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Personalised dairy could add $112m to industry
Elizabeth Gracie
A new support hub for dairy farmers is helping them create and produce their own individualised branded products, with its creator hoping it will lead to almost 200 new jobs in Australia.
The Dairy Cocoon Platform was developed by Cressida Cains from Pecora Dairy, and assists farmers in formulating business plans, getting access to education, and connects them with community expertise, and mentors in the industry.
Cains explains to The Australian Farmer, “If Dairy Cocoon was to assist just 25 small dairy farms over five years to transform up the value chain, it would mean a total of 190 new jobs created and a total economic impact both direct and indirect of $112m.
“We need to better protect and nurture our own dairy industry and the small businesses that provide jobs and stimulate local economies.”
In the 1980s there were 22k dairy farms in this country, now, we have a little over 5k, according to Cains. David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, notes that some 500 dairy farms have closed in the last 12 months.
“The iconic image that we all know of the Aussie dairy farmer looking out over his paddock of cows is in great danger of becoming obsolete,” says Cains.
“On the other hand, we have a situation where we are importing a huge amount of specialty cheese and yogurt. Australian's appetite for dairy is growing and every year, our imports grow.”
Users will be able to access tailored training and education, including online courses and webinars. The platform also provides farmers the opportunity to write up their own business plans and receive advice from peers on the platform about profit, loss, sales, and marketing.
The Australian Dairy industry is under pressure from a changing environment, increased feed prices, and a tightly held retail market that leaves farmers with little bargaining power. However, Cains hopes that her platform can solve these problems.
“I believe there is an opportunity for a willing small family-owned dairy farm to break the shackles of being price takers and take back control of their businesses. They can do this by adapting their business and transforming up the value chain to produce a unique branded product. This means branded milk, yogurt, gelato, or cheese. Dairy Cocoon will assist to remove the hurdles for willing small dairy farmers to transform so they can have a profitable and long term future.
“I have seen small dairies in Australia transform and create fantastic brands. I firmly believe there is a bright and profitable future for small dairy farms in this country.
“We are consuming on average 4000 tonnes of extra imported cheese every year. If this current trajectory is to continue, Australia is set to become a net importer of dairy. A pretty sobering situation.
“If Dairy Cocoon can stop just a handful of small family-owned dairy farming businesses from closing their farm gates, then my project has been a success”.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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