Good spring

Press Release – Ministry Of Agriculture And Forestry

Favourable spring weather will help New Zealand livestock farmers capitalise on continuing strong in-market prices.14 December 2012

Favourable spring kicks off new pastoral season
Favourable spring weather will help New Zealand livestock farmers
capitalise on continuing strong in-market prices.

MAF has released a half-year update to the annual /Situation and
Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry/ (SONZAF) report,
which was published in June.

The update shows the 2011/12 pastoral production season started with
generally favourable spring weather which has meant plenty of feed
for milking cows, ewes with new lambs and growing beef animals.

MAF expects overall pastoral production for the 2011/12 season to be
above average.

Prices for pastoral agriculture have generally remained at
historically high levels during the past half-year, despite the
deteriorating global economy and high exchange rates.

Emerging markets for food and other primary products continue to
grow, but the outlook is for weaker growth in many advanced economies
such as the European Union.

This will take some of the shine off, says Alan Hook, MAF Manager of
Sector Innovation, but prices are still generally well above average.

The dairy sector faces a squeeze between increased supply from other
major exporting countries and slowing demand from major importers
such as China. This saw the milk price for the current season revised
to $6.40 per kg milksolids, down $1.20 on the previous season.

However, the sector’s expected total earnings, at $13.6 billion for
the year to end of June 2012, will still be the highest to date.

The lamb schedule price for the year to September 2011 was the
highest in inflation-adjusted terms since 1977, due to reduced supply
on global markets.

New Zealand’s spring 2011 lamb crop is estimated to be 7 percent up
on last year.

MAF is forecasting weakening export lamb prices as global supply
increases over the next two years.

Wool export prices continue to rise, underpinned by strong Chinese
demand for raw product and demand for finished wool products in the
European Union and the United States.

However, MAF is forecasting that a weaker global economy will slow
wool demand and moderate pricing in the next two years.

In-market pricing for export beef has reduced from the record peak of
April 2011 but still remains relatively high.

This is fuelled by robust demand from Asian markets.

Over the next two years, a weakening global economy and slight
increases in exports from competing countries are expected to drive
New Zealand beef schedule prices downward.

But this will still be moderated by demand for animal protein in Asia
and other developing countries.

New Zealand beef production in the year ending 30 June 2012 is
expected to increase 2.4 percent due to a lift in carcass weight as a
result of favourable growing weather.

/For more information, go to the full half-year report in the
Publications section of the MAF website./

Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz

Country 99 TV - Fertco GM

Good on Macca’s

Managing cows in adverse weather conditions

Need to prioritise feeding cows not milking them
At present the major problem will largely be a feed one with most farms in the middle of
calving and pasture covers dropping quickly. Generally we went into the winter with high
covers and have come out with very low cover due to some very low pasture growth rates
over the last 6-8 weeks. High rain fall from March to July led to high leaching. A PGR lull
after excellent PGR in the Autumn combined with wet then very cold soil conditions has led
to record low PGR over late July and August. A Big problem is an energy out increase but an
energy in decrease!
· First priority is with any sick or lighter conditioned cows. Cover
and treat as a SAD (Sick And Depressed) cow.
o Ketol 300mls TAD or calving drenches 1 litre daily
o B12 injections 10mls every 2-3 days
o Milk only as required no more than once a day and only if
cow is eating well
o Cover and shelter
o Check for and treat any other disease e.g. Mastitis
· Colostrum cows
o Milk once a day as a routine now and for the rest of
calving
o Extra lime flour 200-300g/cow/day
o Take feed to them in the paddock to free up pad space
for milkers.
o PKE or ration in a trailer with extra Lime flour
o Watch for SAD cows. Treat as above
.
· Milkers
o Once a day milking during stress periods reduces energy
demand, frees up staff time to feed cows and deal with
problems. It also reduces walking and gateway damage.
o Last September the farmers who responded quickly and
went to OAD, even with herds producing 2.3 kg MS/day,
lost less condition and returned to 2.4 kg MS/day once
back onto TAD milking. Mating and total season’s
performance was not compromised.
o Lime four 100-300g
They need more over stress periods, especially if
cold and wet.
o Magnesium Oxide
20-40g in feed
50-100g on pasture
50g MagC or MagS in-line but in wet conditions
water intakes will vary.
o Time to eat a ration on the pad will need to be increased
if more pad ration is fed.
L:\Flood & Storm\Storm Notes for Cows Aug 2011.docx
o Keep them full
Extra energy – By-pass fats 200-500g
Use forage feeds if available
Watch for acidosis if meal or cereals are increased
too quickly.
Molasses type feeds help with energy intakes
· Calving Cows
o Pick up calves immediately/quickly and feed 2 litres of
warmed first milk colostrum. Place in a dry drafted free
environment. Use covers if available.
o Get cows to the shed and milk out quickly
Calving drench or calcium drench ASAP
Onto feed as soon as you can, the colostrum
ration.
Check for mastitis and metritis. Treat aggressively
· Immune systems will be compromised.
· Calves
o Make sure they get adequate milk (10% of LWT)
Minimum of 4 litres preferably more 5-6 litres in
split feeds, in first 12 hours.
o Warmed milk is important especially in the first ten days
and the weather is cold. Calves can die of hypothermia
while warming up cold milk if conditions are severe.
o Feed twice a day while conditions are severe even if they
were on once a day.
o Shelter is a priority for young calves
· Dry/Springer cows
o Use forages hay straw to keep full and settled, and
generate heat.
o Consider shed feeding if available to provide energy
feeds.
o Magnesium is a priority here, see above
o Consider molasses type feeds as an energy source.
· Metabolic Problems
o Likely to increase over weather bombs
Downer cows
· Calcium I/V or S/C
· Dextrose I/V slowly to all downer cows
o They will be low in glucose
· Follow up with calcium/calving drenches
once swallowing
· Cover and treat as a SAD cow; See above.
Ketosis
· Acute more likely in better conditioned
higher producing cows and can be sudden

Calcium in the Dairy Cow

 

The most serious problem involving calcium in the dairy cow is LOW levels of calcium. Milk fever, parturient paresis and hypocalcaemia are all terms that relate to low levels of calcium.
Hypocalcaemia simply means low calcium concentrations in the blood ('Hypo' = Low and 'calcaemia' means calcium in the blood).
Hypocalcaemia and Milk Fever: Very low levels of blood calcium cause obvious signs of milk fever in dairy cows...
Hypocalcaemia without signs of Milk Fever: Not all cases of hypocalcaemia result in milk fever. The term sub-clinical hypocalcaemia means that blood levels of calcium are low, but not low enough to cause obvious signs of milk fever.
Sub-clinical hypocalcaemia may cause problems including:
    * Poor appetite and low feed intakes
    * Sub-optimal milksolids production
    * Reproductive problems including metritis (a 'dirty' uterus) and poor conception rates
The outcome of hypocalcaemia (milk fever, or sub-clinical milk fever) depends on the age and physiological state of the animal. For an older cow that is about to calve or is lactating, clinical milk fever is a likely outcome. In young calves that haven't yet been bred and aren't lactating, calcium deficiency may contribute to rickets. Rickets from low levels of calcium is rare and more commonly result from a deficiency of phosphorus and / or vitamin D. Rickets is rarely seen in New Zealand cattle.
Milk Fever is the common name for the veterinary term parturient paresis. Milk fever is seen most commonly in cows that have just calved or are about to calve. Sometimes milk fever is seen in cows that have been milking for 8 to 10 weeks or more. Milk fever signs include weakness, the cow 'goes down' and is unable to get up again. Clinical signs of milk fever... If not treated, the animal goes into shock and will die.

There are three stages of clinical milk fever:

Stage 1:
    * Poor appetite / off feed and may be off her milk
    * Still on feet
    * Fine muscle tremor including slight head shake
    * Grinding teeth
    * Stiff legs, falls over easily
    * Dung output is reduced
Stage 2:
    * The cow has gone down, and is still sitting up on her sternum
    * The cow may appear drowsy, often with an 'S' bend or kink in her neck OR the head is turned back against her flank
    * The cow may extend her neck and drool with her tongue out
    * Her nose will be dry and her ears, tail and feet feel cool
    * Her eyes may appear dry and 'staring', looking vague
    * She may be constipated with few or no rumen contractions visible through the flank
    * Sometimes the cow is bloated
    * The heart rate is faster than normal and difficult to hear through a stethoscope or to palpate through the rib cage
    * Occasionally, the uterus may prolapse (turn inside out and hang out of the cow) if the cow has just calved
Stage 3:
    * The cow is down, but is lying stretched out on her side, she can't sit up on her sternum on her own. Rumen contents may be regurgitated out of her nose
    * Her limbs and head / neck are flaccid, and wobble when moved around
    * The cow is almost comatosed
    * The cow will die of shock within hours if not treated

Staggers (Magnesium Deficiency)

Staggers (Magnesium Deficiency)

Cattle need a continuous supply of magnesium primarily to facilitate numerous energy-generating reactions in their tissues and for the orderly transmission of nerve pulses. The kidneys maintain magnesium homeostasis, and a renal threshold exists below which magnesium excretion is sharply reduced. Cattle rely on absorption of magnesium from the rumen to meet most of their needs. The animal cannot modify magnesium absorption and absorbs only a small proportion (<30%) of the magnesium consumed.

There are two types of hypomagnesaemia, hypomagnesaemic tetany in calves, which appears to be due to a straightforward deficiency of magnesium in the diet, and lactation tetany, in which there may be a partial dietary deficiency but in which nutritional and metabolic factors reduce the availability, or increase the body loss, of magnesium.

Slower grass growth and lack of artificial fertilisation on organically managed pastures may be protective against lactation/grass tetany in cows.

Lactation Tetany

The occurrence of lactation or grass tetany is related to three sets of circumstances. Most common is the occurrence in lactating dairy cows after turnout in the spring onto lush, grass-dominant pasture following winter housing. Most cases occur during the first 2 weeks after the animals leave the housing. Wheat pasture poisoning may occur in cattle of any age grazed on all types (including barley and oats) of green cereal crops in early stages of growth. The third occurrence is in beef or dry dairy cattle running at pasture in the winter time, usually when nutrition is insufficient and where no shelter is provided in changeable weather, rather than in severe, prolonged cold weather (Blood and Radostits, 1989).

Seventy per cent of the magnesium is relatively tightly bound in the skeleton and can only be released during general bone absorption. However, bone turnover decreases in adult animals. The body does not have efficient homeostatic mechanisms such as those which maintain calcium levels. Magnesium levels are therefore also more likely to be seasonably low in large numbers of animals than calcium levels. If this seasonably low level is suddenly exacerbated by a short period (24-48 hours) of starvation, such as during transport, hypomagnesaemia may occur. Hypocalcaemia is often present concurrently and there is evidence that the actual onset of clinical tetany may be associated with a rapid fall in serum calcium levels.

There are several factors affecting magnesium absorption in the rumen. Both potassium and rapidly degradable protein have a negative effect on magnesium absorption, as has a high rumen pH. The coincidence, therefore, of high dietary intake of potassium and degradable protein in rapidly growing spring herbage means that conditions for magnesium absorption are critical at this stage. Pasture which has been heavily top-dressed with fertilizers rich in nitrogen and potash is potentially most dangerous.

Reduced levels of serum magnesium have been observed in adult cattle exposed to cold, wet windy weather with little sunshine and with no access to shelter or to supplementary feed. It is possible that failure to eat during bad weather may be the basic cause of hypomagnesaemia. There is also a suggestion that cold weather stress may increase urinary excretion of magnesium (Shiga et al., 1979). It most often occurs in dry dairy cows and beef cattle kept outside during the winter months in moderately cold climates.

The clinical signs of lactation tetany are muscular spasms and convulsions, and death due to respiratory failure. Although effective treatment is available, the mortality rate is high because of the short course. Since animals die before they can be observed to be ill, the mortality rate is difficult to estimate. It is probably in the order of 20%.

Hypomagnesaemic tetany of calves

Hypomagnesaemic tetany in calves is common and is often accompanied by hypocalcaemia. It is caused by a dietary magnesium deficiency exacerbated by a high intake of calcium, which causes depletion of magnesium stores and lower serum and bone levels of magnesium. Milk is an adequate source of magnesium in very young calves. However, the efficiency of magnesium absorption decreases up to about three months of age, when maximum susceptibility to the disease occurs.

Other factors may predispose hypomagnesaemic tetany. Scouring reduces magnesium absorption. Chewing fibrous material, such as floor bedding, increases salivation and thus causes greater losses of endogenous magnesium. Hypomagnesaemic tetany in calves often coexists with other diseases, especially enzootic muscular dystrophy.

The disease is most common in housed, inadequately fed animals. Calves aged 2-4 months or over are most at risk when fed solely on a diet of whole milk, as with veal calves. However, the disease also occurs in calves running at pasture with their dams. Calves receiving the greatest quantity of milk and growing most rapidly are more likely to be affected, as they have a greater need for magnesium.

Tetany does not occur until serum magnesium levels fall below 0.8 mg/dl (0.33 mmol/l), and is most severe at levels below 0.6 mg/dl (0.25 mmol/l), although calves may have levels even lower than this and show few clinical signs. It is probable that hypocalcaemia precipitates tetany, in animals rendered tetany-prone by low serum magnesium levels.

Further information

Further information on staggers (magnesium deficiency) in cattle can be found by following the links below. This information references cattle health and welfare in organic cattle production systems and is part of a compendium on animal health and welfare in organic livestock production provided by the University of Reading.

• Control & Prevention

Fonterra keep top spot

Fonterra lifts share to keep milk top spot [23 June/ NZ Herald] Fonterra has retained its position as the biggest milk processor
in the world, according to a report by the International Farm Comparison Network. New Zealand’s dairy giant was ranked the top
milk processor for 2011 with an intake of 20.5 million tonnes, equivalent to a 3 per cent market share of world milk production;
up from 2.7 per cent in 2009. Fonterra led Dairy Farmers of America and Nestle, which had market shares of 2.5 per cent and
2.2 per cent respectively. Strong milk prices could lead to global growth of up to 20 million tonnes a year in 2011 and 2012, the
research network said. Meanwhile, agricultural market analyst Agrifax reported that New Zealand milk output in April was 31 per
cent ahead of last year on a milksolids basis, reflecting excellent conditions for pasture growth during the autumn.

MineralBoost at the Fieldays

Arthur Payze and a good fish

Do dairy cows need calcium in late lactation?

 

Do dairy cows need calcium in late lactation?

Article supplied by S M Macky BVSc (dist), Director, Dairy Production Systems Limited

In theory, low producing cows in late lactation should be getting enough calcium from pasture to meet all their daily calcium needs. In reality, we see down cows with milk fever and cows with subclinical hypocalcaemia in late lactation, over the drying off period and even into the early dry period.

Obviously something is not going to plan. The main considerations will be:

1. There's not enough calcium in the cow's daily diet
2. She's getting enough calcium in her diet but isn't absorbing it
3. The cow's calcium requirements are higher than assumed
4. A combination of all of the above

Not enough calcium in the diet. The first problem, unfortunately common in New Zealand, is that the cow is simply not getting enough to eat to meet the needs of milk production, foetal growth, body condition gains, activity, growth, weather problems, etc. Most of our pastures contain enough calcium for late lactation needs in a normal, healthy, well grown, well-conditioned cow, so if pasture dry matter intake (DMI) is adequate ( 3 - 3.5% of mature bodyweight) and pasture calcium content is above 0.5%, theoretically she will be getting enough calcium. Note that calcium content may be diluted in fast growing grasses.

Problems arise when the calcium content of the diet is too low and/or total intake is too low. If the cow's intake is not solely pasture but includes grains, cereal silage, maize silage or any other low or marginal calcium-containing feed, such as palm kernel expeller meal, then her total daily calcium intake will fall. Calcium will need to be supplemented.

In certain circumstances calcium may not be well absorbed from the gut, or if absorbed may be rapidly excreted or otherwise made unavailable to the cow. Depressed rumen pH, i.e. subclinical or clinical rumen acidosis, even transiently each day, can result in depressed uptake as calcium may 'pool' in the gut. Calcium excretion by the kidneys may be increased.

Lush, fast growing grass after the autumn flush, especially nitrogen boosted young grasses and annuals are common culprits, especially if not accompanied by adequate physically effective fibre. These problems are exacerbated where low calcium, rapidly fermented feeds are improperly introduced, rates of feeding are increased too rapidly or slug feeding occurs

Excess zinc and/or magnesium can also cause hypocalcaemia. Diets high in unprotected fats and oils can reduce calcium availability to the cow, as calcium may form 'soaps' with the fat or oil which may not be able to be dissociated and absorbed in the lower gut.

Increased calcium needs can be numerous and interrelated, eg:

• Need to replenish bone calcium reserves, foetal growth
• Need for continued growth (most New Zealand cows are not skeletally fully-grown even as 4 year olds)
• Meeting activity needs, e.g. walking, trucking, fighting
• Adverse weather events
• Jersey cows have an increased susceptibility to hypocalcaemia
• High risk milk fever farm, e.g. high potassium feed at calving
• Calcium reserves must be replenished before dry off
• Stresses, such as dry off, new feeds, new mobs

Most often when we look at health and productivity in late lactation, especially when looking forward to avoiding problems in the next season, most New Zealand cows would benefit from an improved calcium intake in late lactation. Too often, it is assumed that because it is the end of the season, calcium supplementation is not required. The clinical problems we see are only the tip of the iceberg. Rates of supplementation may not be as high as needed in early lactation but getting it wrong can be just as costly. Many of those potential problems may not be seen until the next season!

Equestrian Cow

http://www.barnmice.com/video/udderly-amazing-girl-teaches

Cows and Co2

NZCPR Guest Forum  Opinion piece by Robin Grieve 4 April 2011 The folly of the ETS

The Emission Trading Scheme was put in place to help New Zealand meet its obligations to the Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate purpose of that Protocol and the ETS is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that some say may be causing global warming.  While I find it extraordinary that our Government is prepared to impose costs on its people based on nothing more than a theory, the focus of my concern is the way in which the ETS treats livestock emissions of methane. While the debate over global warming may never be finished, the way livestock emissions of methane are treated clearly demonstrates the folly that is the ETS.

The problem lies in the way the ETS is focused on what they call carbon emissions. The carbon they talk about in the ETS, is not the atom Carbon, or the molecule Carbon dioxide, it is a unit called a ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’. It is a theoretical or virtual unit and not representative of anything real. This is because while the values assigned to something real are always set by nature and inarguable,  the values assigned to virtual units like these carbon dioxide equivalents are set by politicians, and can differ hugely depending on what is included in the calculation and what is not.

As an aside, I believe using the term ‘carbon’ when referring to these carbon dioxide equivalents is sloppy. It is a good marketing ploy though for the global warming industry because it conjures up images of something black and sooty and bad, which of course it is not.  For purpose of clarification when referring to these virtual units I will use the proper term of carbon dioxide equivalent. When I refer to carbon I will be referring to real atomic carbon.  

In the New Zealand Inventory of greenhouse gases agricultural emissions make up 48% of New Zealand’s total emissions of these carbon dioxide equivalents but this does not reflect the reality of what is happening in our atmosphere in terms of real greenhouse gas. 

The main greenhouse gas that livestock produce is methane.  Methane is produced in the rumen of a ruminant as a by product of the digestion process. It is called enteric methane and is released into the atmosphere when the animal belches (they do not fart).

Enteric methane makes up nearly one third of New Zealand’s emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents, but most if not all of this methane has no effect on the atmospheric concentration of methane or any other greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.  It does not cause an increase in the concentration of methane, therefore it does not cause an increase in the global greenhouse affect and therefore it can not physically be responsible for any global warming that may be happening.

The reason for this is that methane (CH4) oxidises to CO2 over a relatively short period of 8-12 years. Because it is continually breaking down to CO2 it needs a constant source to replenish it and maintain the atmospheric concentration. A steady state of production only maintains current levels in the atmosphere, it does not increase it. Most if not all enteric methane produced in New Zealand is from a steady state of production and is not an anthropogenic activity as defined by the UN.

Climate change as defined by the UN and The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change is “A change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere”.

According to the UN definition, for an activity to be causing global warming it has to alter the composition of the atmosphere. For an atmosphere to be considered altered it stands to reason it has to be different after the emission than it was before the emission. In the case of enteric methane the atmosphere is not different, it has no more CO2, CH4 or C in it than it had before and it is therefore not altered and methane emissions from a steady state source are not an anthropogenic activity.

For this reason almost one third of the emissions New Zealand reports in the Inventory of Greenhouse Gases should not be in there. Including them in the ETS was a mistake making the ETS, which is a major economic policy of this Government, fundamentally flawed.

To understand how this mistake came about we need to understand how carbon dioxide equivalents are calculated. Carbon dioxide equivalents were invented to try and quantify the greenhouse effect of a number of different greenhouse gases. The greenhouse effect of all greenhouse gases is equated to the greenhouse effect of CO2. Methane is better at trapping heat than CO2 with onemolecule of methane having the equivalent greenhouse effect of 21 molecules of CO2 when this effect is averaged over a period of 100 years. For this reason methane has what they call a global warming potential of 21 and so an emission of 1 tonne of methane is quantified as 21 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. To quantify the different gases in this way does makes sense and on the face of it is a good idea but in reality it does not work. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least being it fails to take into account the cyclical nature of livestock emissions.

When an animal eats grass and produces product it is part of the carbon cycle. During this process carbon in the form of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere to grow grass. After the animal eats the grass most of the carbon is returned to the atmosphere and reforms immediately as CO2. It returns to the atmosphere through animal respiration, waste, and product eaten by humans who return it through their own respiration and waste processes.

Exactly the same amount of carbon has been returned to the atmosphere as was removed, making the animal truly carbon neutral. What complicates this though is that this carbon was all in the form of CO2 when it was removed from the atmosphere and while most of it returns as CO2 a small portion returns as CH4 (methane). This is where these imaginary carbon dioxide equivalents are created. When an animal converts a molecule of carbon dioxide to a molecule of methane the global warming industry say that one carbon dioxide equivalent was removed from the atmosphere as the CO2 molecule and twenty one carbon dioxide equivalents were returned as the CH4 molecule. Twenty additional carbon dioxide equivalents have been produced and released into an imaginary atmosphere. In reality though there is no more carbon, carbon dioxide or methane in the real atmosphere. There can be no global warming from them.

In short these carbon dioxide equivalents are a joke, they do not work. The UN acknowledges there are problems with them and set up an expert group to devise an alternative way to calculate them. They have not as yet found a metric that satisfactorily quantifies the greenhouse effect of a mix of greenhouse gases without causing anomalies as the current system does with enteric methane.  Designing an ETS around a system and methodology that is so flawed was not a prudent move by the New Zealand Government. What would be prudent would be a scientific review into the true effect enteric methane emissions are having on the atmosphere. John Key and Nick Smith have refused to do this preferring to spend tens of millions of dollars in a forlorn search for ways to mitigate the emission of a gas that is only harmful in an imaginary atmosphere not a real one. Their ETS is equally forlorn as a policy because it is based on methodology which is not scientifically credible

MineralBoost – Now available from RD1 nutrition.

RD1 nutrition are now offering MineralBoost to be blended with PKE and other animal feeds. When customers of RD1 are ordering PKE they simply need now ask to have MineralBoost added. Turning good feed into great feed. Easy.