Calves yield cash for rural communities

Each season the suppliers fill out a registration form on which they nominate their school or local fire service.  

For every calf supplied, Affco donates 40 cents to the nominated recipient -- a donation by the meat company that doesn’t come out of the schedule payment.

Affco national livestock manager Tom Young says farmer suppliers often volunteer at rural fire stations and schools, and local people rely on them to bring their communities together, look out for families and keep them safe.

“Affco has been donating to rural primary schools since 2006 through our Bobby Calf Cash for Schools and in 2013 in response to supplier feedback we introduced the option to nominate their rural fire brigade.

“Bobby calves are a fact of life on a dairy farm, and with this scheme everyone wins.  We work hard to get the best value for our suppliers; bobby calves are picked up regularly and processed fast, and we return cash to our communities at the end of each season.”

In December, schools receive a payment from AFFCO with a statement of who supplied the calves.  The New Zealand Fire Service is given a donation and they distribute payments to their volunteer services.

In 2017 a total of $21,000 was donated to fire services and $70,000 to rural schools. Affco has donated at least $1 million to rural communities since the donation scheme started in 2006.

Farmers should have received their registration forms by mail, or they can download them from http://www.affco.co.nz/livestock/bobby-calf-registration/, phone 0800 722 422 or contact their AFFCO/SPM buyer.  

Registrations are due on May 1 in the North Island and June 1 in the South Island.