Thursday, March 28, 2024

Back to dairy basics in Sri Lanka

Avatar photo
Dairy farming again from first principles, literally from the ground up, was a challenging experience for Northland’s Murray Douglas who has spent five weeks in Sri Lanka.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The third New Zealand dairy farmer to spend time in Sir Lanka under Fonterra’s Farmer Volunteer Scheme, Douglas said his chance to make a substantial improvement in cow husbandry and milk production was very rewarding.

He worked one-on-one with Fonterra demonstration farm staff in their first year and with a group of more than 20 field staff or extension officers.

“So much of what we do here in NZ is second nature and because of the long history of dairy farming we have in-built industry knowledge.

“The extension officers tell of getting subsistence farmers to cut and carry leafy feed instead of stalky rubbish from the roadsides and thereby increasing milk yield 25% immediately.

“Many farmers don’t have basic practical knowledge so we start with the need for consistent water, the right forage and some concentrates to even out seasonality.

“An increase in daily production from 20 to 25 litres from a family’s averaged-sized three or four cows makes a huge difference to its income.”

Douglas was based at Pannala, 40km north of Colombo, where Fonterra has built a 30-cow free-stall training farm stocked with the best Sahiwal dairy cattle it could find locally.

Opened by Prime Minister John Key in February, the farm was part of Fonterra’s dairy development programme and came under the 2013 Dairy Co-operation Agreement with Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka imported more than 60,000 tonnes of Fonterra milk powder annually and Fonterra Brands Lanka collected about 30,000 litres of milk a day from more than 2000 Sri Lankan dairy farmers to process into consumer-ready dairy products at the Biyagama plant, Colombo.

“The training farm is part of our commitment to improve quality and quantity and provide back to Sri Lanka for the right to import powder and be the biggest dairy company, foreign-owned,” Douglas said.

“But we are not an aid agency so this must have a commercial focus with clear and achievable goals.

“Fonterra will be held accountable by the Sri Lankan government as well as its farmer-shareholders.”

The free-stall barn contrasted with the common practice of tied-stall management and should provide inspiration and practical assistance to Sri Lankan farmers.

Douglas also spent time training the extension officers and building the area teams, when many did not have practical knowledge but were required to assess the standard of farmers and make suggestions.

“Local farmers say that no-one has ever showed an interest in them or their production before.”

He was joined by wife Marcelle for the last two weeks and she also took a day-long spray training course.

The Douglases were able to compare and contrast with the family’s involvement in Brazil, through Seven Crown Farms, Bahia State.

Third son Rodger manages the Brazilian venture, now covering two farms with 1600 cows.

“Recruiting and training staff members and dairying in the tropics were features common to both countries,” Douglas said.

“As well, the need for quick decisions is evident because of growth rates. Where in NZ you might have 10 days, in the tropics it is more like four days.”

The two previous NZ farmers in the Sri Lankan development programme were Troy Doherty of Whakatane and Tim Phillips of Otorohanga who were there in April and May.

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading