The number of bovine tuberculosis (TB) infected herds dropped below 100 in March for the first time in the history of NZ’s TBfree programme. According to last month’s figures, a total of 91 cattle herds and seven deer herds were infected with bovine TB reports Scoop. “While this is a big step towards becoming TB-free, we are mindful that the number of infected herds traditionally increases over the coming four to six months,” says Dr Paul Livingstone, Animal Health Board (AHB) technical manager.  “The size of this increase, however, will depend on the quality of possum and other pest control over the past two years. Identifying infected stock before they’re moved off the property is another critical factor.

“We certainly can’t afford to rest on our laurels, although this is a considerable improvement on the same time last year, when 119 cattle herds and 10 deer herds were infected with bovine TB. “While possums remain the main source of TB infection in livestock, a smaller but no less significant number of herd breakdowns have been caused through uncontrolled stock movements.

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A group of Waikato farmers who say they received emaciated stock back from a Waikato grazier last season are considering legal action. The group, who complained to Waikato Federated Farmers in November, are taking legal advice on the case, according to Dairy Industry Group chairman James Houghton. Fed Farmers had not taken sides in the case, but provided the group with details of a lawyer experienced in the area, reports The Waikato Times.

Mr Houghton said the case, coupled with the declaration of a medium-level drought, served as a timely reminder to farmers to check stock sent to graziers every 10 days to two weeks. Reputable grazier Richard Strang, who grazes 500 dairy heifers for other farmers on his Putaruru farm, agreed with Mr Houghton. “If I have got someone else’s cattle on my property it’s my responsibility to provide supplementary feed for them,” he said. He said he had no objections to farmers viewing their stock, so long as they contacted him first.

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A combination of better-than-expected meat payouts and renewed confidence is believed to be behind a significant rise in fertiliser demand, with companies reporting strong sales this autumn reports The Southland Times. Fertiliser use fell about 30 per cent last year as farmers looked to save money. Experts warned last year that cutting back fertiliser could have a long-term impact on pasture production.

Sales have not reached the levels they were before the recession, but both Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-Op and Ballance Agri Nutrients have reported a noticeable lift this autumn, as sheep and beef farmers address nutrient shortfalls. More farmers were carrying out soil testing to determine where fertiliser was most needed to stretch their money further and achieve the best benefits.

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A long, painful dry spell for farmers has helped cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. As farmers suffer, the latest official tally from the Ministry for the Environment reveals NZ is doing better than expected in the carbon stakes, partly because farms have had to cull more animals reports The NZ Herald.

Because the national herd is smaller than expected the amount of greenhouse gas the country is expected to make by 2012 has fallen by 1.8 million tonnes. But that is likely to come as little comfort to farmers. Dairy farmers north of Taupo have been cutting milk production earlier than usual, and so far rain has failed to penetrate soils in the most parched regions. In the Waikato, figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry show the drought has cost farmers an average of between $100,000 and $200,000 this year.

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NZ agriculture has as little as five years before large-scale intensive farming in South America, western China and central Asia erodes its cost advantage in producing bulk commodities, according to accountant KPMG. Their Agribusiness Agenda report observes that these regions have the benefit of lower-cost land and labour and less complex regulatory regimes. “In addition, they are traditionally closer to key markets, enabling them to deliver food to the customer at a significantly lower cost than a competing new farmer or grower in NZ could achieve,” KPMG agribusiness chairman Ross Buckley said in Stuff.

“This gives NZ companies a short buffer, maybe as little as five years, before low-cost regions are producing bulk commodity products in significant volumes and undercutting NZ’s pricing in our traditional commodity markets.” Because of this, it was now time to start revising industry structures, practices and products to give NZ produce better value well in advance of large-volume commodities from these new suppliers.

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International dairy prices look set to keep rising as drought-affected NZ  joins the list of countries posting reduced milk production reports Stuff. Dairy giant Fonterra is being forced to juggle customer requirements as supply to key Waikato powder manufacturing sites dries up. Fonterra, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, said it was reviewing all supply commitments yet to be formally contracted to ensure it could meet existing supply contracts as central North Island drought impacts on milk flows to its powder and cream manufacturing plants concentrated in the Waikato.

More than half Fonterra’s milk production comes from farms north of Taupo. Northland, which produces about 6 per cent of Fonterra’s milk supply has been an officially declared drought zone for some time, but now production in the central North Island, which includes dairy heartland the Waikato, is this month down 30 per cent on the same time last year, Fonterra said. International dairy prices are already reflecting constrained global supply with Fonterra’s internet milk powder auction this month recording a massive 21 per cent surge in average price per tonne.

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Horizons Regional Council is still pushing to make intensive farming a controlled activity in the region and expects about 40 per cent of farms will need to clean up the way they operate reports The Manawatu Standard. The council is also not budging on its decision to keep stock out of waterways. Horizons wants to implement rules under the water chapter of its proposed one plan that allow only 20kg to 30kg of nitrate loss per hectare per year.

Of the 1000 dairy farms, irrigated sheep and beef, horticultural and cropping in the region, about 60 per cent are believed to already be within the proposed standards for nitrate loss. Farmers who can prove they are already meeting these standards will not have to apply for consent. Those who can’t will have their nitrate loss treated as a controlled activity and will have to take steps to lower their nitrate usage.

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The outcome of condition feeding trials will give farmers plenty to chew over. DairyNZ principal animal scientist John Roche, of Hamilton, has just released the results of condition feeding trials reports The Taranaki Daily. It’s particularly relevant for farmers on the dry Taranaki coastal strip between Okato and Manaia, where supplements are being heavily used to compensate for bare paddocks as winter approaches.

Dr Roche says the amount of harvested or purchased feed required is less than was thought. The recommended pasture to achieve a body condition score (BCS) unit was 200-220kg of dry matter equivalent per hectare and that was based on liveweight gain in pasture-fed lambs in Britain in the 1960s. “That’s how little information we had and, to be honest, I didn’t believe it,” he says. “So we carried out trials on dairy cows last year, funded by the Sustainable Farming Fund and DairyNZ.

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Southern farmers will want to see cash before agreeing to sell their farms to a foreign company again, having been burnt once by a deal that turned sour reports The ODT.  Southland Federated Farmers president and dairy farmer Rod Pemberton said some farmers had previously been burnt when a Maori trust backed by Dubai interests agreed to buy several farms but never paid a deposit.

The deal subsequently fell over, but the experience could harden attitudes. “They will want to see some cash on the table before committing themselves,” he said. A subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Natural Dairy New Zealand, UBNZ Assets Holdings, has started looking for up to 100 Otago and Southland dairy farms to buy, should the Overseas Investment Office approve its intention to buy the Crafar family’s 29 North Island farms which are in receivership.

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Rapidly falling dairy production as a result of drought in the North Island is expected to take a bite out of the March and June quarters’ GDP, although strengthening international dairy prices will help counter the dry horrors reports Stuff. Dairy giant Fonterra says more than 150 dairy herds are halting milk production daily on farms north of Taupo, from which it collects more than half its annual milk supplies. The drying off is a month earlier than usual.

Federated Farmers said 40 per cent of the national dairy herd was in drought-declared zones. ANZ National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie is doing his economic sums on the basis of general dairy production being down 2 per cent on a year ago. Last season Fonterra collected about 16 billion litres of milk. It had been budgeting on a milk collection increase of 2 per cent to 3 per cent this season, which finishes on May 31.

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