August 2013
VIEWPOINT
with John Barnes, Managing Director – August 2013
Media Matters
During the past month the media has focused on the rural sector and as you can imagine, if we are getting attention, it will not all be good news.
I remember growing up in rural New Zealand in the 1950’s and 60’s when every stream and river was clean and you never carried water with you unless it was on mountain tops. Everywhere was clean and green and looking back, this was remarkable.
But now it is time to talk about the 100% Pure New Zealand brand and what it actually means to us all. I am sure that when the advertising people came up with that excellent brand, they thought that we were absolutely clean, green and pristine, (or maybe not, coming from the cynical advertising industry)!!! However, we all bought into it and the Government has certainly dined out on it over the years as much as they could.
In the last couple of weeks we have found out what the brand actually means and the obligation we are all under to uphold it. I can almost guarantee that the advertising person gave not the slightest heed to the obligation side of the equation but as a country, each one of us now knows that we must.
Recent events have shown that our overseas markets take this brand seriously and will punish us when we do not live up to it. This is the part that Fonterra stumbled on, and so has the Government I might add. The people who purchase our food products believe that 100% Pure is 100%, not 90% or even 99%. That is a heavy burden and up until now we have given this commitment scant regard. Our products should arrive at the customers door in PERFECT CONDITION ALWAYS!!! The car companies can do it… nearly, and we do not ingest them. So food should be beyond nearly, and be 100%.
At Fertilizer New Zealand we know this and are concerned about it because we know for a fact that many New Zealand farmers are using too many chemicals and wasting fertiliser to leaching and run off. We are dedicated to changing the way things are done and our customers can rest assured that we are always working to minimise waste and thus leaching which damages our waterways. If our waterways and environment are not pristine then our products cannot be either.
Product from New Zealand must be of the finest quality and for that we can expect a higher dividend in return. That is also how we operate at Fertilizer New Zealand and this philosophy has proven over time to pay dividends for our customers and our country.
Quality always sells but for a moment our biggest company forgot that and let itself down. For the sake of our country, let us help them rebuild our 100% Pure New Zealand brand and our reputation.
Just as importantly, our Government should not explain away this transgression but work to make that 100% Pure slogan real.
SOMETHING ABOUT PHOSPHATES
Phosphate has been, and in many cases, still is an essential element for New Zealand soils. This, along with sulphur, makes up Superphosphate or Super as we know it.
Super per tonne is made up of 90kg phosphate and 90kg sulphur. The phosphate is from hard phosphate rock which is broken down using sulphuric acid. By using acid on the phosphate rock, it makes it 100% available and 100% water soluble.
This is, of course, very desirable if you need to use all of the phosphate immediately. But this is not always the case. Often Super is used as a “Capital” dressing which mostly means far too much is applied all at once so that it will lift the phosphate test up to the fertiliser company’s “desirable” level. The test used is called the Olsen P, which measures available P, which of course is what Super is. Because it is made with an acid base it will also tend to drop the pH.
In contrast, there are other phosphates which are not acid based but are calcium based. These phosphates have a pH of 7, rather than Super which has a pH of 2. These phosphates also have a higher phosphate content and release a sustained amount of phosphate over a longer period of time.
So here is how it works. Calcium-based phosphate has between 30-50% available product. The rest will release over 1-2 years. Some of the poorer quality products will release slower and for a longer period of time.
If you are a hill country farmer you will not want or need all your phosphate releasing immediately, and certainly not if your farm is subject to a rain event which will either leach the phosphate out of the root zone, or worse still, wash it off the hill as I have seen in some areas.
Fertilizer New Zealand has a product called Phosphate 365 which can be applied at any time and releases in a sustainable manner, highly suitable for farmers who cannot afford to apply bulk lime by air. This product will give a good immediate release of phosphate with some follow up phosphate for the months to come, plus supply some lime and will also give good animal health.
Alongside this has been criticism from other companies and spreaders that it has been too fine and will not spread through very well. Here again, Fertilizer New Zealand has come up with the answer – keep it fine but put it into a pellet. Now aviators can apply this product which will flow better and spread better, which has an immediately available phosphate of over 45% and is really good for animal health.
If you are an intensive grassland farmer, especially if you have a high rainfall or irrigation, then this should be your product of choice. It really does tick all the boxes. No need for constant applications of phosphate. Once a year will do – it doesn’t leach. It will not lock up with iron and aluminium as much as other products. It will grow a better root system and encourage soil health, and in the long run will not cost any more and in fact often saves farmers money. But it will not show up on an Olsen P test, so other testing is necessary.
Happy Cows are Healthy Cows
For a dairy farmer, the next few months are very important for two reasons;
It is the beginning of the new season with all the promises of a good payout and the feeling that the spring will be good, albeit that we will get a bit more bad weather before summer.
Within the next 2 to 3 months the dairy cows will be cycling again and will be getting in calf, ready for next spring.
With all this happening it is really important about what we feed them and the nutrients we provide. Three nutrients need to be considered for cows to get back into calf. They are cobalt, selenium and iodine. Cobalt is required for production of B12 and B1 energy metabolism in the rumen and in the cow. Cobalt is required for fibre digestion and for the immune system. It is one of the most common deficiencies in stock and can often mimic malnutrition. We cannot over-emphasise the importance of this element. Cows require 8-10mg cobalt per day (mg = milligrams).
Selenium is required for disease resistance (eg. mastitis), placental shedding (post-calving cleaning), milk production, reproduction, calf viability and immunity. Selenium is needed for the production of antibodies. The dietary requirement for cattle is 0.05-0.1mg per cow per day.
Iodine is required for intake, energy metabolism and milk production. Here again, iodine is required for reproduction, which is critical for the next few months. It is also required for protein synthesis. The daily requirement for a dairy cow is 3mls of 2%.
Deficiencies can be either primary or secondary:
Primary deficiencies arise because of insufficient levels of the actual trace element in the diet.
Secondary deficiencies arise when the pasture contains something else that reduces the uptake of the trace element. The artificial lifting of any element can have a detrimental effect on other elements which will lead to a deficiency in other elements.
To overcome these problems – which cost farmers thousands of dollars, Fertilizer New Zealand has a programme to correct these deficiencies. Firstly, apply Actavize to your pasture. This will balance up the nutrients in the pasture rapidly. By doing this the farmer will correct most animal health problems quickly, often within a week. Actavize will also help develop a better root system and in time, start to correct soil health.
Vitalife will also apply correct microbes to provide a healthy soil. Trace elements and quality PKS products will be applied at a time that suits both the crop and the client. For further information and a programme to suit you call us today on 0800 337 869
ACTAVIZE IT
Actavize in its original form was developed over 60 years ago by a scientist who was looking for a product that would develop soil and animal health. John Barnes started selling similar liquids 20 years ago. Around three years ago he had the opportunity of buying the company that produced this product and did so because he believed it to be the best.
Trials have shown that when ACTAVIZE is used, plants develop a stronger root system, greater balance of trace elements in the leaf, higher brix (sugar) levels in fruit, greater animal health and in the case of one trial conducted in 2000 we took lambs to 40kgs two weeks earlier than the controlled mob. In the case of dairy cows we have corrected animal health issues quickly by applying 20 litres of ACTAVIZE per hectare, direct to the dairy pasture which is an economical way of correcting animal health problems.
Fertilizer New Zealand has over 70 years combined liquid fertiliser experience.
