NZ Dairy Summer 2020

42 | nz dairy CL724A Your insurance sorted 0800 276 624 | crombielockwood.co.nz Working for you, working for your farm We back NZ farms with the right insurance to protect what matters CL724A CLMB Cleavedale newsprint ad 257mm(w) x 100mm(h) V3.indd 1 18/11/20 3:52 PM ON FARM » Cleavedale Farm: Vosper Family Certification standards for organics Virginia Wright T he Vospers have been farming the land in Hinuera Road Matamata for over 100 years and across several generations. John Vosper is the fourth generation to milk Jersey cows on their 80 hectare milking platform, and he’s been involved in the switch to farming organically from the start. “In around 2003 we went along to one of Fonterra’s field days when they’d just started their organics programme,” John explains. “We thought it seemed like a good fit for us so we made the deci- sion to change.” The first few years weren’t easy as they dealt with a couple of severe droughts at the same time as trying to meet overseas standards that didn’t work well with their farming system at the time. “There were a couple of years for example when we couldn’t use treatments for milk fever like cal- cium borogluconate and there weren’t any organic alternatives so it was hard, but there’s more options available now,” says John. “Also, now we farm to make sure we’ve got a really good buffer feed-wise so we can manage a drought if it happens.” Whereas in the early days it was seen by some as more of a passing fad than a viable farming alternative, these days it’s gaining increasing recog- nition. “Now that it’s adding to the Fonterra payout, and you’ve got people like Pamu converting farms to organics, and there are big organic operations in Southland, it’s gaining more traction.” That recognition means that it’s easier to find inputs that meet organic standards such as organic fertilisers, or a variety of animal health treatments such as apple cider vinegar, instead of the limited options that used to be available. One of the guiding principles of organic farming is the pro-active approach to animal health. The Vospers farm their Jersey Girl Organics in such a way as to be certified by BioGro, says John. “We aim to keep the immune system up and running so that we can rely in the first instance on a cow not getting a disease because prevention’s the easiest option, and then healthy cows can get over an infection without having to use something like antibiotics. In our organic system if we have to use antibiotics the cow has to leave the system so we sell it to somebody else.” This is different to the EU standards whereby an animal can be treated with antibiotics three times in its lifetime and go back into the system after an extended withholding period. Although currently in New Zealand anything can be labelled as organic there is legislation going through to introduce standards of certification; something John Vosper feels is well overdue. “People need to know what they’re getting so I’m hoping they’ll learn to check if the product is certi- fied as organic or not, and that they’ll learn to look for that certification.” In 2014 the Vospers began bottling their own milk and their distinctive Jersey Girl Organic Milk in glass bottles can now be found all over the north island. They also sell it direct to the consumer at five dif- ferent farmers markets and John’s experience talk- ing to people there reinforces why John’s pleased that government regulation is underway. “People tell me they’re already buying organic but when we chat it turns out that what they under- stand is that the cows are farmed following organic principles. Probably every dairy farmer in New Zealand follows organic principles but that doesn’t necessarily stop them using synthetic fertilisers and pesticides for example, so even though there’s more awareness that organics are a good thing I don’t think they understand what it brings to the eco-system and the food chain. “The fact that it’s got no sprays, that it’s got no antibiotics, and if you think about bugs becom- ing resistant to antibiotics then not using them in large scale farming practices may help to slow that down.” The bottom line for John and the Vosper family is that there’s still room for education around organics and what it means, and for the last six years they’ve been doing their bit at five markets every week chatting to people interested to know more about it. John and Michael Vosper with the Jersey herd on their Matamata farm.