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

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

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

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

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

ome 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

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

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

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

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