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