North Canterbury News: April 01, 2021

DAIRYING IN NORTH CANTERBURY
ALLTECH
The North Canterbury News, April 1, 2021
19
Milking time ... AgriTraining training adviser Warner Cottrell shows students from Villa
Maria College in Christchurch how to milk Matilda the mechanical cow.
PHOTO: DAVIDHILL
Dairyrecruitersbusy
By DAVID HILL
Covid­19 hascreatedopportunities as well
as challenges for dairy industry
recruitment. AgriTrainingbusiness
development manager Bryn Price,
speaking at last week’s South Island
AgriculturalField Days at Kirwee, said
attracting young Kiwis to the industry has
always been achallenge.
Whileborderrestrictions had closedthe
door on many migrant workers, Covid­19
uncertainty had opened the eyesoflocal
workers who have not previously
considered an agriculturalcareer.
‘‘We mostly do the training and workin
with recruitment companies,but in the
last 12 months much of our work has been
in offering snappy,shortcourses to retrain
and redeploy peoplewho lost theirjobs.
‘‘We’ve always struggled to get people
and as an industry we’re still shortofstaff
in Canterbury. Most of that willbedairying
and arable. So we needmore people.’’
WhileAgriTraining normally worked
with school leavers, this year it has had
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peoplefrom tourism and hospitality,
airline pilots, chefs, aroller coaster
operator, and aship captain.
‘‘We say to people that they all have
transferable skills,’’MrPrice said.
‘‘I had awomanwho was amanagerin
hospitality who enquired and Isaid ‘you
have staff management skills and you can
do rosters and planyour time, so yes, you
have to stepback for ayear or two,but you
will move up prettyquickly’.
‘‘We are getting people with avariety of
skills who haven’t naturally come to us.’’
Many schools tended not to promote
agriculture as acareer option, which
presentedachallenge to industry
recruiters, Mr Pricesaid.
‘‘We wanttoget into the schools so they
are aware of the opportunities. Alot of
youngpeople, especially boys, have alot of
energy and don’t want to stayinthe
classroom,soifyou canget them outonthe
farm you can use that energy.’’
At Kirwee last week,youngpeople were
lining up to have aturn at ‘‘milking’’
Matildathe mechanicalcow.
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Mycotoxins under
the radar for many
Mycotoxins are toxic secondary
metabolites produced by fungi (moulds)
that cause an undesirable effect
(mycotoxicosis) when animalsare
exposed.
The occurrenceand concentrationsare
variable by year, whichisexpected
because of the annualvariation in weather
conditions and plant stressors knownto
affect mycotoxin formation.
This season, being warm and humid, was
particularly favourable for growing
conditions for moulds, resulting in high
mycotoxin levels on many farms.
The primary classes of mycotoxins are
aflatoxins, zearalenone, trichothecenes,
fumonisins, ochratoxinA,and the ergot
alkaloids.
Ruminants appear relatively tolerant of
the adverseeffects of mycotoxins, perhaps
because of the ability of the rumen
microflora to partiallydetoxify these
agents.
Ruminaldegradation of mycotoxins may
have helped mask mycotoxin effects in
dairy cows, which in recentyears have
becomemore recognisedasproduction
stresseshave increased,and as the
industry has paid more attention to
management.
However,increasedrumenpassage
rates of today’s high production dairy
cattle can likely overwhelm the ability of
the rumentocompletely denature the
toxins.
Mycotoxins, in large doses, can be the
primary agent behind acute health or
production problems in adairy herd.
From the field tothe feedmill and your farm to
our fork, ALLTECH MYCOTOXIN MANAGEMENT
can help you safeguard the health of your
animals, thequalityofyour feed andthe
security of our food supply.
Your animalsare your business.
Protecting them is ours.
www.knowmycotoxins.com
However, more likely, mycotoxins are
contributing to chronic problems,
including ahigher incidenceofdisease,
poor reproductive performance, or
suboptimalmilk production. Ruminal
degradation of mycotoxins helpsprotect
the cow against acute toxicitybut may
contribute to chronic problems associated
with long­term consumption of low levels
of mycotoxins.
Mycotoxins affect dairy cows by
reducing feed consumption, reducing
nutrient use, alteringrumen fermentation,
suppressing immunity, altering
reproduction, irritatingtissues, and
causing cellular death.
They exert their effectsthrough several
means:
Reduced intakeorfeed refusal;
Reduced nutrient absorption and
impaired metabolism;
Alteredendocrineand exocrine
systems;
Suppressed immune function;
Alteredmicrobialgrowth.
More than 80 animal trials conducted
around the worldhave demonstrated that
feeding the Alltech productMycosorb can
be used as part of astrategy to address
mycotoxinsinfeed.
Mycosorb has beenproven to adsorb a
wide range of mycotoxins quickly and
effectively, providing anatural solution to
address this issue.
For help and supportwith your on­farm
challenges, call Alltecharea sales
manager Matt Cassineri on (027) 208 4606,
or email matt.cassineri@alltech.com.
YOUR LOCAL HURUNUI EARTHMOVING CONTRACTOR &QUARRY SUPPLIES
2370532
Email: newzealand@alltech.com
Phone: 0800 ALLTECH
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