format. Whether you’re looking to improve quality to achieve a premium or purely increase carcass yield; FarmIQ’s integration with ANZCO puts you on the front foot. Key benefits include: Mob Performance – understand what factors (i.e. animal breed, feed type, treatments, stocking rates) influence carcass characteristics so you can make the most profitable decisions for your business. Seasonal Performance – understand how carcass characteristics change across and between seasons so you can make the most profitable decisions for your business. Benchmarking – measuring performance against others in the region or around the country. Supplier Performance – the data will help support finishers in purchasing animals from those suppliers who produce better performing animals. EID Finishing – the data will allow farmers to utilise reporting functionality in FarmIQ to compare the performance of individual animals pre and post slaughter. Available on Performance and Enterprise packs only.

AIMI Survey: Cereal areas and volumes: October 10, 2021

Key Points at 10 October 2021 For the 2020/2021 season, cereal grain production (wheat, barley and oats) in NZ totaled an estimated 761,300 tonnes (down 7% on last year). Maize grain production was estimated at 214,900 tonnes. Total production of grain in NZ was therefore estimated to be 976,200 tonnes. Unsold stocks of cereal grain, summed over all six crops, are estimated to have reduced by 62% between 1 July 2021 and 10 October 2021. When compared to the same time last year, unsold stocks of cereal grain, summed over all six crops, are estimated to be 54% lower, mainly because of much lower unsold stocks of feed wheat and feed barley. As at 10 October 2021, unsold stocks of feed wheat and feed barley were estimated at 18,300 tonnes (down 37,200 tonnes on last year) and 19,300 tonnes (down 17,900 tonnes), respectively. On-farm storage of sold grain is down 20% (down 43,900 tonnes) on this time last year. Total on-farm storage, including both sold and unsold grain, summed over all six crops, is down 31% (down 101,200 tonnes) compared to the same time last year. The total area sown or intended to be sown in cereals is estimated to be 98,300 hectares, which is up 7% (up 6,600 ha) on last season. Roughly 87% of this total area had been sown, with 13% still left to sow. Crops are generally growing well, despite a slow start for spring crops as a result of cold and wet weather across NZ. Read full report here

DairyNZ acknowledges passing of John Luxton

DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel and chief executive Dr Tim Mackle have today expressed their sadness at the passing of former DairyNZ chairman, the Hon John Luxton. Hon John Luxton stepped down from the role of chairman in November 2015 after more than a decade of service to DairyNZ, and a lifetime of service to the dairy industry. Mr van der Poel and Dr Mackle say he will be remembered for his longstanding, unfaltering contribution to the rural sector, particularly dairy. “John has had a major role in the success of New Zealand’s dairy industry. John has always demonstrated strong leadership and longstanding commitment to the sector,” says Mr van der Poel. “John was instrumental in a number of significant policy and legislative changes in New Zealand, including the foundation policy work that led to the formation of Fonterra and the deregulation of producer boards. “One of his major achievements was shaping the development of DairyNZ – the first industry-good body of its kind and the largest in Australasia.” Hon John Luxton played a major role in helping guide the dairy industry through a significant period of change, which would soon become New Zealand’s number one export industry. He was instrumental in supporting a successful, viable, competitive dairy industry in New Zealand, with the sector employing 42,240 people and contributing $13.2 billion to New Zealand’s export revenue during his time as chair of DairyNZ. Dr Mackle says he will remember Mr Luxton for always being very supportive and being a statesman and diplomat who could bring people together. “John was an influential leader who unified the dairy sector from dairy companies through to local and central government departments,” he says. “He led by values, had enormous integrity, and always put the best interests of those in the rural sector […]

Tourism reset would hurt agricultural exporters

The Government’s proposal to reduce future international tourism visitor numbers post-COVID to concentrate on higher spending visitors may solve one problem but create others. Research by Lincoln University’s Dr Rob Radics, Dr Muhammad Umar, and Associate Professor Anthony Brien, highlighted that most of our agricultural products delivered fresh to market are transported on passenger planes, and tourists contribute to the cost. The drop in tourism numbers could push up transport costs to the point some businesses do not export at all and are put out of business. Their work showed that before COVID-19 hit, there were 550 international flights into and out of New Zealand each week, which carried 80% of New Zealand’s overall export airfreight in their belly-holds, and that it was worth $10.8 billion in December 2019. Only 20% of New Zealand’s airfreight was carried by dedicated air cargo-only freighters. Before COVID-19, air freight was less than 1% of New Zealand’s total trade by volume, but about 16% in terms of dollar value. The report raised that the decision may show a lack of understanding of the inter-relatedness of industries. “What COVID-19 has highlighted is the not previously considered symbiotic relationship of some sectors of the New Zealand agriculture industry and tourism.” Transport costs have already gone up because of reduced flights, as In March 2020, COVID-19 bought tourism to a halt and reduced airfreight capacity. This resulted in an immediate increase in competition for freight space and the Government stepped in to fund additional dedicated airfreight cargo flights to ensure the export of perishable products. It initially funded 53 weekly flights to key export markets. By November 2020, airfreight flights (dedicated cargo and empty-of-passenger flights) had increased to 120 per week; however, export freight costs also increased as producers competed for space on flights. The top product […]

Delivering calm in the kitchen

Fonterra’s Foodservice business, Anchor Food Professionals (AFP), has reached a milestone to become a $3 billion NZD annual revenue business. Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell says the success is down to the Co-op’s strong connection to customers who value our sustainably produced, high-quality, nutritious milk and innovative products. “It’s really pleasing to see this milestone be reached despite the impact of COVID-19 on restaurants and other out-of-home eating. Our people have worked hard to find new ways of working with customers and new product applications to suit the pandemic environment, and we can see this has been a success. “Foodservice is a high value channel for our farmers’ milk and a key part of our long-term strategy. This is why we’re aiming to increase our milk solids into Foodservice by approximately 50% by 2030 and grow our presence across further markets including Greater China, South East Asia and the USA. “To support our Co-op’s growth to 2030, we intend to invest about $1 billion in moving milk into higher value products and increase our R&D budget by 50%. These investments will enable further product innovation in the Foodservice channel, among other things, and help put us on track to meet our next Foodservice target of becoming a $5 billion annual revenue business,” says Mr Hurrell. Fonterra’s Director Global Foodservice Paul Harvey says Anchor Food Professionals chefs works alongside customers in their kitchens to match their needs with our Co-op’s dairy innovation expertise. “To offer solutions we need to know what the problem is, and in many cases the issues are in the kitchen, and that’s where we are spending much more time with our customers who want our help. “We now have 55 chefs around the world who go into kitchens like this where […]

Honing management skills while working on the farm

Farmers can now improve their decision-making skills without having to stop milking – they can just put in some earbuds. Lincoln University Honorary Associate Professor Peter Nuthall’s audiobook “The Intuitive Farmer” is written in an innovative novel-style. A managerial ability researcher, he tells the fictional story of group of farmers meeting to improve their intuitive decision-making skills. It is based on actual data collected from hundreds of farmers. Each chapter addresses a different issue affecting farmers, such as risk management, benchmarking, budgeting, and planning, negotiation skills, active listening, and farm ownership. By the end of the novel, the listener will have absorbed important farm management principles and practices through the activities and findings of the group. Dr Nuthall said improved intuitive skill requires farmers to constantly and objectively self-critique their decisions so that slowly, the appropriate approach becomes second nature as part of their kit of intuitive tools. The book is described as the first of its kind to be applied to agricultural management practices, providing a dependable source for farmers, agricultural and farm management students, and people involved in agricultural industries. An Amazon review described “The Intuitive Farmer” as an innovative and useful resource for farmers. “Having the author appear as a character in the book is a nice bonus, as it gives the reader a rare chance to get an insider’s view on the personal and professional life of a researcher,” the reviewer wrote. His next book in the farm management series is called “The Decisive Farmer” and will be published before Christmas this year by the Commonwealth Bureau of Information (CABI). Listen to a sample of the audio book on the Google Play app here https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Peter_L_Nuthall_The_Intuitive_Farmer?id=AQAAAEA8AW1BQM

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