NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

The New Zealand dairy sector’s growth in the past two decades represents one of the fastest land use changes ever experienced in the country’s history. Cow numbers surged from 3.5 million in 2000 to 4.9 million in 2019 as dairying established in less traditional areas, and intensified in areas it had always been. The sector has single-handedly been responsible for injecting increased investment, population, and economic growth into parts of the country including North Canterbury, Southland and Central North Island,who were previously struggling with falling populations and stagnant economic growth. Today, the sector is increasingly focused on getting “more from less” as cow numbers ease back from their peak in 2014, and farmers face the need to respond to climate change initiatives that may keep cow numbers off their past peak. Canterbury based Agritech firm Onfarm Solutions understands the shift occurring in the dairy sector as farmers not only focus on getting more from fewer cows, but also on improving the quality of milk their cows are producing. CEO Gary Arnott says that udder health invariably plays a major role in ensuring that high quality raw milk is being produced. The flow on from this high quality raw milk is premium value added dairy products for export. His Christchurch based company is setting the standard for healthy teat-care with its robust, reliable, and advanced teat spraying technology that is the recommended choice by mastitis experts. The technology’s accuracy and consistency in delivering teat-spray onto cows’ udders post milking has been honed over the past decade, and is now operating in over 1000 dairies around the world. Onfarm Solutions teat sprayers have taken a manual task often performed poorly and provided an automated, consistent means of ensuring excellent teat spray coverage to every udder in the herd. A survey carried out a few years ago indicated that manual teat-spraying was only done correctly about 12% of the time, and other automated equipment only delivered about 70% accuracy. This is despite evidence that teat spraying reduces mastitis infection rates by about 50%. Increasingly, milk company processors are prepared to pay farmer suppliers a premium for higher quality raw milk that has lower somatic cell counts, an indication of infection rates in a herd’s milk. Synlait, a dairy company based in Canterbury has pioneered this move through its ‘Lead with Pride’ Programme, while Fonterra has recently announced it will be paying farmers up to 10 cents per kg of milksolids premium for milk that falls into its “excellence” criteria for quality. As the dairy payout hits its highest point in a decade, the value of delivering premium grade milk is greater than ever, and the payback for investment in new technology to achieve this is particularly appealing. Cows affected by udder infections will typically also produce less milk. “So, investing in technology to improve udder health is a double win, not only will per cow production lift when somatic cell counts are lower, but the payment made on that higher milk quality also goes up by as much as 10cents a kilogram of milksolids,” says Gary. Since 2008, when the first Teatwand 400 was launched, many changes of the design and controls have been made. Continuous improvement is an Onfarm Solutions mantra. Talking to farmers and listening to their ideas has led to the Teatwand Exact. The principle of the device remains the same, it has become smarter, more accurate, more robust and more reliable. Around the world there are Teatwand Exacts spraying as many as 15,000 times per day. The Teatwand Stepover is the company’s latest product. Launched at the South Island Agricultural Field Days and soon to be rolled out across the world this system is designed for herringbone and parallel dairies. Accuracy, simplicity and reliability have been the focus of this new design. Onfarm Solutions has been working closely with some of New Zealand’s leading veterinary mastitis consultant, including Dr. Steve Cranefield. Steve’s wealth of experience reinforces the importance of bacteria control as one of the mastitis management practices used by the modern farmer. Teatwand systems fit the way automation can be used not only to help deal with mastitis but also to make better use of the people that work on our dairy farms. While dairying methods may differ around the world, the problems facing New Zealand farmers when it comes to labour are mirrored everywhere, and for this reason, the Teatwand has found a place in dairies of United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada,South America, South Africa, Thailand, Israel, Ireland and the EU. As the dairy sector continues to automate and smaller farms consolidate, Gary Arnott sees plenty of potential remaining in the New Zealand market, while overseas opportunities for both the Teatwand Exact and the Teatwand Stepover are abundant, not to mention the potential to tap into China’s rapidly expanding domestic dairy sector. “There is an ongoing demand for farmers to produce consistently high-quality raw milk, and we are proud to have the technology that can help them achieve that,” he says. Canterbury firm ensures milk meets quality mark