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