Agricultural Student Exchanges....Opportunity of a Life Time!

 International Agricultural Student Exchanges offer an opportunity of a life time experience, few will ever forget. Exchange to another country, another University with a mix of exchangees from many different nations provides endless excitement, friendships & cultural appreciation at an age when you can "suck it all in" big time. I'd like to encourage many more agricultural students to apply for exchanges. 

Potential employers look very favourably on any graduate who has taken these opportunities & made the most of them.

Annette Crawshaw, a Massey University (NZ) Agricultural Graduate is my guest blogger, she has just returned back to New Zealand from an exciting exchange to New Mexico State University, USA. This is her story.

In 4 months I learnt more than I could learn in a textbook, from the internet, your friends or lecturer. I went abroad and studied at New Mexico State University (NMSU), New Mexico in the United States of America for part of my tertiary study for this year!

NMSU is a land-grant University, the largest in the world, owning 85,287 acres. 20,000 students attend the University although roughly 14,000 study at the main campus. The University has a faculty to student ratio of 1:19. Within the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences there are a wide range of disciplines and facilities available which are offered through an extensive program selection. Furthermore there are extra-curricular organisations, alliances and groups in which you can find something to suit nearly any interest.

While at NMSU I lived in an apartment on the main campus in Las Cruces. Las Cruces is a part of the dessert and is very dry, and rain is very scarce, an average rainfall of 240mm. Las Cruces is in the Southern part of New Mexico, 30minutes North of Mexico and alongside the Texas border so there is a very strong Southern influence to the way of life.

Studying abroad, I had not considered until the later stages of my degree while studying at Massey University. Although Massey does not have a direct relationship with NMSU both University are partners with the International Student Exchange Programme which allows you to be placed with a partner University.

Going on exchange has given me a greater global perspective, especially in relation to my area of study, agribusiness, as the United States have such a global influence on a worldwide scale. Studying in the States and understanding issues from a different perspective has been hugely beneficial and is something I believe will assist me as I progress through my career.

Studying abroad has been extremely beneficial not only academically but on a personal level as well. You discover a lot about yourself and grow immensely as a person through the challenges and opportunities you experience. At times the hardest thing is often deciding when to say no and prioritising what you want to do because of the endless opportunities that arise.

Studying abroad has been a definite highlight of my University study and is an opportunity that I would encourage more students to uptake. The benefits of going on a student exchange are advantageous at so many levels both academic and a personal level. Many of the people you met and encounter while you are on exchange will become lifelong friends. The experience is invaluable and as a whole presents endless opportunities which arise through the networks and contacts that you make.

I totally endorse the experience to be life-changing.

Young Farmers a Cool Group to belong to, especially if you are at Massey University

This week has been a huge week for Young Farmers & Young Farmer Clubs in New Zealand. The National Bank Young Farmer Contest has been completed & Michael Lilley from Tasman has won this prestigious competition & been crowned Young Farmer of 2012. Michael is a Veterinarian working at Murchison on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. He is a recent graduate from the Massey University Vet School. My congratulations to Michael & his wife Kelly….it was excellent TV & a really positive story for NZ agriculture.

http://www.youngfarmercontest.co.nz/index.asp?PageID=2145867758

NZ Young Farmers is a vibrant progressive organisation that’s” on the move” & “cool” to be a member of or be associated with.
http://www.youngfarmers.co.nz/  

The Young Farmers has modernised & is attracting motivated & enthusiastic young people from both rural areas & towns to come together. It’s highly social but there’s a strong learning component & what’s most exciting is that it is successfully attracting bright young people into agriculture.  http://sarainterrupted.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/national-bank-young-farmer-grand-final.html 

I’m proud to say that the Massey University Young Farmers Club has the biggest membership in the country & is a very active group on campus.

• Club Meetings

- Biggest membership in the country – over 130 signed up members

- Well structured, often have guest speakers, National Chairman, Fafe sage, Local consultants

• Professional Development

- Generate leadership Programme – 2 courses this year (see photo)

- First Aid Course, Heavy traffic licence, farm safe course.

• Community Fundraising

- Get involved in the Community - Industry research discussion groups – farm succession

- Silage stack covering

- Tidying up rubbish at Esplanade Day.

- Setting up stables at dressage nationals at Manfield Park

• Regional Competitions (National Bank Young Farmers Contest)

- 3 members in Regional final – Taranaki/Manawatu – James Lawn, Calvin Ball, Cam Shaw (see photo)

- Annette Crawshaw winner of the Regional Stock judging competition

- Over 20 members entered the Young Farmer of the Year District Finals.

• Events
- Recently held the inaugural Duck Shooters Ball/Wild Foods Festival – over 50 wild food dishes ranging from goat kebabs to venison and paua pies.

- Coming up the legendary Bus ride to Hell

Are you young? Are you bright & enthusiastic about farming & food? Are you looking for a “cool group” to be in? If so contact your local Young Farmers!

If You Don’t Measure You Can’t Control...Basic Pasture Management!

What’s going on? Have New Zealand dairy farmers taken their eye off the ball…..or even worse “lost the plot”? What has happened to their famous pasture grazing skills?

 Throughout the low cost pasture dairying world NZ farmers have a reputation of being expert grazing managers & very efficient users of low cost pasture. Is this still true? From my observations I’d say it’s no longer the case that NZ farmers are the best in the world.

In fact I’m appalled at what I’m seeing on most dairy farms. Most NZ dairy farm pastures I’ve seen are a total mess with little evidence of good pasture husbandry practices or care.

There is blatant evidence that few NZ dairy farmers do regular weekly measurements.

Therefore it follows that few are using the pasture management tools. The “Pasture Wedge Graph Concept” was developed back at Matamata in 1976 with NZ Dairy Board Discussion Groups & the clever mathematics worked out at Lincoln University Dairy Farm decades later. Drs C. P. McMeekan (From Grass to Milk), John Hutton, Arnold Bryant & Des Clayton from Ruakura would be equally shocked to see the state of today’s pasture management skills, as would Dr Ray Brougham (ex Director of Grasslands) & Dr Colin Holmes (ex Massey University). These gentlemen were the “Research Pioneers” who built NZ’s reputation as global best practice in dairying pasture management. People like Mac McKenzie & Don Johnson demanded of the Consulting Officer team that the extension focus of every Discussion Group was efficient pasture utilization, low costs & farm profit.

I think “Global Best Practice Dairy farm Pasture Management” now belongs to the low input pasture based dairy farmers in the UK & Ireland. The world’s best pastures are to be found either in the UK or France NOT New Zealand. In more difficult climates the dairy farmers in Victoria Australia are outstanding.
So why are the Discussion Group farmers in the UK & Ireland now world leaders in pasture management? Firstly the vast majority measure pasture every week & the data is recorded in Pasture Wedge Graph programs, many of which now are “internet cloud” based, so groups can share the information & gain extra efficiencies. Group members wouldn’t dare attend group days without pasture measurement data including growth rates, daily demand & of course their pasture wedge graphs. Farmers take enormous pride in their pastures & the care of those ryegrass/white clover pastures. Many organic dairy farmers lead the way in understanding why soils & soil organic matter in particular is so important to good pasture management. Many farms are under environmental restrictions (read enforced lower stocking rates) yet still produce outstanding pasture. Most would fully understand Danny Donaghy’s “Three Leaf System” of Ryegrass grazing & how this changes throughout the year. Many would monitor soil temperatures during the year to better understand leaf appearance rates & how it is changing. Danny has recently arrived at Massey University & is now Professor of Dairy Science.

The work of the NZ Dairy Consultants working in Ireland & the UK has been critical to those farmers now being global leaders in grazing & pasture management. People like Alastair & Sharon Rayne, Leonie Guiney (nee Foster), Lynaire Ryan, John Simmonds, Mark Blackwell, Carol Doak (nee Gibson), Paul Bird & more recently Adrian van Bysterveldt have had a massive impact.
Crucial to their success has been a strong network of Discussion Groups & vigorous "Championing of low input farming" leadership & focus on grazing management. http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/moorepark/Publications/pdfs/Open%20Day%20Moorepark%202009%20Grazing%20Manual.pdf 
 In Ireland there has been a real effort by researchers, extension staff & consultants to get as many farmers measuring & monitoring pastures weekly. This is supported now by internet cloud providers like “AgriNet” http://www.agrinet.ie/  which has excellent pasture wedge graph capability. Strong consultancy groups like the Grazing Musketeers are pushing on with Discussion Groups & honing the pasture management skills in both Ireland & the UK. http://www.grasstec.ie/sub.php?page=10&panel=3  

What I don’t understand is what has happened in NZ. The past research at No. 2 Dairy Ruakura & the Lincoln University Dairy Farm http://www.siddc.org.nz/index.htm  & past Consulting Officer efforts http://www.dairynz.co.nz/file/fileid/26914  have focussed on good pasture management & high utilization. I’m told that now fewer than 20% of dairy farmers regularly measure & monitor (pasture wedge graph) pastures. Why? Why don’t NZ farmers passionately care for their pastures? Where’s the pride in having spectacular pastures gone?

Let’s be clear about my criticism…..”If you don’t measure you can’t control” eyeballing pastures simply isn’t good enough. You need to know growth rates & daily demand. You need to know what’s going to happen next week & 2 weeks out. You need to know the current ryegrass leaf emergence rate by looking into pasture regularly to check the tillers. You should in my view be monitoring soil temperature regularly on your farm.
 Pasture measuring be it with a Plate Meter or CDax http://www.c-dax.co.nz/  should be done in my view by a senior Manager or the Farm Owner....the Pasture Wedge Graph is a communication tool for all Farm Staff or Consultants. Walking the farm has huge benefits if done weekly. To be honest I haven’t seen much evidence of any of these “Global Best Practices” in NZ lately. I’m sure there are some people & some advisers who are doing this every week & these comments are obviously not aimed at you.

 I suppose it’s nothing to do with the saying “Production is Vanity. Profitability is Sanity”…………..no surely not! Yeah Right!

Smart Onfarm Management is Good Risk Management

Simple low cost On farm management changes can substantially contribute to a better environmental outcome. This is a really powerful & positive message to come out of the Massey University’s Fertilizer & Lime Research Centre’s conference held last week at Massey’s campus at Palmerston North, NZ.

Over 3 days there were papers from researchers, consultants, farmers, Regional Councils, the fertilizer industry & environmental groups…..most papers focussed on issues related to efficient nutrient management & the environmental consequences of mismanagement. The most positive take home message was that if we all work together as a community (that includes farmers & town people) we can greatly improve the NZ environment including the much discussed water quality. That’s a powerful & positive message too!

There is no better example than the great presentation by Dr Richard McDowell from AgResearch at Invermay.
Richard stated very clearly that smart on farm changes to farm business management could reduce Phosphate (P) losses at little cost to a level near the “natural” baseline. The “natural baseline” is the level that would occur if there was no farming on or near the waterways.

Essentially it is a matter of identifying P losses, locating the “sources of P loss” & then understanding the transport mechanisms e.g. runoff causing the elevated water phosphate contamination. So there are losses in the soil related to excessively high Olsen P. This will be different for each farm & soil type based on the characteristics of the soil especially the P retention of individual soils. Grazing management especially immediately prior to or during storm rain events (pugging or poaching soil surface) can increase the runoff of phosphate….again controllable by good management practices. Using water soluble P fertilizers at or about storm rain events can also increase runoff. Effluent management is obviously a potential risk that can be managed by commonsense i.e. low dose rates over a larger area away from wet soils & storm events. All of these examples can be implemented at little cost before the event by some smart thinking & understanding the risks.

So 3 clear recommendations from Richard’s paper at the FLRC conference for farmers were:-
 1. There is NO reason to go above the recommended agronomic efficient Olsen P levels for soils on your farm. Check the recommendations.


2. There is sound argument for using low water soluble P fertilizers (reactive rock phosphate) if you have suitable soils & are in the right recommended rainfall band.


3. Fenced buffer strips/riparian strips along waterways & streams are essential & necessary. Stream fencing needs to follow recommended protection distances either side of the stream & ideally should include mixed tree planting to help stabilize banks & keep the stream water cool.

There were other suggestions like adopting low rate effluent applications & the possible use of constructed or natural wetlands.
Richard’s paper was clearly giving a message that smart farm management “acting carefully & anticipating possible risks” could minimise the potential environmental damage of P runoff into waterways. Identifying “critical source areas” is something every farmer can do….then seek advice as to how you can minimise the risk.
This is largely commonsense stuff but ultimately is smart “Risk Management”. The dairyfarmers I have met want to do the right thing for the environment so knowing that with phosphate most of the risk can be resolved by changes to daily management should be very reassuring.