Bill Webb Feed Solutions Outlook

Landcorp’s decision to stop using Palm Kernel Expeller may signal a return to a more pasture-based farming – the way it used to be in this country.

Landcorp is not only New Zealand’s biggest farming entity, but it is also a recognised leader in farming practices and it will be interesting to see if this sets a trend away from what I called the ‘KFC fast food for cows’ that is PKE.

In the eight to 10 years that PKE has been imported whole industries have been built around its shipment, storage, transport and feeding to livestock.

What has also happened in that time is the quality of homegrown grass and maize silage, and the technology to harvest wrap and feed out, has markedly improved.

There was a time when grass silage was made from surplus usually poor quality grass, which farmers cut and made into wrapped bale silage. And if they had a surplus it was quite often sold to make a quick buck, but the quality left a lot to be desired.

We have never done that. We grow and manage our silage crops specifically for making high quality silage, which is tested and consistently achieves Metabolisable Energy levels of about 11.9.

We apply fertiliser, sow specific grass species, spray weeds and then harvest at the peak feed quality stage when it is green and leafy in spring, and well before it turns to seed.

Rural communities (side head)

I’d be pleased to see a reduction in the importation of PKE, not just for our own business but also for the hundreds of rural contractors and growers throughout the country who rely on making silage themselves or for farmers. Buying NZ-grown quality supplements benefit entire rural communities, not just a few PKE importers.

Then there’s the ever-present biosecurity risk around PKE, which comes from tropical countries with pests and diseases, including foot and mouth, which we certainly don’t want in New Zealand.

It’s not just Landcorp which is moving away from PKE. I’ve been contacted by some other big farming operators who are also discontinuing its use.

The moves may be triggered partly by Fonterra’s recommendation in September 2015 that farmers feed a maximum of three kilograms of PKE per cow per day to reduce the risk of milk taint and then there is the question mark around sustainability.

It could also be around biosecurity concerns, but whatever the reason if more and more farmers follow Landcorp’s lead then they are going to have to rethink farming practices, going back to more tried and true methods including growing more of their own supplements like lucerne for drought tolerance and a high energy feed with a good source of protein or maize for high energy silage with a good source of starch.

Less maize grown

New Zealand-grown supplements can’t equal the 22 cents to 28 cents price of PKE unless grown on a farm. But if farmers buy good quality feed with tests results showing it has high ME values, they can afford to pay more. To find out what you can afford to pay, go to the DairyNZ website to check out the supplement price calculator:

See: www.dairynz.co.nz/feed/feed-management-tools/supplement-price-calculator/

If you enter in the higher ME values of about 11.9, which our silage achieves, you’ll see you can afford to pay more per bale of quality feed to achieve better results be it putting on cow condition or milk in the vat.

Like other contractors and growers, we are planning our planting programmes for the coming season and I believe not as much maize will be grown nationally this year because contractors and growers have been let down by clients cancelling orders during the last few years.

Growing supplements is a high-cost, high-risk business. We have to pay the owners of the land we lease, and they want more money, plus cover all the growing, management and harvesting costs, so will only be growing to order again this season.

The continuing wet weather is creating lots of issues. Looks like I’ll be flying on urea as some of the paddocks are too wet to drive over, but we have to give the soil a boost to get the growth ready for the grass silage crops.

It’s been so wet some farmers in Reporoa are saying they are having problems with mud – almost unheard of on their pumice soils.

Now is the time for farmers to prepare their feed budgets for the season ahead, and order in the supplementary feeds they need and plan their cropping requirements for the coming season as with it being so wet for so long who knows what the weather gods have in store for us this summer?

As I always say – proper planning prevents pitiful performance – and no one can afford pitiful performance in these tight times.

These are the personal opinions of Bill Webb.