Cow care expectations track higher feed costs

The expectations dairy farmers have of those wintering their cows has increased in line with the rising cost of grazing.

Some Southland dairy farmers paid $30 a cow a week last winter, up from $18 just a year earlier, but PGG Wrightson South Island dairy livestock manager Paul Edwards said in hand with those higher prices, were the expectations of owners about how their cows were fed and cared for over winter.

Despite the large number of wintering contracts, Mr Edwards said there were relatively few disputes, but he said there were some golden rules to ensure the process ran smoothly.

Formal contracts should be agreed to and signed, with both parties understanding their obligations and expectations, the amount of winter crop available measured and a system for reporting and monitoring stock condition implemented.

It was important that the stock owner or someone they trusted check on cow condition weekly or fortnightly.

Mr Edwards said disputes arose when parties did not know or understand their obligations and left those issues unresolved.

"They never go away, so it is better to get them fixed up and resolved straight away," he said.

There were several disputes between dairy cow owners and graziers after last winter, with at least one case expected to take some time to resolve.

Mr Edwards said disputes involving PGG Wrightson contracts were minimal, but the stock firm was reviewing its winter grazing contracts to try and add some measurements to create a baseline.

These included weighing and measuring crops, measuring the quality of those crops and preparing feed budgets.

"I think we just need some measures in place, a yardstick we can go back to."

The opportunity to boost sagging incomes from winter dairy grazing has encouraged an influx of sheep and beef farmers to the industry, and Mr Edwards said some were not experienced in feeding or managing dairy cows.

The main cause of dispute was cow condition. Owners and graziers needed to be aware of the condition of cows when they arrived at the start of winter.

"If they are light when the [they] arrive, it is very hard to get them where they need to be."

With PGG Wrightson contracts, Mr Edwards said staff inspected the cows on arrival, completed a report and could even take photographs to provide a yardstick.

Feed utilisation could be a problem, depending on weather and ground conditions.

PGG Wrightson contracts were based on the amount of feed cows were offered, not what they could utilise.

Another potential area of conflict was whether the grazier fed the cows as much he said he would.

"If it was weighed at the start it can be determined if they were fed what the grazier said they would feed them."

Often a grazier and cow owner had to address an unexpected issue, such as agreeing on the need to buy extra feed outside the contract.