New UHT plant construction starts
Construction is underway at Fonterra’s new UHT cream plant at Edendale, Southland following a groundbreaking ceremony recently.
Federated Farmers dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard says not many farmers would need to adjust their palm kernel expeller (PKE) feeding regime.
Most farmers are maximising pasture, the cheapest form of feed on farms, he says.
“We all grow grass so there’s no need to throw PKE in there…grass is the cheapest form of feed so maximise that; it’s common sense,” Hoggard told Dairy News.
His comments came as Fonterra wrote to farmer suppliers last week, outlining it will be establishing a demerit-based grading system from June 2018.
The co-op says feed trials conducted with DairyNZ and AgResearch confirmed an increased use of PKE feed does change milk fat composition, specifically the fatty acid profile.
After more than 100 shed meetings across the country, it has a test for fatty acid changes caused by PKE.
The test, called the Fat Evaluation Index (FEI), was rolled out across the tanker system and all farms nationwide in April this year. Farmers have been receiving results dated back to January this year.
Fonterra chief operating officer Farm Source Miles Hurrell says results this season would not incur demerit points.
“This timeline meets our earlier commitment and gives all farmers a full season to understand how PKE use affects the FEI results for their farm and time to adjust their farming systems to meet the cooperative’s limits.
“Over the next weeks and months, we will consult with farmers to finalise the grading system details, using our existing grading framework as a basis.”
Fonterra farmers will be told by the end of December.
“For this season, the current FEI levels remain a guideline only and there will be no demerits,” says Hurrell.
Hurrell says most appreciate the need for the co-op to optimise its production capacity.
“However with 10,500 shareholders there will be some who will have a negative feedback to the proposal,” he says. Hoggard says results from his farm shows there is no need to change anything.
“We feed our cows little bit of PKE each day so for my farm there’s nothing to worry about.”
Hoggard says he has seen some farmers tweet their results, which were “in red”.
“These farmers would need to make changes.”
Hoggard says Fonterra has been flagging the issue since 2015 and farmers should not be surprised.
Later this month, Ardgour Valley Orchards apricots will burst onto the world stage and domestic supermarket shelves under the Temptation Valley brand.
Animal rights protest group PETA is calling for Agriculture Minister Todd McClay to introduce legislation which would make it mandatory to have live-streaming web cameras in all New Zealand shearing shed.
ACT MP and farmer Mark Cameron is calling on Parliament to thank farmers by reinstating provisions within the Resource Management Act that prevent regional councils from factoring climate change into their planning.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has declared restricted fire seasons for the Waikato, Northland and Canterbury.
The first Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction drew mixed results, with drop in powder prices and lift in butter and cheeses.
ACT Party conservation spokesperson Cameron Luxton is calling for legislation that would ensure hunters and fishers have representation on the Conservation Authority.
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