Newsletter #1 2019

It's that time of year again and yes it has come around again all too fast. Been a bit happening in my life, I'm proud to say I am now a Grandad which is awesome. I've leased out all our farm land which is also awesome and has allowed me to get back on the road visiting some customers during autumn. Due to work load in the off season (generally playing catch up with work on the farm) I had not been able to do this for the last two years. And while I haven't visited all customers I certainly have visited quite a number.

I broke my right arm in January while Mountain Biking which stopped me from working for 10 weeks. Have to admit I was a bit casual on bike maintenance, I had been having problems with the front hydraulic brakes on my bike for a month or so but generally I could pump them back up to pressure, however on this day I had brake failure in the rear as well. And as I had started at the top of a steep downhill trail I quickly found out that I needed more than 2 seconds to get them working. As for the brakes they had to be completely replaced, apparently after biking 6000+km they were completely worn out.

Pricing for 2019

The good news is that the price dropped on June 1st. The new price is

• High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal $734 per tonne + GST - ex Feedmill
• Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal $706 per tonne + GST - ex Feedmill

It was a difficult growing season for local cropping farmers and after being so wet, and then a bit of a hot patch around Christmas, yields were not only reduced but quality is also very variable especially with barley. So with this in mind we went to the market in the autumn to secure grain for spring delivery. This means we have contracted more grain than usual and it should be the better grain that we receive. Naturally it is a real guessing game to what our requirements will be for the season and I contracted slightly less that what I think we need better to go back to the market for more rather than have too much and have to store to next season.

Soy meal continues to be the commodity that fluctuates a lot in price. It had been consistently dropping in price for a number of months due to the trade war between USA and China, before all of a sudden bouncing up due to wet weather in May and June which has slowed plantings in USA. We did contract a reasonable amount at a good price which is the main reason for the calf meal price dropping, however if I had known it was going to rise I would have contracted more.

With the contracts that we do have in place I am confident that we can hold this new price until the end of October and hopefully longer.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for October 2017 here...

I had expected to get all the way through September with the prices we started the season with however with sales up by more than 25% we have had to use free market priced grain from mid-September. And with barley and wheat now costing us on average $55 per tonne above budget I decided to bring the price review forward and make the new price effective for all deliveries after September 23rd. Our new prices are:

Calf Meal prices effective from Sep 23rd 2017

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $690 + GST ex Feedmill (+$34 per tonne)
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $664 + GST ex Feedmill (+$40 per tonne)

I have managed to buy extra soy meal and peas at budgeted prices which has helped to limit the price increase. The reason the Low Protein has risen by an extra $6 per tonne compared to the High Octane is because it has higher grain content.

Ordering

In the last 10 days I have started to tighten up on the ordering process for the meal. My preferred method for receiving orders is by text, and I thank all of you who continue to do this. Often I am doing a number of tasks at once (never a good idea however it’s just the ways things are) and receiving orders by text reduces the error rate as it allows me to check the orders again when I get back to the office. Some customers have also been ordering through the freight companies and I have now requested them to accept no more orders as this can make things complicated when the heat comes on. When texting please ensure you text to 027 299 3484 as the 0800 number does not receive texts.

Sales up

Sales are up by more than 25% and we are in uncharted territory as far as sales/ production goes. For example late on the Thursday before South Canterbury Anniversary weekend we had 45 tonne in stock however by mid-morning the following Tuesday we were over 100 tonne behind in orders. This led us to having to cut some customer orders back for a few days to enable us to catch up. Peak season for us is usually the last week of October and first couple of weeks in November and it will be challenging for us to meet demand. If we end up with customers having to wait for orders then these orders will be filled based on when the order is received. Again receiving the orders by text will make this easier. It will also be challenging for the freight companies to keep up with the deliveries at the peak of the season. The key message is - delays in delivery can be expected so please order early and be as helpful as you can in being ready to unload the meal when the truck arrives.

We had the storage shed nearly full last Wednesday before a convoy turned up and cleaned us out and these weren’t the only trucks for the day. We didn’t anticipate being so busy and you can be assured we will certainly work bloody hard at trying to meet demand.

Pallets

Our stockpile of good pallets is already very low and we are starting to use some tractor unfriendly pallets. For logistical reasons we don’t charge for the pallets however we do rely on you to send them back plus any others you have that you think maybe suitable.

We are after some empty 2.5kg Virkon containers if you can help us with this it will be greatly appreciated and I’m sure we can find a way to say thank you.

One of the main reasons for my no show last autumn was I that spent a significant amount of time building mountain bike trails. The aim was to have these trails ready for the inaugural Whitehorse Big Easy event which was on April 10th. This fundraising event was run by the Waimate Rotary Club in conjunction with Whitehorse MTB Riders Inc. The making of the trails is not a fast process, first I have to cut my way through gorse measuring the gradient as I go, while looking for a suitable site for a switchback. Often the switchback site ends up either above or below the desired gradient line so then its matter of going back through the same section adjusting the gradient to line up with the switchback, I then go through the same section for a third time looking for natural features in the landscape that would be nice to include in the trail. The trail must be blazed and marked enough so the digger operator can always see the next mark. It is hard and physical work often on steep slopes though it is relatively stress free and rewarding. To actually build the trail we were using a 5 tonne digger and I needed to make the most of my two operators while they were available, Daniel my youngest son (off to Lincoln next year) and Colin my 80 year old father in law who talks of retiring. Unfortunately 3 days before the event a cyclone occurred and after 80mm of rain the new trails were unusable which was quite gut-wrenching however they should be okay for next year’s event.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for September 2017 here...

Some of you will have noticed we have received the new bags and while the quality of the print isn’t at the usual high standard, the quality of the cloth is much better. In past years we have had a number of damaged bags and it’s very frustrating when you fill a bag, weigh it, sew it and only when you stack it onto the pallet you find it has cuts in it. So far there has been hardly any damaged bags which makes the baggers job easier and quicker. By using bags made in China we save over $10 per tonne.

 

After the arrival of a new line of peas last month some whole peas ended up in the calf meal. The issue being the new peas were harder and the crusher had to be tightened up, this wasn’t noticed until after a couple of tonne of calf meal had been made. What surprised me was that the young calves left the whole peas in the feed trough while eating everything else, maybe they also found them a bit hard to break.

 

We used to have a small sign saying Aoraki Stockfoods at the road side gate. Unfortunately, it blew down a couple of years ago, and erecting a new one at the gate is still on the ‘to do’ list. This year it has been more noticeable that a number of new customers have been unsure of where to go, luckily, we are the only place on Wilsons Road so they don’t have many options.

 

One of the ingredients often overlooked when growing calves is calcium. We include lime in our calf meal to supply calcium. We use over 50 tonne of lime per season, getting it delivered in bulk before tipping it into boxes from which Shona weighs and buckets it into the mixer. Calcium is required by the calf for bone and skeletal development as well as playing a role in muscle function. Early skeletal development is important as this forms the frame work for the calf to achieve the correct body conformation and structure, calcium is especially vital for heifer replacements.

 

Prices remain the same for the start of September, we will be doing a price review later in the month and at this stage upward movement in price appears inevitable. Grain prices are currently up by at least $50 per tonne. Though there is some thought in the industry that the prices have now peaked, and the alternatives to grain for older animals - PKE, Soy Hulls, DDGS, and Sunflower Pellets are becoming more cost effective.

Calf Meal prices effective from July 1 2017

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $656 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $624 + GST ex Feedmill

In the first newsletter for the season I talked about there being reasons for my no show in the off season. One of the reasons is my involvement in a commercial property development in Washdyke, Timaru. During the last 5 years I have been Board Chairman for a group of shareholders who own nearly 3 hectares of commercial land opposite the Pleasant Point turn off on SH1. In 2013 we tried a big box development for the whole site however for various reasons it didn’t get off the ground. For the last couple of years, we have had a change of focus in trying to just redevelop the front part first. It has been a long, slow, arduous journey with plenty of highs and lows along the way. However, we have finally got all the required consents and building is underway. Our anchor tenant will be Robert Harris and although building only started in recent weeks the aim is to have Robert Harris open by the end of November. This timeline is challenging to say the least however most of us like a challenge, otherwise we wouldn’t be farming.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for August 2017 here...

Calf meal orders have been coming in thick and fast in the last 10 days and it’s always nice to welcome new customers. As mentioned in our last newsletter we are now using a mixture of plain and printed bags. Hopefully the printed bags will be here by mid-August, unfortunately because the plain bags are hemmed at the top they are much more expensive than the printed bags.

Find us on Facebook

Also mentioned in the last newsletter was that I was setting up a Facebook page to enable me to communicate faster with customers. Ironically a few days after setting up the page my cell phone took an unplanned bath (perhaps even more ironic was that it happened whilst taking photos in the storm) and was unusable for half a day. Some of these photos including the phone getting the heat treatment can be seen on our page Aoraki Stockfoods Ltd – Aoraki Calf Meal. At least I was able to post via the desk top computer that my phone was out of action.

We don’t employ administrative staff and often when I receive orders I am away from the office. Texting your order is the preferred method and it also gives you an electronic record of the order being placed, orders can also be emailed as well phoning. My phone remains in the home office at night time so feel free to text or email anytime 24/7. Some days get rather busy and when I get a gap in the traffic I usually check my cell phone log as well as texts to try and avoid missing an order. However, if you haven’t received your order within 3 working days then please just check on its progress.

Usually in the autumn I spend the best part of 6 weeks on the road visiting customers. And I give out customer rewards in the way of beanies, vests and jerseys depending on the level of buying from the customer. It can be a bit tricky visiting farmer, and while most are very welcoming, everyone is busy and it can be hard work to find a time that is convenient for the customer and me. For those farmers that were due a customer reward, I will hold your reward in credit and look to make amends next autumn.

Prices remain the same for August and September. We will do a price review in late September and by then we should have clear signs on which direction the grain prices are going.

Calf Meal prices effective from July 1 2017

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $656 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $624 + GST ex Feedmill

 

We are making a slight change to the diets this month with the inclusion of vitamin B1. B1/ Thiamine Deficiency (Polioencephalomalacia) is a disease that is seen mainly in calves, ruminants like calves need the bacteria in their rumen to produce thiamine. Deficiency usually happens when thiaminases (bacteria which destroy thiamine) is produced in the rumen. These are usually produced by a change in the “Rumen Microflora” or indirectly from plant sources. Animals are often affected following a change in diet especially when on pasture. In grazing cattle in New Zealand, the disease is seen most often in young stock in mid-summer, but it can also be common in weaner calves.

A continual supply of thiamine is needed for normal brain function. If there is an insufficiency, this leads to cellular changes which eventually lead to brain swelling and thus death of brain cells. It is this brain swelling that is responsible for the clinical signs. If the condition is not treated, animals will likely die.

Affected calves tend to isolate themselves, don’t eat, and may develop diarrhoea, become wobbly, show abnormal eye movement with some head tremors. The calves appear blind and may head press. As the signs progress the calves go down, develop tremors, go stiff. As they don’t eat or drink they become dehydrated. If animals are not treated quickly they will die.

We are aware that some of our customers in past years have experienced a vitamin B1 deficiency in their calves so from the start of August we have included vitamin B1 in both the High Octane and Low Protein calf meal at no extra cost. We can’t guarantee that it will solve the problem but we believe it’s worth a go. I look forward to your feedback.

Cobalt has always been included in our calf meals and is converted to vitamin B12 in the rumen by micro-organisms. Absorption of Vitamin B12 occurs primarily in the small intestine and is mainly stored in the liver. The calf draws on these reserves when required.

 

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for July 2017 here...

Apologies for not making my annual visit this year, the reasons for my no show will be explained in the next newsletter or two. During the last week of June we were able to finalise more contracts for the supply of our raw materials. One of our main cost drivers is soy bean meal and it’s always a bit of a gamble picking when to contract as the price fluctuates so much. This year I’ve got lucky and have contracted 90% of what I think we require at a very good price. Peas are also secured and at a slightly lower price than last year, however, molasses has increased by 10%.

Grain is proving to be the tricky one, we do have a proportion of our wheat contracted but didn’t do so well on the barley. Grain prices have moved up by about a third compared to this time last year. I generally find that September is a crucial month for grain prices and it will depend on how much buying interest there is from the dairy sector as to which way the prices move. There is a lot of feed grade wheat in storage however its price has been dragged by a perceived shortage in barley. This has been the first year I’ve seen wheat prices lower than barley. As a consequence we have decreased the barley slightly and replaced it with wheat which means there will be a slight lift in protein and energy levels in the meal.

Calf Meal prices effective from July 1 2017

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $656 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $624 + GST ex Feedmill

I thought we had enough bags in stock to get the season started however autumn production and sales this year have been more than 100% above what we have averaged the previous three years. As a consequence we will run out of High Octane bags later this month or early August. There is a full container of our bags on its way from China though there are doubts that it will reach here in time. So don’t be surprised if there are a few weeks where we are using plain bags.

Facebook

I am currently in the process of setting up a Facebook page which will be called Aoraki Stockfoods Ltd – Aoraki Calf Meal. While I will still send out newsletters Facebook will allow me to communicate news more frequently if required (for example if we have a power cut and we need to ration out supplies). And hopefully I will be able to show our newsletters on Facebook as I’m aware they are currently not always seen by the calf rearer, I will also try and post some general happenings with the intent of jogging your memory (or the calf rearers) that you need to order more meal rather than you remembering once you are out completely.

I have enclosed our brochure for your interest and feel free to pass it on. I’ve also included some more information regarding the development of the rumen papillae.

Rumen development: the key to success

The Pennsylvania State University is a public, land-grant, research-intensive university and you may have seen photos of Rumen comparisons from different feeding strategy’s in our brochure. The following is taken directly from their website and illustrates the importance of having a dry feed that is attractive as possible to encourage early intake it’s also worth remembering that on average calves have 27,000 taste buds as compared to us having only 9,000.

First a quick review of rumen development, which is essential for a successful early weaning program. When the calf begins to eat dry feed, especially starter, the rumen begins to supply nutrients produced by fermentation and the population of rumen bacteria begins to grow. Fermentation of the starch component of grain produces volatile fatty acids (VFA), particularly butyrate, which stimulate growth of rumen papillae and metabolic activity in the rumen. After about 3 weeks of eating grain, the calf’s rumen will have enough bacteria fermenting enough feed to supply a substantial amount of energy.

The rumen bacteria themselves also provide an important source of nutrition—microbial protein—as they are washed out of the rumen, digested, and absorbed in the small intestine. Microbial protein is very digestible and contains a very favourable profile of amino acids relative to the needs of the growing calf.

From a management standpoint, we can assist rumen development by providing free-choice water and a quality grain in the first few days after birth. With this feeding strategy, by 3 to 4 weeks of age the calf’s rumen can be well-developed and ready for the change to a diet of solid feeds. The sooner starch is digested by the calf, the sooner rumen development occurs. It takes about 21 days to develop the rumen papillae from the initial time that grain is fed. This development time is from when grain is first fed, be it 2 days of age or 20 days of age. That is where management plays a big role in determining rumen development and weaning age. Assisting the calf in eating those first few bites of grain can have dramatic, positive effects on starting the process of rumen development.

When calves nuzzle Aoraki Calf Meal it sticks to their nose
they then lick it off giving them their first taste.

 

When the calves are less than 4 weeks of age, calf meal is best kept fresh so buy little and often.

 

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for September 2016 here...

Dear Customers

Pricing of nearly all the raw materials continue to soften slightly and while I don't foresee us dropping the calf meal price at this stage there is certainly less risk of it increasing.

Calf Meal prices effective from July 1 2016

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $630 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $595 + GST ex Feedmill

 

Having trouble opening the bags? Can't work out which side to open them on? Two ways to remember, one is when facing the label always start on the left side and the second is when looking closely at the stitching you will see loops and when facing the loops start on the left side (loopy lefty). I will often use a nail, thread it through the stitching right at the edge of the bag, break the stitch there and then it often starts unravelling easy.

 

In the past when we had bulk canola oil delivered they sent a truck with a pump on it and pumped into our tanks. This year there is a different delivery company and they relied solely on gravity. I had my doubts that he would be able to transfer it all from the tanker however I am pleased to say he was successful though it did take longer and getting the last bit out definitely required more work.

The Good

Congratulations to Mark and Julie Cressey who are sharemilkers for the Proprietors of Rakaia Incorporation. They operate the Tahu a Tao farm at Dorie which won the 2016 Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori Excellence in Farming. Mark invited me to a field day held on farm in March, it was a very enjoyable and informative day where they had to explain their farming practices to us visitors as well as the judges.

The Bad

It was a bit after 3am and I happened to be watching TV (not unusual for that hour of the morning) when a vehicle went past slowly making a hang of a racket. I looked out the window however due to darkness couldn't see much. A few minutes later the dog started barking so I went outside where I could hear voices and see torch light up the road 300 metres. Then there was a small boom and a car took off in a hell of a hurry. It was time to call 111, turned the car had been towed away from its owners property (which is close to the middle of Waimate) early the previous afternoon. And in the fourteen hours they had stripped out the rotary engine, gearbox and once on the side of the road they also quickly removed the mag wheels before setting it alight.

The Irony

About 4 years ago we started an extension to the smoke room and for various reasons I finally wanted it finished. During the installation of a new hand basin and vanity the builder tried to remove the sliding draw for easy access to the back so he could screw it to the wall however after a period of time he gave up in frustration. Next come the plumber who also tried to remove the drawer and this time used a bit more force. The drawer would still not yield and it no longer opened and shut quite as smoothly. I certainly wasn't prepared to try after all if experienced tradies couldn't remove it I had no chance. Then it was time for Shona to clean up after the tradies had left and to my amazement she popped the drawer out instantly, sometimes you just can't beat a woman's touch.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for August 2016 here...

Dear Customers

This newsletter contains information regarding pricing, product X and a bit about recent off farm activities. I’ve also included a couple of copies of our new brochure, have a read of it and then if possible please pass it on to another calf rearer who isn’t using our product. If this calf rearer subsequently buys one tonne or more of Aoraki Calf Meal we will send you a $75 gift voucher.

Pricing

As stated in the last newsletter my preference is to have a floating price rather than a fixed price for the whole season. And some years this means the price goes up as the price of raw materials increases and some years it drops. Last year it dropped three times.

Calf Meal prices effective from July 1 2016

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $630 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $595 + GST ex Feedmill

 

For our barley and wheat we have no fixed contracts, which presently is very advantageous as the spot market grain prices are the lowest they have been in a number of years. Latest indications are there is a more chance of further price drops rather than increases (though it can change quite quickly). This year we do have most of our peas contracted and the reason for this is that often peas are hard to source especially later in the year. On paper peas are usually not cost effective to use in calf meal, however I have always been a big believer in the benefits of feeding peas to a young animal.

Soybean Meal is always the tricky commodity to deal with. If you have a look at the top graph which shows $NZ per tonne you will see earlier this year it dived below $600 per tonne before rebounding and peaking at $840 per tonne just a few months later, currently it is sitting around $700. I have contracted 75% of what we used last season when it was below the $600.

The combination of being able to buy barley and wheat on the current market along with the soybean contracted at a low price is a proving to be a very good mix and giving us an even bigger competitive edge this season when it comes to low cost/high value. The question now is how much soybean meal will I need to buy on the spot market and what price will it be?

Info on ingredient Product “X”

For most of us sweetness (chocolate, cakes, sugary drinks, yip all the bad stuff) is the most attractive taste. Taste also plays an important role in calves as they have 25,000 taste buds compared to us humans having only 9000. Research has also shown calves have a strong preference for sweet solutions. Calf meal with a sweet taste significantly increases feed intake.

We have been using a sweetener in our calf meal since our visit to the animal feed flavouring factory in France 2012. The product we use, for commercially sensitive reasons, we will call product “X”

Driving feed intake and feed palatability is important in aiding calf development. In order to achieve rapid rumen development, early transition from milk to a solid based diet is encouraged. A study in the UK and one in France showed similar responses to product “X” and its ability to improve feed intake in calves, with calves consuming almost twice as much feed. This solid feed consumption drove a higher body weight at weaning.

Product X also has a “Gut Effect” in that it increases glucose, water and sodium absorption and acts on the epithelial structure by stimulating intestinal development.

Or to put it more technically, these gut effects increase the number of glucose transporters on gut epithelial cells, which absorb nutrients from the intestine. Higher glucose absorption provides better nutrition of the villi and gut mucosa, and thereby increases the intestinal surface area and villi height, improving the intestine’s integrity and absorption capability.
Gut effects and gut chemo-sensing is a relatively new field of study. However, more and more research is headed in this direction as they understand more about the function of the gut. The chemo-sensing ability of the gut enables the gut to control absorption of nutrients and therefore has implications in the utilisation of feed and feed conversion efficiency.

Product “X” offers a practical means for enhancing glucose utilisation while at the same time increasing feed palatability, driving feed intake. This leads to better feed conversion efficiency and improved growth on farm and all the consequential benefits that this brings to the producer.

During the summer of 2014/15 we hosted Yara, an exchange student from Austria for four months. Recently Yara visited us again for 10 days however this time she was accompanied by her identical twin sister Florentina. We always enjoy hosting people from different cultures and it often makes us take time out and have another look at some of the tourist activities that are on our doorstep. Spending at least a day in the MacKenzie Country is always a must however a couple of places we hadn’t been to before was the Steampunk HQ in Oamaru and EnkleDooVery Korna in Waimate.

EnkleDooVery Korna is owned and operated by a lady in her seventies and you get to hand feed and pat the wallabies. The girls were lucky enough to hold a baby wallaby, this normally wouldn’t happen until after Labour Weekend. Both places are well worth a visit and maybe at times we are guilty of taking such places for granted as there is no guarantee they will still exist in a few years’ time.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for July 2016 here...

For our first newsletter for this season I am mainly focusing on coccidiosis disease. When a farmer has calves affected by coccidiosis, it’s often the last disease suspected and the health effects to the calves can be very severe, causing long term damage.

In 2011, we increased the level of Bovatec® in the calf meal by 50%. This was after feedback from some customers that they were getting calves affected by coccidiosis. Now even though the lasalocid sodium (active ingredient of Bovatec) is included at 135ppm, as opposed to the standard rate of 90ppm, we still get about 1 report per season of a farm being affected with coccidiosis. While this is less than 1% of our customers, this certainly causes a lot of problems for the farm that is affected.

Coccidiosis is a protozoan disease and all cows carry coccidial oocysts in the small and large intestines. Most cattle develop some immunity to it while continuing to shed a few oocysts in their faeces. Introducing new animals to the herd can introduce new variants of coccidial oocysts to which there is limited herd
immunity. Calves can handle a few oocysts, but a heavy load is another story. They are vulnerable because they have little immunity, particularly if they ingest a high number of immature protozoa in their environment that overwhelm their immune system.

Calves may carry the oocysts without affect until one of the following triggers sets it off; the presence of other pathogens, a change in diet, inadequate colostrum as a newborn calf, environmental factors including the use of small pastures year after year, crowding, poor hygiene, adverse weather (cold, wet or hot), transport, frequent regrouping of calves and bringing in new animals.

Preventive measures include minimising fecal contamination of the environment as when a calf lies in manure and licks itself, it ingests oocysts. When feeding straw or hay, ensure it doesn’t become contaminated with fecal matter. When the calves are no longer inside the sheds, clean the sheds out before summer as this allows dry hot weather to sterilize the pen.

Ionophores such as lasalocid (Bovatec®) and monensin (Rumensin®) and are included in calf meals because they increase feed efficiency and also act as a coccidiostat, hindering multiplication of coccidial oocysts. However according to one American website they should be considered as one of the preventive measures rather than for treatment and control.

You can see from this graph that as Aoraki Calf Meal has Bovatec® included at higher inclusion rates, protection is gained earlier. However, note the calf could be 5 weeks old before it gains sufficient protection. If it is has ingested oocysts during the period of non-protection and then suffers from one of the triggers already listed, then there is a high risk of coccidiosis occurring.

 

One of our customers who have previously had coccidiosis in their calves now dose their calves with Baycox® C at day 14 which gives the calf protection from day 21. They have found this to be very effective, but it is an additional cost.

Another customer, Phillipa Gillies, had calves affected by coccidiosis about 6 years ago. Phillipa reared 850 calves on their dairy farm last season using the same calf pens multiple times without any issues. Here is her recipe for successful calf rearing.

One dose per calf of ImmuStart® on day 1 before they get any colostrum. This helps to provide protection against Rotavirus, E coli, Salmonella, Cryptosporidia, Coronavirus and also contains probiotic bacteria. Phillipa no longer vaccinates her cows for Rotavirus. She also uses Dancalf® plus in the milk from Day 5 through until weaning at 80kg to prevent coccidiosis. She also feeds 1.5 litres of milk twice a day for 5 days, then the calves go outside and receive 3 litres once a day until weaning. Straw is used in the calf pens and between each batch of calves the pen is sprayed with disinfectant and a generous new layer of straw is added. Phillipa has not had to treat any calves for coccidiosis since adopting this regime and has a very low mortality rate in her calves. ImmuStart® and Dancalf Plus® are both Nutritech products and can be purchased from most farm merchandise outlets.

For more information regarding these products visit www.nutritech.co.nz or email me.

2016 Pricing

Not all of the pricing for the raw materials has been finalised yet, however we will be dropping the price from July 1 by $26 per tonne for the High Octane and $30 per tonne for the Low Protein, as per past seasons the price will be a floating price rather than fixed. More details of pricing will be in the August newsletter.

Calf Meal prices effective from July 1 2016

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $630 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $595 + GST ex Feedmill

Remember when the calves are less than 4 weeks of age, calf meal is best kept fresh so buy little and often.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for December 2015 here...

Welcome to our last newsletter for the 2015 season. One way or another it has been a tricky season for all and with the heat now upon us perhaps some even more tricky times await us. However we keep going forward and do what we can to make the most of the situation because that’s what we do as farmers. As they say no use worrying about stuff that you have no control over.

The good news is that some of our raw materials prices have continued to decline in price so we are able to drop our prices for the second month in a row, admittedly the price drops aren’t large, however we are pleased to pass on what savings we can.

December and January Prices

High Octane Plus 40 x 25kg - $656 + GST & Freight - (decrease of $8 per tonne)
Low Protein Plus 40 x 25kg - $618 + GST & Freight - (decrease of $10 per tonne)

Off season

Our feedmill does operate all year round, although some months in the off season production is very light, we keep very little calf meal in stock (maybe a handful of bags). However we keep a small stock of raw materials and we are usually working on farm, so more calf meal can be made reasonably quickly. If required we can also do custom mixing during this period especially for older stock or calves that are 100+kg.

Pallets

If you have a reasonable number of pallets (say 5+) that are either ours or suitable for us to use please let me know. Preferably I need to pick up 30+ per trip to make it worth my while. And while I don’t want to spend too much time in the summer driving around picking up pallets I do need to build the numbers back up again, there is over 500 pallets still missing at the moment.

Overseas travel ribbing

Writing a newsletter solely about calf meal and calf rearing for 6 months each year is a bit tough, so it’s time to talk travel. I get a bit of ribbing about travelling overseas, though like a lot of farmers, working 7 days a week is the norm even if it is only part days in the weekend (rest of the weekend often revolves around riding mountain bikes or building mountain bike tracks) so to get a break where you really switch off requires travelling a bit further away and even better if there is no cell phone reception. Last June Shona and I flew to Cairns, hired a motorhome which was a new experience and one we really enjoyed, and did a bit of a road trip. Highlights were spending Queens Birthday weekend in Cooktown (about 300km north of Cairns - population 2300) where they were holding a Cooktown Discovery Festival.

This was a lot of fun, with lots of action from tug of war, billy cart racing – which was old style with complete disregard for health and safety, which made it more exciting and dangerous for participants and spectators. There were also talent quests, street parade, James Cook arrival re-enactment, fire dancing and fireworks with crowds that you would count in the hundreds rather than the thousands.

Chillagoe was a fascinating outback town (200km inland from Cairns, population 200) with its caves, historic mines and the spectacular limestone ridges that continue to gradually dissolve from the rain. I enjoyed the drive to Chillagoe though at times we had to travel very slowly as the corrugations in the road weren’t kind to the drawers and cupboards.

We also stayed two nights at the Eureka Creek Bush Rodeo which is held on Eureka Creek Station. The Rodeo was great to watch and carried on under lights finishing at about 10pm which was when the band started. Most competitors and spectators arrived on the Friday and camped bush style for two nights. Seeing all the different styles of campsites and all the campfires going at night was a real eye-opener.

Wherever we stayed we mainly met Australians, with some real characters amongst them, they were all friendly and great to talk too. Australia is an easy country to visit, with driving on the same side of the road, talking a similar language, easy to get away from the crowds (we love the outback) and the weather is normally good. The campervan cost about $100 a day plus fuel, some nights we freedom camped and others we stayed at caravan parks. Travelling by campervan meant we were able stock up with groceries at a supermarket keeping our food costs to a minimum. If you are patient and wait for the specials holidaying in Australia can cost similar or less than holidaying in NZ.

Even though we were off farm I couldn’t help taking notes and photos of the different types of farms we were seeing, talking to people we met about farming, plus we stayed 2 nights on an organic beef farm.

New Newsletter

Our next newsletter will be in June 2016. And I look forward to visiting a number of you either late summer or early autumn. We thank you for your support this year and look forward to doing business with you again. We wish you, your families and staff a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for November 2015 here...

As we all know machinery breakdowns really only occur when the machinery is being used. This month we had 3 breakdowns and while one (an electric motor) had no impact on quality the other 2 which were actually less obvious and harder to detect did affect a very small percentage of bags. Any breakdown is undesirable but much more frustrating when it impacts on quality so apologies if you were affected.

Prices remain the same this month, earlier in the season we took out contracts for both wheat and barley to give us certainty on pricing and by the end of this month we should have finished these. Free market grain prices have currently eased and we should be able take advantage of these lower prices in November. However free market prices for soybean meal are much higher than our current contracts and depending on sales it is likely we will need to buy more soybean meal on the free. It could be a case of one cancelling the other one out or maybe the gap between High Octane and Low Protein will increase.

October Aoraki Calf Meal Price

High Octane 40 x 25kg - $678 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein 40 x 25kg - $646 + GST ex Feedmill

Our Low Protein does have about 25% less digestible protein than the High Octane however it is higher in energy. Once your calves are weaned, preferably eating 1kg of meal per day and on quality pasture, Low Protein calf meal is certainly adequate. If you have some lighter calves you are better to separate these and continue to feed them High Octane.

Nice golden plump barley

This year’s barley is generally plump and the grain weight is very good, it is of good colour and some lines are very low in moisture (as low as 12%). This does mean that during crushing it does shatter more and ends up quite fine. The simplest trick of the trade to counter this is to add water to the grain, so the grains are then softer and won’t shatter when crushing. It’s not a trick we use, though I can see there is a good profit margin in selling water.

Already we have had days were Interfreight load out about 50 tonne

The next 6 weeks is our peak production time and often the short week after Labour Weekend is our busiest. During this period if possible please order a few days ahead, sometimes it’s a case of reminding the staff to tell you to order more before you run out and it is so easy to get caught out. It also puts a lot of pressure on freight companies. When they are doing the deliveries they really appreciate those farmers who have organised a tractor with the correct forks on it to be either waiting for them or a tractor driver in close proximity. A delay of 30 minutes while unloading usually has a ripple effect for not only the truck driver but also the farmers that are waiting further down the road.

Returning pallets

Later this month is when we start to run out of pallets, we do have stack’s of what we call blockies which are kept as backup. The only problem with these pallets is that some tractor forks don’t fit, which can be frustrating at your end. We don’t charge for pallets (due to the number we send out, I have always maintained it would be a logistical nightmare to track and trace each pallet) we just ask you to return them. Freight companies will generally pick them up providing you have them stacked up ready for them. If they don’t pick them up then please let me know and if you have any other spare pallets that are suitable for us to use then we are more than willing to take them as well.

We have plenty of reserve pallets however they are not always tractor friendly

Ordering via text

A reminder on ordering via text, please use the 027 299 3484 number rather than the 0800. I have asked Spark why the 0800 can’t receive texts and they tell me that it uses a different network. This doesn’t really make sense to me as both numbers are permanently connected to the same phone. The other issue is if you do send a text to the 0800 it doesn’t bounce back like it would for a wrong number, your text somehow just disappears in space. I like receiving orders by text as sometimes it is not easy for me to answer the phone or if I do answer it I am not in a position to write the order down especially when I am away from the office. It also has the advantage that for Interfreight deliveries, texts after hours can be forwarded to them when I receive them which keeps them informed. However I also enjoy talking direct to the customer and not everyone likes texting so calling me is fine.

Hamish Winter finds it “fantastic” that he can text an order through so that’s it ready for when he and Fiona call in a few hours later.

The meal advantage...

• Calves start eating meal at an earlier age, compared to pellets
• Calves eat wet meal, but not wet pellets
• You can see what is in the meal, nothing is hidden
• Calves will lick the ground clean, very little is wasted

We know what really works... calf meal is what we specialise in. Aoraki Calf Meal can be delivered to your farm, or you can uplift it directly from our Feedmill in Waimate.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for September 2015 here...

Price Drops

As mentioned in a previous newsletter we are in the fortunate position of not having very many contracts for the raw materials that we will use this season. And during the last month we have started to benefit from some quite large reductions in prices in particular with grain and canola oil, these price changes have now filtered through to the bagged product. This allows us to once more reduce the price. We expect these new prices to remain in place for September and October and we will review them again for November.

September & October Aoraki Calf Meal Price

• High Octane 40 x 25kg $678 + GST ex Feedmill
• Low Protein 40 x 25kg $646 + GST ex Feedmill

Maintaining quality

We could also reduce our price further by no longer including product X, Xtract Instant and having the coccidostat in at the standard rates. However if I didn’t believe in the cost benefit of these products then I wouldn’t be using them, it’s that simple.

There are a number tricks in the trade for reducing prices that some companies use however I strongly believe in cutting the price and not the quality. In recent months we have been approached by other companies who are not stock food manufactures but do have a byproduct available to use as a filler in the manufacture of calf meal/pellets. These fillers can look OK on paper but that does not mean they are digestible, especially in a young animal. We have been offered some of these fillers at the grand price of $20 per tonne (I think you will agree this is just too cheap). While some other stockfood manufacturers may use these products we certainly don’t.

Benefits of a balanced diet

Some farmers will be tempted to only feed crushed barley to reduce costs however On-Farm Research results released in the 2006 Poukawa calf rearing newsletter showed that feeding crushed barley has a negative impact on 12 week weights with calves on average weighing 10% less. Aoraki Calf Meal is a blend of barley, wheat, soya meal, peas, molasses, canola oil, salt, lime (calcium for bone density) plus the micro nutrients. Feeding a balanced diet to a young growing animal will have short term and long term benefits. And while some people still believe in the phenomenon of compensatory growth, the truth is that animals weaned at low weights never catch up even at maximum growth rates.

Achieving target weights in heifers

Achieving target calving weight in heifers starts with achieving target weights at 12 weeks. Poor growth rates or poor animal health in those first 12 weeks will reduce the likelihood of achieving target calving weight. General failure to achieve target weights at mating and pre-calving will result in:

• Lower conception rate of heifers,
• Later calving heifers and consequently lower conception rate of first calvers (rising 3 Year Olds),
• Lower milk production in first lactation,
• Failure to achieve adequate mature live weights, affecting lifetime production.

For feeding calves meal out in the paddock, plastic 200 litre drums cut into thirds make great meal troughs, we even still use them for R1 bulls. You may be surprised how many calves can fit around each trough, using your foot they are easy to tip the rain water out of even when holding a bag of calf meal. The calves tend to move them a bit when feeding so you don’t end up with those dead patches of grass from a feeder staying in one spot to long. Personally I have always found it best to have enough troughs so all the calves can feed at the same time.

One of the drawbacks in producing a meal that is attractive to animals is that it is also attractive to pests. Especially mice and rats in the calf meal storage area, we have a couple of cats at the feedmill which certainly helps and we also use Pestoff Treated Wheat. This product is actually designed for bird control however we find it great on mice especially when we add some attractant to it (canola oil). I like how mice can’t carry it away, it works by inducing hypothermia which means if the cats did eat the poison or dead mice and start to look sleepy (never happened yet) we just need to warm them up and they will come right. This poison works best during temperatures less than 10 degrees. We also use mousetraps with Nutella and at one stage Shona had a trapping line of 7 mousetraps which she checked each day. Thankfully due to the design of our sheds, rats are rarely an issue.

Repurposing and recycling

Our bags are made and printed in China and we send out in excess of 100,000 bags into the farming community per season. For Bio-security reasons as well as ease of use we do not reuse any bags. However the bags can be reused for other purposes especially if they are opened by removing the string rather than slashed with a knife. I have spoken to a couple of recycling depots who are very willing to take these bags and they will either repurpose them or send them away for recycling. We have also had a request from the Waimate Scouts for used bags which they will use for their manure drive and other fundraising activities. If any of our local customers are willing to collect them for the Waimate Scouts then please let me know or contact David Campbell.

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for August 2015 here...

Our Competitive Price Advantage

Ironically some farmers have not brought meal off us in the past as they deemed us to be too cheap. However we do have a competitive price advantage for the following reasons;

• Aoraki Stockfoods is debt free, there is no debt servicing costs to be passed on.
• Our farm pays the rates bill, another saving.
• I am a firm believer in KISS (keep it simple stupid) so our feedmill is not “High Tech” and while I do embrace technology, keeping the feedmill simple keeps costs down and allows us to do more of the R&M ourselves.
• We have very efficient, productive and low cost feedmill.
• We don’t employ salesman, when it comes to doing sales I’m it.
• No receptionist, I personally take the orders as our 0800 number is permanently connected to my cell phone plus I encourage customers to text in their orders.
• I take calculated risks on when to contract raw materials, and while I don’t always get it right so far this year having no early grain contacts is proving to be a significant advantage.

We could make a cheaper meal simply by removing canola oil, peas, extract instant and product X from our calf meal. And then include palm kernel meal and other cheap fillers. However I was a commercial pig farmer for more than 20 years so I know how important it is not to cut corners. It’s essential to feed animals on a best cost basis rather than a least cost basis.

Our price remains the same for August however during August we will take delivery of some lower priced raw materials which should allow us to drop the price further on September 1:

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40x25kg $710 + GST ex Feedmill

Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40x25kg $680 + GST ex Feedmill

 

Sweet taste

Calves have 25000 taste buds compared to our 9000 and research has shown calves have a strong preference for sweet solutions. Using calf meal with a sweet taste significantly increases feed intake.

We have been using a sweetener in our calf meal since our visit to the animal feed flavouring factory in France 2012. The product we use (which for commercial reasons we call product “X”) is a high intensity sweetener for animal feed. Product X also has a “Gut Effect” in that it increases glucose, water and sodium absorption and acts on the epithelial structure by stimulating intestinal development.

Or to put it more technically, these gut effects increase the number of glucose transporters on gut epithelial cells, which absorb nutrients from the intestine. Higher glucose absorption provides better nutrition of the villi and gut mucosa, and thereby increases the intestinal surface area and villi height, improving the intestine’s integrity and absorption capability.

Product “X” offers a practical means for enhancing glucose utilisation and also increases feed attractiveness and feed intake, improving feed efficiency and growth rates.

Some calf rearing tips and comments recently posted on a public Facebook page:

• Make sure they have to work for their milk, with the teat being no more than 60 cm from the ground.
• It’s all to do with the milk going into the right stomach so it is processed properly therefore not getting scours.
• Make sure they have to kink their neck down and have their noses up for feeding then your pretty much right.
• Milk is going to be warmed up to calf body temperature either before the calf is fed by us or afterwards by the calf. In cold weather and young calves it is far better to use electricity and save calf energy for more vital functions.
• Warm colostrum (38°C tops) also increases enzyme activity and therefore improves digestion, leading to better chances of a high immunoglobulin uptake into the blood stream and better immunisation.
• Make sure you have a good hygiene system. A foot bath (for your boots) with good disinfectant, use before entering a pen. Regularly spray the pens as well. Keep feeders clean etc. Just stop the spread of bugs.
• Golden standard is an ALL IN ALL OUT system. Once calves go in a pen, they don’t leave until they all leave... You could make an exception for sick calves going to a ‘sick pen’ but even that approach is debatable as your sick pen will have an abundance of bugs floating around; the higher the infection pressure the harder for the calf to fight it off.
• Don’t over crowd your pens, have dry litter with no draughts. Be patient and compassionate they are babies and need more than a feeder chucked in front of them.
• Take the iodine bottle with you and spray navels as you put them in the trailer, and in the shed, (someone else suggested spray twice a day for a week) keep an eye out for infection (hot swollen navel).
• Clean water is essential.
• Hang some old dog chains in the pens. The calves LOVE playing with them and stops them from getting bored and getting into unwanted habits like ear/navel suckling.
• Or hang flax in pens, has something in it to help the stomach and keeps them busy all day chewing.

 

The meal advantage...

• Calves start eating meal at an earlier age, compared to pellets.
• Calves eat wet meal, but not wet pellets.
• You can see what is in the meal, nothing is hidden.
• Calves will lick the ground clean, very little is wasted.
• We know what really works... calf meal is what we specialise in.

Aoraki Calf Meal can be delivered to your farm, or you can uplift it directly from our Feedmill in Waimate.

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for July 2015 here...

Welcome to the first customer newsletter of 2015. Thank you to all the customers that were able to meet with me during my farm visits in the Autumn. I try and visit all the farmers who have brought 5 tonne or more of calf meal during the previous year and I enjoy meeting customers face to face as well as the drive round, with so many beautiful farms to admire. More credit should be given to the many farmers who work so hard on farm presentation.

 

I need to get in the habit of taking more photos when doing farm visits; the photo I have taken shows how easy it is to establish specimen trees along a fence line.

Pricing for Spring 2015

Like previous years we will once again have a price that will be reviewed during the season on a regular basis. We have started this season by dropping the price by $40 per tonne on the High Octane and $30 on the Low Protein. One of the main reasons for the price drop is that we have contracted 65% of our soybean meal requirements at $100 per tonne cheaper than last season. High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal contains more soybean meal then Low Protein hence the reason for it dropping further in price. I also took a punt and didn’t take any early contracts for grain and so have been able to secure some of our grain requirements more recently at a much reduced rate. There are also more savings from recent negotiations that are yet to filter through and at this stage I am confident that in September we will be able to drop the price further which makes a pleasant change compared to the last few years.

2015 July & August price

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40x25kg $710 + GST ex Feedmill
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40x25kg $680 + GST ex Feedmill

A reminder that at the start of the season while your calves are young and sheds aren’t very full you are best to buy little and often so that the meal is kept as fresh as possible. It does make a difference for calves less than 4 weeks of age. While the meal does have a long shelf life it is still a grain product and like bread the fresher it is the tastier it is. For our more distant customers you may be able to split a pallet up between neighbouring customers (or if your neighbour isn’t a customer tell them they should be! We will send you a reward if you convert them).

Most calf rearers are excellent in realising they are dealing with a baby animal and best practice in the calf pens sees the calves getting fresh meal each day rather than multiple days’ worth being put out in one go. Calves will actually be trained to eat meal faster if the meal trough is empty say after about 20 hours compared to having meal 24/7. And if you do have leftovers from the day before these are best cleaned out and fed to older animals rather than just placing fresh meal on top.

Pallet Returns

Last year we purchased a large number of second hand pallets, unfortunately it turned out the nails were prone to popping out, so Shayne (who has worked for us for 12 years) is in the process of re-nailing them and so far has used over 10,000 nails. Another stockfood manufacturer decided to change the type of pallet they use, so we have also been able to pick up a number of their disused pallets for our use. We don’t charge our customers for pallets however we do ask you to return them and any others that are spare and of suitable size. It’s all part of keeping the costs down.

Newsletter Feedback

Our newsletters (including past newsletters) are also available via our website and sometimes we get feedback however I was surprised to get the following from the USA regarding last year’s November newsletter: “Thank you for the great picture and description of your auger position pads. I help farmers with physical injury, or illness, learn how to adapt so they can keep working. I’ve recommended for farmers with low vision to use concrete pads as you describe so they know when they are lined up. Do you mind if I share your picture and text?”

Naturally I said yes, which was followed by, “Thank you, Ken. If you know any farmers in your area who suffer from illnesses or injury that makes it difficult for them to work, let them know about me. I’d be happy to assist them in finding tools and equipment to make it possible for them to keep working. I won’t be making any farm visits, but happy to help via email and the internet from my home office here in Michigan!” - Ned Stoller, ATP, Easter Seals Michigan – AgrAbility, www.michiganagrability.org.

Natural Alternative to Antibiotics

XTRACT Instant is a natural alternative to antibiotics, enabling higher performance and health status, through the use of active substances Carvacrol, Cinnamaldehyde and Capsicum oleoresin which are from aromatic plants and spices.

Capsaicinoids found in Capsicum stimulate digestive enzyme activity, increasing feed digestibility and allowing for better nutrient absorption. Cinnamaldehyde protects the microvilli from toxins and free radicals due to its intracellular antioxidant activity, leading to an increased microvillus size important for nutrient digestion in the developing rumen. Carvacrol favours the development of cellulolytic flora which produces volatile fatty acids in the colon. The increase in VFA’s especially butyric acid inhibits pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella and clostridia and increases beneficial lactobacillus populations, giving XTRACT its beneficial health properties.

XTRACT is registered and sold in more than 40 countries around the globe, the average return on investment achieved was 11:1 in five consecutive trials. This is the fifth season we have included XTRACT in Aoraki calf meals.

Any Photos or Tips?

If you have any tips or photos you think I could use for the newsletter please either email them to me or phone me to discuss. Likewise if you are prepared to write a testimonial for us that would be very much appreciated. Are we using your correct mailing address, delivery address or business name? If we need to change any of these, please send me your details, preferably by text or email.

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for December 2014 here...

In last month’s newsletter I mentioned I would look at having a summer meal option for older calves, for most of us the weather has continued to be dry which means a shortage of grass is now a real possibility. A few years ago I made a mix with wheat, PK and molasses which was fed to our own calves (plus some customers used it) through autumn and winter. While I haven’t fed it to such young calves before I believe it will also be ideal for calves that are 110kg or more.

The main ingredients for this year’s summer meal will be wheat, barley and palm kernel. And molasses, vegetable oil, calcium, salt, coccidostat, vitamins and minerals will also be included. A typical analysis of this diet on a DM basis will be 13.5% Protein and 11.8 ME. Priced at $560 per tonne (40 x 25kg) + GST and freight. This price will be subject to any movements in the prices of the raw materials.

Please let me know if you are interested.

I was disappointed to hear recently that a number of dairy farmers had very good Hereford Friesian cross calves that they couldn’t sell and ended up putting them on the bobby truck. Such a waste especially when the beef industry is looking so good for the life time of those animals. Unfortunately too many calf rearers have come unstuck in recent years and have left the industry. However in the future if you do have good calves that you can’t sell then please let me know and I will try to place them within in my customer base.

During last off season I was lucky enough to bulk buy a significant number of used pallets, unfortunately sometimes the nails in these pallets weren’t really strong enough. Congratulations to those of you who were able to successfully unload them without breakage and commiserations for those who couldn’t. The feedback we had from the truck drivers was that the successful tractor drivers had a steady hand on the controls to gently lift and then tilt back before moving to far. Those in a hurry or inexperienced tended to lift too quickly and then not tilt back and ended up spreading bags all over their yard. A job for us in the off season will be to re-nail a significant number of pallets (thank goodness we have a nail gun). If at the end of the season you have a number of good or repairable pallets please let me know and I will either get the freight companies to pick them up, or if time allows, I will come and collect them myself.

The main change at the feed mill for us this season was stopping the use of meatmeal and bloodmeal in our pig and poultry diets. Which then meant, after some alterations, we were able to use the pig and poultry section of the mill for bagging the Low Protein calf meal. This improved our throughput and also allowed us to do some bulk bags for the first time in a number of years.

This will be our last newsletter until next July. We thank you very much for your business for 2014 it is appreciated. I look forward to visiting most of you in 2015, hopefully in March, and remember we do make calf meal every month of the year. The team from Aoraki Stockfoods wishes you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for November 2014 here...

Spring for most of us around Waimate has been cold and dry so naturally we are looking for some rain. Though if it is going to stay dry then I would rather it be hot and dry, at least then it’s more enjoyable.

Once you have placed your calf meal order you should receive it within a day or two. If your calf meal hasn’t turned up or your order is incomplete please contact me immediately. A couple of times this season calf meal has been delivered to the wrong address and it’s much easier to find it straight away rather than 7-14 days later.

I am often asked when should we switch to Low Protein Calf Meal? The physical difference between the two diets is that the High Octane contains much more soybean meal which is high in digestibility and in by-pass protein. I usually advise that if you want to switch it is ok when the calf is weaned, on good pasture and chewing its cud. However this month I have asked Paul Drew from Vitec Nutrition to go into more detail on this, I have included an abbreviated version of what he sent me.

I have looked at what cost cutting measures could be done with the Low Protein Calf Meal. One option I looked at was reducing the coccidiostat to standard levels and removing some of the other extras that we use. However it would only result in a saving of $20 per tonne (less than a $1 per animal) and while every dollar counts there is little advantage in saving a $1 on feed costs if you then end up spending more on animal health or have poorer production in years to come. So at this stage the diets stay the same. Though in case it does stay dry and feed supply becomes tight I will look to make a summer budget meal option for older calves.

In recent weeks we have had new customers switch to us (usually happens at this time of year when farmers start comparing calf growth rates) if you are one of the new customers, previous editions of our newsletters are available at www.aorakistockfoods.co.nz/news.html if you wish to read them.

Extra Help

In late September our youngest daughter Eva arrived home after working at an American Summer Camp to help us for a couple of months. And our oldest son Brendon has once again taken two weeks of his annual leave (works at Gordon Handy, Timaru) to help us at the peak of the season. And with Daniel our youngest helping us when he is not at school it is fair to say we truly are a family business.

Auger Positioning Pads

One of the transport truck drivers has commented positively a few times on our concrete pads which I use to correctly position the tractor driven augers. They save lots of time and were simple to make – place the auger in the exact position so that it is centred in the top of the silo, block one side of the axle, dig under the wheel by 75-100mm then fill up with concrete making sure the concrete comes up high enough to create a hollow. I am then able to shift the auger with the quick hitch knowing when the wheel drops in the hollow it will be in the correct position to fill the silo.

Protein – an important nutrient for growing calves

Ruminants rely on protein formed by their rumen microbes as a major protein source. The microbes form their own protein from the crude protein in grass and other feed material. Microbial protein is very good quality and is well utilised by the ruminant. However young calves have undeveloped rumens which are poorly colonized by microbes. It takes time to build up a microbial population and a fully functional rumen which is then able to utilise forage and low quality protein to produce microbial protein.

For the calf to be able to utilise the protein in grass, its rumen needs to be developed and functioning optimally, which is a full function of the microbial development and population in the rumen. Younger milk fed calves are only going through the process of developing their rumen and are unable to utilise the grass protein, so it is important to feed the higher protein calf meal (High Octane) during this stage.

Calves also rely on bypass protein which is protein from feed that is not converted to microbial protein, and instead “bypasses” the rumen and is digested in the lower gastro intestinal tract. Bypass protein is low in grass and high in soybean meal.

It is important that calves meet their growth objectives for the overall benefit of their productive life cycle. Ensuring that enough protein is fed for the calf to grow and reach those targets is critical.

If the calf is weaned and is unable to reach satisfactory growth rates due to the lack of crude protein in forage and poor forage quality, it is worth keeping the calves on the higher protein High Octane Plus meal. However, in spring and early summer, forage proteins are usually high enough to allow the use of a lower protein meal in older calves. The Low Protein Plus provides extra energy which helps with the conversion of forage protein into microbial protein in the rumen. The microbes require energy to form their own protein, much the same as any living organism.

Feeding the correct calf meal to your calf is a balancing act to achieve your growth objectives. The young calf will need a higher protein level with good quality protein to achieve its development and growth targets. The weaned calf needs protein supplemented in a meal form to fill the protein requirement which is not totally fulfilled by forage. This amount of supplemented protein to be fed is dependant on the grass quality and the intake of forage. Growth in weaned, older calves requires protein to be supplemented over and above normal forage protein levels, if growth targets are to be met.

Current Prices

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $750 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $710 + GST and Delivery

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for October 2014 here...

October is when it gets really busy at our end, at the time of writing this production is starting to average 40 tonne a day and we are still four weeks away from the peak which is normally the short week after Labour weekend. While we continue to improve the capacity of the feedmill to cope with peak demand often it’s not that easy for the freight companies and they can come under some extreme pressure. Please do what you can to help them cope, have a tractor ready to go with some good forks. Thank you to the farmers who do have good forks on their tractor and who take care with our pallets, unfortunately the truck drivers tell me there are still some farmers unloading in a hurry and using a silage grab, which never ends well. We really like to get our pallets back in reusable condition, if you have some pallets to come back and truck driver isn’t very cooperative in picking them up then please send me a text.

Also a thank you to those calf rearers who text their order to me, often I am away from the office when an order is placed and sometimes it’s not convenient to stop and write the order down. With the texts when I get back to the office I can easily scroll through them trying to make sure I miss none. Just remember you have to use the 027 299 3484 number the 0800 does not receive texts even though it’s the same phone. This month I’ve asked Paul Drew from Vitec Nutrition to provide some info on coccidiosis. The following is an abbreviated version of what he sent me.

Ionophore use to prevent Coccidiosis in calves and the dangers to non-target species

Ionophore use in calf feed is important to prevent coccidiosis and to improve the rumen environment. A typical calf feed is formulated to protect the calf with sufficient ionophore to fight against coccidiosis, once the calf is eating 1 kilogram of feed. Aoraki Calf Meal includes Bovatec® (active ingredient - lasalocid) at a higher level, protecting the calf once it is eating 650 grams, an estimated two weeks earlier than typical calf feeds.

Calves become infected with coccidiosis when they ingest the oocysts (or eggs) of the Eimeria parasite. Once ingested, the parasite invades the mucosal lining and progress through the various stages of development in the cells of the intestinal lining. It’s during this period that the parasite does damage – reducing growth rates, feed intake and feed efficiency and eventually causing diarrhoea. By the time the signs of bloody diarrhoea become apparent, the damage is already done.

Coccidia are passed from calf to calf by ingestion, so good sanitation and isolation help to protect against coccidiosis. However, the oocysts are particularly resistant and can survive for extended periods of time in tough conditions. Once calves are infected, the number of oocysts in the environment increases rapidly and so even calf rearers, with good management practices, can have coccidiosis problems.

It is the reduced feed intake, poor growth rates and ill-thrift seen in sub-clinical cases which results in the greatest losses for the producer. Heifers affected by coccidiosis may never achieve their full potential for growth and milk production. Independent research has shown that at 12 weeks, Bovatec® fed dairy calves are on average 11.7% heavier than non-treated calves.

In the case of this disease, “prevention is better than cure”. Ionophores are very effective in preventing the disease as they disrupt the functioning of the oocysts in the gut lining and prevent the disease from occurring. In the case of Bovatec®, the lasalocid dosage required to prevent coccidiosis is 1mg lasalocid /kg bodyweight. However, because the required dosage for protection, changes with increasing bodyweight, it is evident that protection from cocciodiosis is dependent on Calf Meal intake and level of ionophore in that Calf Feed to provide the correct dosage dependant on calf weight.

Ionophore Toxicity in non-target species

Ionophores affect the transport of ions in the various cell membranes. This ability makes ionophores capable of controlling the parasite coccidia in chickens, calves and other animals, but it also makes it deadly for horses and dangerous for dogs. While it does affect many systems, its main impact is on the dog or horses muscles, especially the heart as it affects the flux of potassium and sodium across the muscle membranes.

Toxic signs and degree of symptoms are dependent on the age, sex, weight, health and intake of ionophore containing feed. There is also a difference in level of toxicity depending on the type of ionophore. There are two main types of ionophores used in New Zealand ruminants, Bovatec® (active ingredient - Lasalocid) and Rumensin® (active ingredient - Monensin). Lasalocid is known as the “safer” of the two ionophores by up to 10 times safer than monensin in horses.

LD50 is a figure used to indicate toxicity levels. LD50 is the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population after a specified test duration. The LD 50 of Lasalocid for a horse is estimated to be 21.5mg/kg bodyweight per day and 10-15mg/kg for a dog. LD50 for monensin in horses is 2 to 3 mg/kg body weight and 5-8 mg/kg for a dog.

A 400 kg horse will have to eat 86kg’s of a calf meal in a day containing 500 grams of Bovatec® 20% per tonne to reach the LD50 and in effect, have a 50% chance of dying. This is no recommendation that the horse or dog can eat feed containing lasalocid. Remember that the LD50 describes the level of intake where half of the tested population died (the other half lived). If a dog or horse has ingested feed containing ionophore and doesn’t die, there could still be long term damage to that animal. We recommend you follow all label cautions against feeding ionophores to dogs, horses and camelid species.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for September 2014 here...

The month of August is when we finish our feed mill maintenances and we get to test out our changes that have been made since last season and to do extra fine tuning. I am pleased to report the addition of the new calf meal bagging line is working very well and certainly will help us increase production. This new bagging line is where we used to mix and bag pig and poultry meal. We still have pig meal and layers mash available however we no longer use meat meal or dried blood in those diets or in any other diets. Interestingly changing the layer mash diet resulted in a $1 per tonne saving (meat meal prices have risen significantly in recent years) and the eggs off our own hens have actually increased slightly
in size.

Prices remain the same this month

Prices remain the same for September, on the free market there has been significant rising in soya meal prices while locally there is evidence of easing in grain prices..

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg - $750 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg - $710 + GST and Delivery

Another change during August is the regrooving and refluting of the grain crushers. We use three roller mills, two for grain and one for peas. We have two quite different roller mills for grain crushing, one I had made locally using rolls from my first roller mill that was built in Poland. We get these rolls lathed down and regrooved once a year. I regroove them using a small angle grinder with thin cutting discs and using the old grooves as guides (if you leave it too long these grooves disappear making it much more difficult). I then get a local engineer to lathe them and true them up. They only take the minimum off and the grooves are left in place. If you lathe them first and groove them second you risk losing the old grooves. What I have learnt is that it is better to do it more often rather than leave them that long that the old groves are gone or deep wear lines have developed.

My other roller mill is a precision made mill from Australia. The rolls of this mill only get done every third year and we send them back to Australia for refluting. In the past we have had these rolls fluted with 18 flutes/inch, a saw tooth profile and 10% spiral on the rolls. This was to crush it fine enough for the pigs. This time we have gone with having 12 flutes/inch, equal angle profile with a sharp tip and 5% spiral. This is designed to break the grain with not much flour. And it has made a noticeable difference to the amount of fines present in the meal.

I often get the comment about rats and mice causing damage to the bags of calf meal on farm. At the feedmill we use poisoned wheat that's designed to give birds hypothermia. I like it because the cats and dogs are less inclined to eat it and if they do eat it or the poisoned animals you just need to keep them in a warm area for an hour or more for recovery. Another reason I like it is the rodents can't carry the bait away. Sometimes I will also coat with some vegetable oil to make it extra attractive. However it works best in colder temperatures and if the temperature is over 15 degrees at time of ingestion it will be less effective.

Often I get asked "what do I do in the off season" perhaps the answer is too much! Although we only have 100ha, during the off season we have to play catch up with the other farm work and this year amongst other jobs we were still working on wind damaged trees. More recently I have started grazing what I call Barbers Block (35ha at the top of Waimate Golf Course) with 150 bulls so the need to get a hot wire around that block become urgent.

I also have various roles off site and took on another new project this year which has the intention of building a shared use trail with a 5% gradient from the edge of Waimate up to the Whitehorse lookout (approx. 7km). We have formed a new club called Whitehorse MTB Riders Incorporated (for some reason I ended up as President). It has been very challenging and time absorbing, with sorting out a club constitution, access agreements with various land owners as well as helping to design and mark out the top 3km of the trail. A special thanks to lawyers Ken McKenzie (RSM Lawyers) and Tony Tweed (Hope & Associates) for their free assistance and guidance, Rooney Earthmoving and Rotary Club of Waimate for jointly funding the cutting of the top section, and Roger Small for flying me over the site so I could take some aerial photos. If you are interested like us on Facebook – Whitehorse Big Easy.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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The last week of July has been interesting for us, on the Wednesday evening we received 10 minutes of really strong winds which saw Daniel and I shifting fifty 2 year old bulls out of a tree paddock right on dusk and naturally they behaved just like 2 year olds, then we had to go remove three trees that had fallen cross the road. Thursday morning saw the power go on and off numerous times as the winds caused more problems in other parts of the district. On a more positive note on Wednesday the engineer finished the off season alterations and maintenance. We have made changes in the feed mill that will now give us two bagging lines for calf meal instead of the previous one, enabling us to yet again lift our production capacity.

This month we are also trialling Canola Oil as replacement for Soya Oil, it does present some small savings and the processors claim that because it's a fresh product, made in Canterbury compared to Soya Oil that is imported and the way it is processed it offers extra health benefits for the calf. I am not sure if you will notice any difference, however it's nice to support a local product that is potentially better as well as cheaper.

For those of you who have tried talking to me on the cell phone (either 0800 or 027) you will be aware cell phone reception at the feed mill is very patchy causing frustration. Last season we had a cell phone signal booster installed which certainly helped however it turned out to be illegal and I subsequently got fined $1280. So back to patchy reception, sometimes I will take a while to answer the cell phone as I will move to an area of better reception before answering. Another change for this season is that I've removed the fax machine. When I receive orders via text or email, even with patchy reception they still come directly to me. Where as faxes can go unnoticed in the feedmill office for a period of time, especially in the off season. It also makes it easier for me to recheck any orders or order numbers when I'm doing the accounts in the home office. Please note when texting use the 027 299 3484 number as the 0800 doesn't receive texts.

Prices remain the same this month

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg - $750 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg - $710 + GST and Delivery

During the last month we increased some of our protein contracts and while I won't rule out a price rise later in the season it's only likely to happen if we need to go to the free market for more grain.

Getting calves started on meal

Every season we get feedback on how well the calves have started eating the meal from a number of customers, especially new customers. And also every season we get a smaller number of farmers who want to know why this year their calves won't touch it even though everything is supposedly the same as the previous year. So here are some tips that I found worked for us when we reared calves and also tips from other calf rearers.

1. Keeping the meal fresh.
The meal is a grain based product and while it has shelf life of 6+ months we have found that for the first 3 weeks of the calf's life the fresher the meal is the faster they will start. So where practical buy small amounts and often at the start of the season and make sure you only have enough in the trough for one day at a time and ensure the trough is clean before you add more (any old meal can either be fed to older calves or crook cows). We used to milk feed once a day and do the meal twice, remember a calf has 25,000 taste buds compared to our 9,000.

2. The amount of milk you feed.
Most farmers are now feeding a maximum of 4-5 litres per day and most farmers are once a day after 7-10 days of age (some farmers are once a day from day 1 and others still twice a day until weaning). Most farmers do not increase the amount of milk as the calf gets older. Naturally the more milk you feed the less inclined the calf will be to eat meal. Likewise with the frequency of feeding.

3. Keeping the calves inside for 4-6 weeks.
This isn't possible on all farms however the farmers that are able to do this extoll the benefits. Not only for getting the calves to eat the meal and therefore develop the rumen quicker but also health wise as generally these farms are not reusing the same pens multiple times in the same season. Day by day as an animal gets older it sheds more bugs so when you reintroduce a new born calf to a previously used pen it faces a higher disease challenge.

4. Restrict grass until rumen is developed. If you are putting the calf outside at an early age try and use a small paddock that has no grass. As until the rumen is functioning they can't digest grass and while they certainly will eat it you don't want a baby animal filling up on a product it can't digest.

5. Provide straw not baleage.
Research shows benefits in providing straw for calves however the problem with baleage is that it's only 35-40% DM as compared to calf meal 85-90% DM. Bulky fibres are good for stretching the rumen however grain produces butyrate and propionate which once fermented promotes the growth of long healthy rumen papillae that provide the large surface required for nutrient absorption.

6. Positioning of the trough and trough space.
For inside the shed positioning the trough near the area where you feed the milk often works best. One farmer told me how he removes the milk feeder and places the meal feeder back in the same place with fresh meal. In the paddock if you are still feeding milk try and feed the milk in a similar place each day and position the meal trough close to this area, also being near the water trough works well.

In our pens we used 20 litre containers with sides cut out for meal troughs, though some farmers say the troughs are best at knee height. In the paddock we used 240 litre plastic drums cut into thirds likewise with PVC pipe and the tractor tyre in half works really well but can be difficult to make.

I am sure there are lots of other successful calf rearing tips amongst you all and if you are willing to share yours then please forward it to me.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Read our Newsletter for July 2014 here...

Welcome to the first newsletter for 2014. Again the off season has gone by too quick and as I write this I still have some customers to visit. I made a good start in April however for various reasons haven’t got around everyone yet. One of those reasons was in May I took my Stepfather in-law and my youngest son to Queensland for two weeks where we drove over 4,000km from Brisbane through the Queensland Highlands up to Townsville and back to Brisbane. Our aim was to avoid cities and instead see farming Queensland  style. The main farming types we saw were cotton, sorghum, cattle, prawn and sugar. I even managed to call in and see a couple of feed mills as well as Australia’s biggest cattle sale in Roma (14,200 head the day we were there).

Pricing for 2014 Season

As most of you will know grain prices have risen substantially this year. We have a certain amount contracted from last spring, which was lucky, and have contracted more recently. It’s unlikely prices have peaked, however with palm kernel becoming available again and under $300 per tonne, this may have some impact on grain sales. Ironically grain is about $50 per tonne cheaper in the North Island as they are importing from Australia. We can’t use Australian grain as we don’t process it enough to meet quarantine specifications and with some of my friends and neighbours being grain growers it’s not a path we want to go down.

Soya meal prices had been quite high until about the start of June and then dropped by nearly $100 per tonne over a couple of weeks. We have now secured 50% of our requirements at a good price. Only time will tell if they are going to continue their downward trend or will they start to climb again.

It always a guessing game on when to contract, sometimes I get it right and sometimes I get it wrong. Also unknown is what our production levels will be which has an obvious effect on how much I need to contract.

Our prices for the start of this season are:
High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $750 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $710 + GST and Delivery
This price will be reviewed in September or October.

Although we have enough grain contracted to maintain this price based on last year’s sales, price movements could happen if some of our other raw material prices move up or sales increase and we have to go to the free market for more grain. Read more in our latest Newsletter for July 2014 here...

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Review of 2013

Earlier this year I visited most of the customers that purchased 5 tonne or more from us in 2012. These visits can be as short as 2 minutes or as long as an hour. I even did a Raspberry cream bun run to the West Coast on a Sunday.

We did sneak away in August and at long last we got to see Pink live. Awesome. The winds in September certainly stumped us and gave us our longest power cut since 1975.

 

Half way through November the soybean importers ran out of stock so we stopped making High Octane to make our soybean meal last until the next shipment arrived. We now have plenty of soybean meal and High Octane calf meal is available again.

The raw material prices have continued to go against us and while the calf meal price should have gone up every month I decided I just didn’t want to go there. So the prices remain the same for the third month in a row. It was a struggle to find peas all season and we have now seemingly exhausted all supplies and have had to look at alternatives. After lots of interesting research I choose lentils to replace peas rather than broad beans or faba beans.

Yet again we run out of bags and Daniel had to make a new stencil (Daniel made the Hi O stencil at age 11) and as the printed bags come from China they take a while to turn up. The temptation is to buy heaps for next year the flip side is if I do buy heaps I will possibly have $10-20k of bags still in the shed at the end of the season.

In October and November with our peak production up 30% from last year often our yard just didn’t seem big enough. What this photo doesn't show is that Interfreight is also towing a flat deck trailer and there is another truck and trailer waiting around the corner.

We always enjoy getting positive feedback from the customers and I always think I must get out and take more photos of customers in action. It has been a tricky season however the end result we are all after is happy healthy calves.

 

We thank you for your support during 2013 and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2014.

 

We are no longer open all day or every weekday, however we continue to make calf meal and one of us is generally not too far away, just ring or text before you visit. I look forward to getting on the road again in 2014 and catching up with as many of you as possible.

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Newsletter - Calf Meal Season 1st October 2013

View our October 2013 Newsletter here...

Only a brief newsletter this month due to the focus being on making sure we keep up with the orders. It has been another record breaking month for us and we have been able to keep up with the demand through having extra staff and working longer hours. Our peak production has climbed 30% from last year.

It is has been helpful that most farmers order their meal about 2-3 days ahead which gives us targets to work to and also makes it easier for the freight company to do a number of deliveries together in the
same area.

Don’t wean too soon

At this time of year some farmers will find the temptation to wean the calves off the meal too great to ignore. However often we find those who stop the meal too soon will buy more meal in the autumn as they suddenly realise their calves aren’ t at target weights. Make sure all of your calves are up to weight before weaning off meal and monitor their weights closely. With heifers in particular the financial penalty for not meeting target weights is considerable over the lifetime of the cow.

Returned Pallets

Thank you to those customers who have returned the empty pallets back especially if they have been returned in one piece. It has become like a tractor skill test on each farm as to how well they can unload the calf meal. Most tractor drivers are great however some either need more practice or training or better forks on the tractor. If you do have empty pallets please return them ASAP. For the customers who send them back via the freight company please contact me if the truck driver is reluctant to pick them up.

It’s happened again! We have run out of printed High Octane bags and
are still waiting on our next shipment from China to arrive. Until then e will be using plain bags with some blue stripes sprayed on.

Even some of our strongest pallets don’t survive!

And a special thank you to Peter and Helen Gilder who brought back 50 pallets all the way from Waitepeka (south of Balclutha).

Prices

Barley prices have moved up by $10 per tonne in the last month and soybean prices aren’t being very kind either, however we have decided to absorb these price increases for November and review it again for December. We have reduced the amount of peas in the meal as they are still hard to find and increased the wheat and soybean meal to compensate. And over the last couple of months we have been replacing some of the barley in the diet with wheat as wheat is now cheaper and more readily available then barley (plus its a higher quality grain).

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $734 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $694 + GST and Delivery

Aoraki Calf Meal can be delivered to your farm, or you can uplift it directly from our Feedmill in Waimate

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Newsletter - Calf Meal Season August 2013

Read our latest Newsletter September 2013 for this seasons prices...

A difficult September

This September has been memorable for all the wrong reasons. On September 10th we had our worst wind storm in nearly 40 years resulting in us losing power for four days (also our longest period for 40 years). And such a mess to clean up on the farm with hundreds of trees uprooted or snapped. We did have to ration out some of the meal to keep everyone going over that period and I thank you for your patience.
Also during the first half of September grain prices continued to rise and while they now seem to have plateaued they are still above what I had budgeted on. We currently have to pay $50 more per tonne than what we were this time last year. We also had to go and buy soybean meal on the open market some of which was over $200 more per tonne than our earlier contracts. As a result our prices are lifting again this month by $14 per tonne. Personally I am disappointed that its another price rise as I take pride in producing a top shelf product for a mid shelf price.

Learn more here Newsletter September 2013

 

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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View our August 2013 Newsletter here...

2013 August Newsletter

Price changes from September 1st

As stated in previous newsletters our prices are reviewed monthly and unfortunately we can no longer sustain our current prices. The reason for the price increase this month is that local grain prices have increased. It's hard to get a clear picture of what is really happening, autumn reports showed there was a good harvest and farmers still had 2012 grain in their silos which meant there was an excessive amount of grain available. However reports now indicate this has disappeared and a shortage is possible although one grain trader tells me activity has been lighter than last year and a local transport truck driver tells me they have carted very little.

September prices

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $720 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $680 + GST and Delivery

Soybean prices are also of concern and while a few months back the commentators were all saying it was going to be a record harvest and we would see prices continue to fall, the opposite has actually happened. The prices are set and traded on the futures market in USA which means it can change very quickly from a bear market to a bull market. I suspect most of the increase in price is profit for traders rather than farmers. The prices we pay in NZ are adjusted daily, based on movements in USA. We are currently still using soybean meal we contracted in April. The chart below shows the price in $USD and doesn't include shipping costs.

Freight Companies

At our feedmill we are currently taking on and training extra staff to cope with the extra workload that happens from mid-September on. It's not so easy for the freight companies to do the same. They simply don't have extra trucks available for the two months when it's really busy (busiest day last season saw 83 tonne go out the gate). Our local freight company does a fantastic job of keeping up with the demand. However it does put a lot of extra pressure on them so it's important that farmers are ready for their delivery, as when they get held up on one farm that makes them late for the rest of the day (disrupting other farmers). So please do what you can to help out in this area. Sometimes when the truck driver is busy they are also reluctant to bring back the empty pallets however we need them back ASAP otherwise we have to use less desirable pallets (harder to use with the tractor), so please have them ready and encourage the truck driver to take them. We do not charge for pallets but we do rely on you to send them back.

Future Farmers

Every year we make improvements at our feedmill, always fine tuning as well as increasing our production capacity. This year some of these improvements needed a small amount of concrete. So for the first time in a long time we decided to mix our own concrete. I borrowed a mixer and Daniel my youngest son, age 13, volunteered to do the mixing. Daniel enjoyed the experience and it made me think of the things we did as kids growing up on a farm that are no longer done. Like plunge dipping sheep, carting conventional bales of hay, feeding out that same hay with the Bedford truck. The list of jobs we did then that are no longer done today is long. And I am sure that work shaped us for our adult lives. So what jobs can our kids do today that will teach them good work ethics for later in life? I'm not sure but I'm glad I borrowed the concrete mixer.

When we were in Sweden last year we visited an agricultural training college (Telford on a much larger scale) they had their own dairy herd (photo shows part of the dairy shed), fully equipped cropping farm and a large commercial forest. Sadly though, the two most popular courses were domestic dog handling and equestrian for personal purposes.

The actual farming courses were short on numbers. There doesn't seem to be much interest in making farming a future career in Sweden.

Feedback

We had one customer comment on the fineness of the meal and I have been trying to make it a bit coarser this week. It's always a balancing act between too fine (can make it dusty) and too coarse (where you see grain particles in their dung). At times you will also see some brown nuggets in the meal this is from the molasses building up inside the mixer and auger and then breaking off. Think 'chocolate' for calves! Both the mixer and auger are cleaned down in the weekends (twice a week during peak weeks). We do welcome your feedback (both positive and negative) so please don't hesitate to contact me. Also if you have any photos you think I could use for a future newsletter please email them to me.

Cheers

Ken Buckingham

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Newsletter - Calf Meal Season 1st July 2013

View our July 2013 Newsletter here...
Calves now grow faster on 18% Protein calf meal compared to 22% Protein

In 1998 when we first started making calf meal it tested at 22% protein or higher and we marketed it as High Protein calf meal. During the next 7 years with experience we strengthened and improved the calf meal, switching the focus from high protein to rumen development and growth rates. We than renamed the calf meal as High Octane. However even though our inclusion rate of soya bean meal has increased and we now include wheat our protein levels dropped to 18%. Ironically our original High Protein meal is even cheaper to produce. However I have no doubt that calves are growing faster on 18% High Octane compared to the old High Protein meal. Ask me if you would like to know more.
4 on farm factors that influence meal uptake and rumen development

#Milk, once the calf is 7 -10 days old it's now common for Dairy farmers to be feeding only 4 litres of milk per calf and only once a day. This encourages the calf to eat calf meal resulting in grain fermentation stimulating the development of rumen papillae. If practical feed calves late in the day so they go to sleep after a warm drink of milk and are then hungry looking for alternative food in daylight hours. PHOTO LEFT Calf milk heater in Sweden. Calf milk will always end up at calf body temperature. It's better to achieve this with electricity rather than calf energy. Feeding cold milk to calves would be like us drinking cold coffee on a cold day.

#Meal, fresh is best. While the calf meal has a shelf life of 3 + months calf meal is a grain based product and like all grain based products the fresher the meal is the better it tastes. Once they are over 4 weeks of age it doesn't seem to matter so much. So if possible buy little and often at the start of the season. Presentation of meal is also critical. Only have enough in the pen to last 23 hours, so it stays fresh and it trains the animal to eat more if it's not there 24/7 (this is a method I have used with great success with calves and pigs). Also pay attention to the amount of trough space per animal, trough height and location.

#Fibre, avoid feeding Lucerne baleage or similar as while it will stretch the rumen it doesn't develop the papillae and is also low in DM. Independent research shows that barley straw or rough hay is what works best.

#Grass, calves eating grass before their rumen is developed means you have an animal filling their stomach with a product they can't digest, resulting in a slower growth. Our top calf rearers limit access to grass until the calves are eating a minimum of 1kg of meal per day. PHOTO LEFT Haymaking near the Swiss Alps. Three people were hand raking the hay..

 

Additional info

We use Bovatec as our coccidiostat and it is included at 50% above the standard rate for extra protection. We continue to include Xtract a natural product that improves digestive efficiency, promotes a healthy rumen microbial population (works similar to a prebiotic) and also Organic Selenium to improve growth, fertility, and boost the immune system. Molasses, sometimes we get the comment that our calf meal hasn't got any molasses in it. Actually we use the standard amount however our molasses is added in while mixing all the meal. Some feedmills use a different process coating their product with molasses after mixing and just as it's about to be bagged, hence the reason it goes solid in the bag.

Congratulations to the Moffat family who won the R2 section of the South Island Dairy Heifer Competition. Mike & Christine have been dairy farming in Morven for 26 years and today trade as Deltop Dairy together with their son Ryan and daughter-in-law Billie. They milk 500 cows on 140 hectares and their herd is Holstein Friesian (100 % Ancestry). The Moffat family have been using Aoraki Calf Meal for over 10 years.

PHOTO ABOVE LEFT Pouring concrete fort the effluent saucer the evening before milking is due to being at the Deltop Dairy, the saucer will hold 100,00 + Litres and the above ground storage will hold 600,000 litres.

PHOTO ABOVE RIGHT 15/7/13 the day before Mike & Christine Moffat commission the families new 54 bail rotary shed. Their first new shed in 26 years.

Price stays the same for August

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $720 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $680 + GST and Delivery

Soya bean prices are still of concern and we still advise budgeting on $720 for High Octane and $680 for Low Protein. Prices will be reviewed again at the end of August. For ordering or inquires you can normally get me on my cell phone (0800 632 548) though sometimes reception is not the best, you can also order meal 24/7 by texting and email.

Cheers

Yours sincerely

Ken Buckingham

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Newsletter - Calf Meal Season 1st June 2013

Dear Calf Rearers

It seems unbelievable that spring calving will start next month. I must admit the weeks of March, April and May went by faster than I would have liked and while I have visited 80% of 2012 customers, 100% would've been better. For customers that I deal directly with I have been giving out windstopper jerseys for those who brought 25 ton or more, oilskin vests for 10-24 tonne and beanies 5-9 ton as thank you gifts for your 2012 purchases.

There will be no major changes to the calf meals this year. Last year we visited a high tech factory in France that is dedicated to the production of flavouring palatants. Previously I hadn't been convinced on the worthiness of palatants, however the particular palatant we now use improves glucose uptake as well as sodium and water absorption. These health benefits alone certainly ensure that it pays for itself. The inclusion rate we use means there are 750 000 000 particles of this high intensity sweetener per tonne of calf meal. We got to view excellent research data that is yet to be publicly released and we are still keeping the trade name secret. I am certain we are ahead of the pack in our use and knowledge of this product.

Raw Material prices for our main 4 ingredients

Barley

Late last spring we were offered contracts for this coming season which would have seen us paying $400 per tonne. At the time I was only paying $365 ($355 in November) and couldn't see why prices should rise 10% so I elected not to sign. Prices this year have been $365 in March and $375 in May. Often the price peaks in July/August, however this will depend on grass conditions and prices of alternatives (mainly palm kernel). It was a relatively good harvest and I know there was barley left from the previous season so there shouldn't be any shortage. However what normally happens is once the grain is safely stored grain farmers will resist selling, waiting to see if the prices will rise. Personally I still believe there is more downside risk to the price than upside but we will play the waiting game.

Wheat & Peas

Early spring last year we signed up a third of our 2013 wheat requirements which will cost us $410-$420 spring delivery. However there a considerable amount of feed wheat carried over from 2012 harvest and prices are also expected to fall. With pea contract prices up $100 per tonne, no contracts were signed. I am hopeful we can buy peas cheaper than what the contract price was.

Soya Bean Meal

Last year our target price was $600 per tonne which we got about third at this price and then it rose to over $900. This year my target was $700 and again I have a third at this price and it has since risen to over $800. Market commentary switches from forecasting price rises to price drops quite often and while they had been predicting price's to fall they in fact have gone up.

How this affects the calf meal price

Again this year our price will be reviewed on a month by month basis. For budgeting purposes I am advising customers that our July price will be:

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $720 + GST and Delivery
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg $680 + GST and Delivery

However our current price is still $700 for High Octane and $660 for Low Protein and I will try to hold these prices as long as possible. Last year High Octane started at $680 then rose to $714 before dropping in November to $700. I believe in mid-season there is more chance of downward movement of prices than upward.

Housing your calves

What I have noticed during my farm visits is that when it comes to calf housing often there is two different concepts, 1 – Enough housing for all the calves and keep them all inside for 5 – 6 weeks and 2 – Enough housing for calves to stay inside only for a week or two and then reuse the pens. Personally I believe keeping them inside for 5 - 6 weeks is the optimum however it needs to be on an all in - all out basis (so the calves stay in the same pen the whole time and the calves in the neighbouring pen are of similar age) continuous flow should definitely be avoided (where the calves are moved from one pen to another). Using the same pens multiple times often results in a breakdown of calf health especially late in the season. And if you are reusing pens some suggest there are benefits in spelling the pen for 7 days between batches. Allow 1.5 – 2.0 sqm per calf, and the coarser the bedding the drier it will stay (straw has the opposite effect in that it keeps the moisture on the surface).We have reared calves outdoors with a warm draught free hut to sleep in and a small outdoor run. It did depend on the weather on how easy it was. Sunny days the calves would lie outside in the sun and fresh air, however we had to add extra bark with the tractor after heavy rain, though the calves still tended to stay healthy.

 

Adrian Evans with their pet steer Wrinkles who was raised on Aoraki Calf meal in 2002. Adrian farms in the Ida Valley and rears 400-700 calves per year. Adrian first used Aoraki Calf meal in 1999, since then there has only been one year when Adrian didn't use Aoraki Calf meal and that year calf rearing was disastrous for him. Adrian is adamant he won't make that mistake again.

Got any questions or if you want to know how many tonne of Aoraki Calf Meal you used last year or changed your address then please contact me: ken@aorakistockfoods.co.nz, 027 299 3484, or 0800 632 548.

Yours sincerely

Ken Buckingham

 

View our June 2013 Newsletter here...