increase font size
NEW ZEALAND is bowing to international pressure by introducing new milk cooling rules for dairy farmers.
Most farmers must upgrade farm milk chillers to comply, costing $5000 to $100,000.
The new MPI regulations require farmers to hold milk at 6oC or cooler until the tanker collects. Present rules allow milk to be cooled to 7oC within three hours of milking and until collection. In Australia milk must be cooled to 5oC within 3.5 hours of milking; in China to 4oC within two hours of milking. In the EU, milk collected daily must be kept at no more than 6oC if not collected daily.
The deadline is August 1, 2016 for new farms and those upgrading cooling systems. Enforcement on all other farms starts January 1, 2018.
Fonterra food safety technical adviser Tim Johnstone last week told farmers at a Smaller Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH) field day that the regulations aim to satisfy international markets. “That’s the big one essentially driving the new regulations”.
New Zealand’s rules for raw milk storage are not as stringent as those of its major trading partners China, Russia, Australia and the EU; standards are on par with the US.
Johnstone says during audits of New Zealand farms, overseas regulators question why our milk cooling is out of line with the rest of the world. “We’ve been getting away with… arguing that our milk quality is above everyone else’s.”
Paul Donderwinkel, director of Matamata refrigeration company Centigrade, says there won’t be a “one size fits all” solution; rather, daily milk volume on each farm will determine the cost, “on average $5000 to $100,000,” he told Rural News.
Corporate farmers are more amenable to the new rules than are family farmers, the latter being “a bit more reluctant to embrace the proposed regulations.” – Sudesh Kissun
Farmers are being encouraged to take a closer look at the refrigerants running inside their on-farm systems, as international and domestic pressure continues to build on high global warming potential (GWP) 400-series refrigerants.
Bovonic says a return on investment study has found its automated mastitis detection technology, QuadSense, is delivering financial, labour, and animal-health benefits on New Zealand dairy farms worth an estimated $29,547 per season.
As spring calving farmers around the country enter in the final stage of lactation, the incentive to keep the milk flowing is certainly there. A strong milk price and kind first half of the season has left cows in good nick and milking well.
The global organisation for Jersey breeders has undergone a strategy refresh - spearheaded by new president and the first New Zealander to hold the post, Alison Gibb.
Correct cluster attachment and removal is crucial during milking.
New Zealand and Chile have signed a new arrangement designed to boost agricultural cooperation and drive sector success.
New DairyNZ research will help farmers mitigate the impacts of heat stress on herds in high-risk regions of the country.
Budou are being picked now in Bridge Pā, the most intense and exciting time of the year for the Greencollar team – and the harvest of the finest eating grapes is weeks earlier than expected.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has released its latest rural property report, providing a detailed view of New Zealand’s rural real estate market for the 12 months ending December 2025.
Rural retailer Farmlands has released it's latest round of half-year results, labeling it as evidence that its five-year strategy is delivering on financial performance and better value for members.
OPINION: "We are back to where we were a year ago," according to a leading banking analyst in the UK, referring to US president Donald Trump's latest imposition of a global 10% tariff on all exports into the US.
