1999 October

Federal Government Decision on Deregulation Package - The Implications

On 28th September, Federal Cabinet endorsed the proposal put by the ADIC to assist farmers via a financial entitlement in the transition to a deregulated industry. It is now up to the state governments to agree to implement deregulation nation wide. This seems most likely to eventuate, resulting in the federal government legislating an 11c per litre levy on all liquid milk sales to fund the entitlement.

Dairy farmers will be entitled to a payment of 46.23c for every litre of city milk produced in the 1998/99 season and 8.96c per litre for manufacture milk. For a typical Western Victorian cow producing 5,000 litres, this will amount to approximately $600 per cow or $120,000 for a 200 cow farm.

The payment will be assessable income paid quarterly over eight years. It is planned that an option to take a lump sum payment on 1st July 2000 will be available through private financial institutions. Such an annuity payment would represent a figure typical of a principle/interest loan paid bover eight years. For $120,000 this would be approximately $90,000 up front at today's interest rates.

Farmers will look upon this entitlement in a number of ways. For some, deregulation is an unwelcome event. They would prefer to have a continuation of a regulated industry where the domestic price for liquid and manufactured products is controlled. Others will see the entitlement as compensation for lost income which is assumed once a deregulated market is in place. There will also be a group of farmers who see this as a major windfall. These farmers are prepared for supply to a deregulated market and are accepting of the inevitability of deregulation in the global agricultural commodities market where seventy percent of Victorian dairy production is destined.

Whatever the underlying attitude to deregulation may be, all Victorian dairy farmers have now been offered significant financial assistance. The choice to take it as a lump sum versus 32 payments over eight years will depend on their financial situation. For some who may need cash to continue trading with creditors it may be necessary to take up some or all of that option. It will be pertinent to discuss individual situations with financial advisers.
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Pastures - Repairs and Maintenance

It seems unusual to look upon pastures as being in need of regular maintenance and repair work. In fact, on farms where pastures are producing effectively over many years, there are some procedures which are routinely carried out.

It would be easy to allow relatively insignificant pasture damage to go untreated, however, the only reason paddocks eventually need to be replaced is that these procedures are not done.

Here is a list of a few common causes of pasture deterioration and action that can be taken to prevent or repair the damage.

Pugging damage: due to heavy use, especially around gates and troughs, around hay feeders or at camp spots. Oversow these areas by broadcasting or drilling in autumn or spring.
Broadleaf infestation: loss of ryegrass and clover mass. Spray early in winter. Repeat in early spring if secondary strikes occur. This is probably one of the most significant causes of permanent pasture deterioration. After a wet winter or dry summer when pasture cover is low, broadleafs will have an opportunity to establish in bare areas. They quickly take over large areas and choke out preferred species. Timing is critical for success.
Pest damage: lucerne flea and red legged earth mite can quickly reduce clover content of pasture. Plants may not die but their contribution to the pasture sword will be markedly reduced. Regular checks for these pests will avoid losses if sprayed early enough. Cockchafers are the cause of significant bare areas especially on lighter soils. Often the damage is done by the time they are discovered. After spraying these bare areas should be oversown.
Wet soils pugging damage: on soil types which are only intermittently waterlogged, rolling or harrowing may return these to a reasonable state. Extra seed may be needed in autumn to replace lost pastures. Where soil types and topography cause regular pugging, surface or subsurface drainage will ultimately be needed.
<LI>Clumpy paddocks: this can happen on any farm regardless of stocking rate or grazing pressure. More grazing pressure or using the mower to remove clumps pre or post grazing will result in fresh new rye grass tillers, a denser sword and higher quality feed.
Low fertility: soil test and fertiliser application will correct fertility or other mineral imbalances. It is difficult to maintain preferred species in low fertility soils.
Dry summers: loss of pastures on lighter soils is common after long dry summers. On this lighter country, paddocks will need to be regularly oversown to replace these losses. This will also give the opportunity to introduce newer cultivars. Broadcast or drill techniques are successful in these soils.

When all else fails, the tractor can be called in to implement a full renovation program. On some farms that have had poor pasture maintenance practice over many years, this will be a necessary evil. It provides the opportunity to also produce summer crops which will in most situations be a profitable exercise.

Once all pastures are in good shape, there is no reason why complete pasture renovation would be required.

Polioencephalomalacia (PEM, Polio)

What is Polio?

Polio occurs occasionally in young cattle and sheep. Affected animals may present with one or more of the following signs:

Depressed, dull, lethargic
Standing alone in the paddock and frothing at the mouth
Down, thrashing their legs
Some may even appear blind or press their head against objects.

Polio is a disease which affects the brain, which leads to the nervous system signs we see; blindness, head-pressing etc. The brain damage (lesions) observed is associated with thiamine deficiency or a disturbance in thiamine metabolism. This may be from a toxin that has been eaten, or from the bacteria in the gut which produce thiaminase (an enzyme which breaks down thiamine).

What can cause Polio?

Calves in good condition that are exposed to an abrupt change in diets, leading to an increase in thiaminase production and secondary deficiency of thiamine.
Concentrate fed animals not consuming enough roughage.
Feeding of milk supplement which lacks adequate thiamine.

How can we treat the problem?

If the disease is identified early, there is usually a rapid response following treatment with thiamine (Vitamin B1).

It is important not to assume that this disease only affects one calf in the mob. Surveillance of the affected mob for the next 24-48 hours is necessary as others may show similar signs.

Prevention of Polio.

There are a few things we can do to prevent polio being a major problem.

Prevent rapid changes in diet.
Ensure adequate (>50%) roughage in diet.

Under some special circumstances you may need to consider the addition of thiamine to your supplementary feed (grain or pellets).

Blackleg

There are five clostridial diseases which can affect livestock:

blackleg, pulpy kidney, tetanus, black disease and malignant oedema.

The most common of these in this farming district is blackleg and given this season's unusual climatic conditions, all young unvaccinated cattle are particularly susceptible over the coming months. Correct vaccination in terms of timing, dosage, injection technique and vaccine storage are all important in minimising the chance of losing animals to these largely preventable diseases.

The blackleg bacteria survive in soil as spores and prefer warm environmental conditions. The spores are ingested as the stock graze, and pass via the blood stream to various body tissues, such as muscle.

The spores lie dormant in such tissues until local trauma causes the bacteria to proliferate and produce a toxin responsible for clinical disease.

We usually see blackleg in stock aged from 3 months to 2 years of age but sometimes as early as 3 weeks, with the largest and apparently healthiest animals being affected first. Most are found dead after a short period (12-36 hours) of depression, upper hind limb swelling and severe lameness. It is not uncommon for 10-20% of a group to be affected, although in outbreaks this may approach 50% - imposing a significant financial loss.

Treatment of blackleg is based on high doses of penicillin, but unfortunately unless treatment begins within the first few hours the response is generally poor. In face of an outbreak of blackleg, treatment may also involve immediate vaccination and/or treatment of normal animals with penicillin as a preventative measure.

The other four clostridial diseases are seldom seen in this district but all have been reported on the rare occasion.

Blackleg vaccination is included in both 5 in 1 and 7 in 1 (with lepto) products and is a cheap and very effective means of preventing this and the other clostridial diseases. Ideally three shots should be given. The first at weaning, the second 4-6 weeks later and the third twelve months later. Adequate protection is not gained in calves until two weeks after the second injection.

It is important the vaccine is kept refrigerated, and that you inject the correct volume (2 or 2.5ml depending on the particular vaccine) using a well calibrated vaccine gun. All vaccines should be injected under the skin on the side of the neck.

As milk prices fall it is very tempting to minimise costs by not vaccinating your stock, however the cost of the vaccine is minimal compared with other farm expenses, not to mention the time and effort you have already put into rearing your calves.

When should the cups come off?

For a number of years there has been a perception that a moderate amount of overmilking causes few if any problems, and that overmilking is better than leaving milk behind in the udder (undermilking).

Overmilking and undermilking are equally bad and can contribute greatly to a mastitis problem.

Ideally the cups are removed from the teats as soon as the milk flow stops. If the milking machines are operating perfectly and the vacuum at the teat end is not too high, the teats will receive very little damage if the cups are left on for up to 2 minutes after milk flow has ceased. The longer the cups are left on, or the higher the vacuum the greater the damage will be. This has some serious implications for the common milking systems.

Highline herring bone systems need to operate at a higher operating vacuum (usually 46 to 50 kPa) in order to lift the milk from the cow to the milkline. Also, with many herring bone sheds the milkers are hard pressed to keep up with putting cups on the cows, loading the next platform, removing cups and teat spraying. The result is that cows have the cups on longer and at a higher vacuum than desired.

Rotary Dairies: Many cows finish milking part way through a platform rotation. If the cups off person stands right at the bridge this could mean the cups are hanging on the cow for over 5 minutes.

What can be done to minimise the effects of overmilking?

Ensure the milking machines are operating correctly and the vacuum is correctly set for your setup.

Remove the milking cluster as soon after milk flow ceases as possible.

In rotary dairies this requires the cups off person to "sweep" around the back of the platform.
In herring bone dairies the cups are removed when the milk flow finishes and if the next platform is not ready, the cups hung up.

It would be ideal to always have sufficient staff present during milking, or to have automatic cup removers installed. From field observations, one operator can reasonably handle 15 to 20 milking units from calving to peak production. Even in rotary dairies there is a need for one operator per 20 milking units during this period. In the strive for greater efficiencies many dairy workers are handling more units. In these conditions extra care will be required to prevent problems associated with overmilking.

The addition of automatic cup removers reduces the labour requirement in the shed. For a herring bone shed it would mean that one operator could operate 25 to 30 units comfortably.

There are numerous farmers that have achieved significant reductions in the level of clinical mastitis, BMCC and milking time by taking the cups off at the cessation of milk flow, either by the more rapid removal of the clusters or installation of cup removers.

Average Milking Times

Assuming good milk let-down and corectly adjusted milking equipment

95% of cows giving
10 litres / milking, should milk in 5 minutes ( /- 1 minute)
15 litres / milking, should milk in 6 minutes ( /- 1 minute)
20 litres / milking, should milk in 7 minutes ( /- 1 minute)

Under milking

Hand stripping of at least 10 cows after milking should give less than an average of 250 ml/cow. If more than 500 ml/cow is collected, there is a significant problem with under milking.

If your average cups on time varies greatly from these recommendations, adjustments to either the milking machines or milking technique are required.