The government has announced a bill will be introduced to parliament this year to change rules and regulations to genetic modification. Access to genetic modification technologies globally already exists, and in this episode we talk to chief executive of Grasslanz Technology John Caradus about what we can learn from overseas, to develop the best system for New Zealand and the work already underway to develop GE forages for farmers here.

Guests include:

1. John Caradus, CEO, Grasslanz Technology

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter

John Caradus says any new regulations need to be risk based and take into account risks to the environment, native wildlife and human health as well as farm systems.

He discusses the issues that have faced producers overseas in finding ways for organic farmers to coexist with those wanting to use genetic modification in their crops. He says we should learn from their experiences, but that arable farmers growing specialty seed crops here also have valuable insights into how to stop cross contamination.

John explains the introduction of this bill is important because at the moment, while scientists can do experiments within glasshouses and laboratories, they can’t do research in real life conditions to test how plants would perform in NZ.

Find out more about the NZIPIM Conference 2024 here.

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With changes to gene editing regulations being signaled by the government, it’s time to have the conversation on why and how this would benefit New Zealand growers, and the general public.

But according to a survey 26% of growers don’t know how they feel about a change in regulations, which begs the question - are we having the right conversations about what gene editing means?

Guests include:

1. Dr Tony Conner, Emeritus Scientist, AgResearch
2. Liz Morley, Account Director, Research First

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter

AgResearch emeritus scientist Dr Tony Conner has been the fact checker for our Special Report on genetic modification (GM) and gene editing (GE). He walks us through our glossary of terms and explains the difference between genetic modification, genetic engineering and gene editing. He's also stepping us through how gene editing and technologies such as CRISPR work.

Tony Conner says it’s important the current regulations are updated because they are no longer relevant to the new techniques. Gene editing can now allow more precise breeding techniques to be used, but that’s being restricted under the regulations while less precise techniques – such as using radiation to cause more random mutations – is not.

Anne Lee also talks to Liz Morley from Research First about our exclusive survey into the understanding and perceptions of farmers and growers on genetic modification and gene editing. It's the first time farmers and growers have been surveyed on this issue and Liz and her team have compared those views with the recent surveys they've done on the general population.

Almost 60% of farmers and growers want the regulations to be changed, according to the survey. Liz Morley says the results from the survey show the level of understanding about the technology is low and there’s a need for more education. Farmers and growers, though, have relatively high levels of acceptance of the technology being used in New Zealand, particularly if it is used to solve environmental issues such as methane emissions.

Read the Dairy Exporter Exclusive Survey results here

Find out more about the NZIPIM Conference 2024 here.

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This week we caught up with some farmers who shared their expertise at SIDE’s 2024 Conference, along with a geneticist. From new traits being researched for the fertility breeding value, to tackling strategies to reduce N loss, and finally how to navigate the ins and outs of share milking contracts, hosts Sheryl and Anne cover it all.

Guests include:

1. Dr Melissa Stephen, Quantitative Geneticist, NZAEL
2. Athol New, Mayview Farm & Terry Kilday, Camden Group
3. Richard & Chrissie Wright, farmers
4. Kerry Burt, farmer

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter

Dr Melissa Stephen discusses the importance of recording accurate calving dates to help the national breeding evaluation. She also explains the research she is doing into early life fertility predictors, including how anogenital distance (AGD) can help predict a cow's fertility.

Farmers Athol New and Terry Kilday spoke at the conference about their involvement in the Hinds and Selwyn project, a five-year programme, focussing on farmer-to-farmer learning to understand mitigation strategies to reduce N loss. They discuss the different ways they tackled this on their farms, and offer some advice to other farmers.

Farmers Richard and Chrissie Wright share their advice on fostering good working relationships with contract milkers, and what to look out for when navigating the ins and outs of contracts.

Kerry Burt was part of the same workshop, and shares his own experiences with contract milking, and what employers and employees alike should keep in mind.

Click here to check out last week’s episode from the SIDE Conference.

Click here to check out Barenbrug’s ‘Better Pastures Together” podcast series now.

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We need to bring farmers to the table and take them off the menu, when it comes to fostering sustainable practices in the agriculture sector. 2023 Nuffield Scholar Kylie Leonard says trailing environmentally focused practices must be voluntary to succeed.

Having spent time overseas for this report, she says the best uptake she’s witnessed is where farmers have had the choice to change, and lead by example within their community. Regulations drive the lowest common denominator behaviour, she says.

Backing farmers so they don’t get burdened with the capital risk of trialing sustainable practices, and resourcing them as needed, is vital.

Guests include:

1. Kylie Leonard - 2023 Nuffield Scholar & Taupō-based dairy farmer

Hosts:

1. Sarah Perriam-Lampp, Managing Director, CountryWide Media

Read Kylie's full Nuffield Report “Boots on the ground are part of the solution.”

This episode is a special bonus episode through CountryWide Media’s partnership with Rural Leaders and the New Zealand Nuffield Farming Scholarship.

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The Dairy Exporter’s Sheryl Haitana and Anne Lee attended the 25th South Island Dairy Expo (SIDE) this week, to catch up on the latest dairy innovations. They chatted to the keynote speakers about resilience and wellbeing, rural bank lending, and the impact new proteins will have on dairy products, and how they can coexist alongside each other.

Guests include:

1. Jonathan Hoets, Chair of SIDE
2. Dr Dan Pronk, Author & Doctor
3. Cameron Bagrie, Independent Economist, Bagrie Economics
4. Dr Jeremy Hill, Chief Science & Technology Officer, Fonterra

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter

Jonathan Hoets tells Sheryl about his time as the Chair of SIDE for its 25th anniversary. He says one thing he’s really taken away from this year’s conference is that the core opportunities and challenges for dairy farmers have stayed very similar over SIDE’s lifetime, but dairy farmers have continued to evolve to meet them, and do better year-on-year.

Former Australian SAS Doctor and author Dan Pronk was a keynote speaker at the 2024 SIDE Conference, and spoke to the stress experienced by dairy farmers, and how to build resilience while experiencing long-term stress. He tells Anne about the research he’s done into managing chronic stress, such as meditation, mindfulness, and sleep, and practising these regularly rather than doing extreme resets.

Economist Cameron Bagrie shares his insights into where dairy currently fits into New Zealand’s economy, and says that while 2024 and 2025 will be tough, he expects we’ll bounce back due to the strong potential of our economy. He also discusses rural lending, and issues around farm mortgages being so much bigger than housing ones, and where succession fits into this. He questions whether banks are behaving in the right way to foster economic prosperity, particularly within the primary industries.

Jeremy Hill talks about the Sustainable Nutrition Initiative, alternative proteins and precision fermentation and the challenges those technologies face in terms of economy of scale. He says it will be complimentary, not disruptive to dairy.

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With extreme weather events becoming more common, hot days in the sun are bad enough for people – so what are we doing for our livestock? Heat stress is a concerning issue for cows, but what are some cost-effective, practical solutions? And is it part of a broader conversation about farm-system resilience?

Hear from three experts in this field: Kyle Wills on a practical farm try-out; Annabel Davies on what Pāmu have implemented; and Dr Helen Beattie on practical solutions from an animal welfare perspective.

Guests include:

1. Kyle Wills, Primary Industries Consultant, WSP
2. Annabel Davies, Chief Sustainability and Risk Officer, Pāmu
3. Dr Helen Beattie, Veterinarian, Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Delwyn Dickey, Journalist, Dairy Exporter

Kyle Wills from WSP has been part of a study looking into the benefits of agroforestry systems on the Canterbury Plains. The study looked at both the benefits to animals, but also the financial gain for the farmer, from integrating forestry onfarm.

He says a lot of people assume this means planting pine trees, but in reality there was a lot of native planting integration based on a farm-by-farm basis. They found that having an agroforestry system can also benefit pasture growth onfarm, due to nitrogen availability and soil moisture conservation. Read the full report here.

Annabel Davies from Pāmu says the biggest barrier for farmers is the real or perceived cost of implementing long-term shelter solutions.

She says Pāmu have approached it on a farm-by-farm basis, to come up with unique solutions for each of their farms across the country. Part of this has been looking at how they can make best use of existing hectares on each farm. This could look like agroforestry and biodiversity planting, to build resilience onfarm.

Veterinarian Dr Helen Beattie says shelter and shade systems for animals are just one piece of the puzzle, when it comes to making our overall farm systems more resilient. She says getting to that point isn’t easy, and will be a matter of decades of work, not years, but is something we should be working towards.

She discusses the impact consumer pressure is likely to have on expectations for shade and shelter onfarm, and also the pressure of overseas markets to make sure our animals aren’t at risk of heat stress.

Read Delwyn’s report in the Dairy Exporter Magazine here.

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There is a global race happening to reduce emissions from dairy farming with more solutions potentially becoming available to housed-cow systems. So where does that position New Zealand’s pastoral model?

A big part of the emissions conversation is also around regenerative agriculture. Global companies such as Nestlé, Danone and Mars have all set targets to source more products from regenerative agriculture so what does that mean and how do New Zealand farmers fit into this definition of regenerative agriculture?

Hear from three different agribusinesses about how the dairy industry is working to meet emissions targets.

Guests include:

1. Margaret Stuart, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Nestlé Oceania
2. Charlotte Rutherford, Director of Sustainability, Fonterra
3. Wayne McNee, CEO, AgriZero

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter

Nestlé Oceania’s Margaret Stuart says they have both a business and moral imperative to find ways of reducing the impacts of climate change. Dairy makes up 21% of their emissions, and they’ve put a focus on ensuring any changes are fair to the farmer, including by providing incentive payments and funding research.

She says at the moment New Zealand farmers have the advantage of a pasture based system, but this shouldn’t make them complacent.

Fonterra’s Charlotte Rutherford says regenerative agriculture is rising in popularity globally and for Fonterra, it is a massive opportunity. New Zealand farmers are already doing really well on the likes of Nestlé’s scorecard when it comes to regenerative practices because of our pastoral systems.

Charlotte says the NZ dairy industry is amongst the lowest emission producers and the cooperative is absolutely on track to reduce onfarm emissions by 30% by 2030, but NZ has to work hard to keep up with the leading pack in the emissions race.

AgriZero is a joint venture between the private sector and the government, focusing on reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock. Unlike similar projects globally, they are focusing on finding solutions for farmers in pastoral systems.

CEO Wayne McNee says the 2030 targets are ambitious, and go beyond the targets set by the government, but it’s given them a really good push to find ways for farmers to significantly reduce their emissions. He says they’ve done this to meet standards being set by both their overseas customers but also overseas governments.

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Having a methane breeding value would see a 5-15% reduction in methane output from the New Zealand national dairy herd by 2050. But one Waikato dairy farmer shares how he has already been on this journey to build a more efficient herd, lowering his greenhouse gas profile for a decade.

Guests include:

1. David Chin, Chief executive of LIC
2. James Smallwood, Chief executive of CRV Ambreed
3. George Moss, Waikato dairy farmer
4. Suzanne Rowe, AgResearch senior scientist

Hosts:

1. Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Dairy Exporter
2. Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, Dairy Exporter
3. Delwyn Dickey, Journalist, Dairy Exporter

Waikato dairy farmer George Moss shares his journey to build a more efficient herd for a decade. A herd which has lowered his farm’s greenhouse gases and improved his profitability. The herd has moved from the 50% percentile to the top 3% nationally and he has more efficient cows milking on a shorter lactation.

He is passionate about lowering the environmental footprint and has found some good results through focussing on breeding more efficient cows.

LIC and CRV have collaborated on a methane research programme which has found a variation in bulls that have a lower methane emission.

Both David Chin, chief executive of LIC and James Smallwood, chief executive of CRV Ambreed discuss the methane research programme and the steps that need to be taken to deliver a methane breeding value to New Zealand dairy farmers by 2026.

They chat about how a methane trait has to be part of the other key selection criteria for farmers and how the research has to be robust for NZ to stand behind the claims that our cows are lower methane emitters.

The pair also talk about the importance of collaboration between industry competitors in NZ and globally to try and tackle some of the bigger challenges the industry faces.

AgResearch senior scientist Suzanne Rowe tells journalist Delwyn Dickey about the progress NZ is making in methane research and how they are working with the Government to recognise the ranking of lower methane animals.

She also discusses the prospect of testing methane from milk samples, with promising results from their research with sheep with good predictors, and how that can cross over to dairy cows.

Read more about methane breeding here

https://dairyexporter.co.nz/is-breeding-the-answer/

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