MAY 2016

DAIRY UPDATE

Inside this issue:

CEO Update

1

GM - People &

Production Update

3

BST Leader Update

GM - Profit Update

Asset Manager Update

ASB Economic Update

BEL Group Awards

5

6

6

7

8

BEL People 10

Balance Agri-Nutrients 11

Operations Team 12

Lee Astridge -No8 HR 13

Payroll and Business

Services Update

14

Farm Work Plan 15

BEL Group Contacts 16

News and Events 17

from what everyone is forecasting to be another

sub $5.00/kgMS milk price year. As we print, Fon-

terra has delivered their 16/17 farmgate forecast

milk price at $4.25.

It looks like we will come in around the $5.00kgMS

break-even milk price mark for the 2016 season,

to the end of April we are $4.17/kgMS, with May

accounts and milk production still to be included.

Our budget for 2017 is currently at $4.89/kgMS.

Farm management plans, budgets, business struc-tures and systems have all had a go over to find

further opportunities and efficiencies. It doesn’t

stop here either. The BEL Group’s Farm Tune

programme was launched in May with workshops

for Managers and Farm Tune Champions. This

initiative will be all about hunting out and eliminat-

ing waste, finding opportunities for efficiency and

being determined about driving towards more

production for the same, or the same production

for less.

As presented in the March newsletter, we have set

our business-as-usual milk price at $5.00/kgMS.

This means we have to produce every kg for less

than this in order to make positive progress to-

wards improving our balance sheet and ability to

invest in infrastructure developments and up-

grades. There are three places we can go to do

this:

1. Increase milk production – from the same

inputs. This is the number one priority.

2. Increase income from other sources, such

as stock trading.

3. Reduce expenditure without compromising

milk outputs.

BEL AWARDS GREAT NIGHT OUT

The BEL Awards evening on 19th May was a great

celebration of the year that was; a send-off from

the 2016 season and a gateway into the 2017

season.

Congratulations Daryl Spooner – Farm Manager

of the Year for 2016. Daryl set a goal, worked

through his plan, stuck to his budget and deliv-

ered a stellar performance. Chased hard by the

other finalists, Peter Borges and Reetesh Prasad,

these three Managers are all taking another step

forward in their careers for the 2017 season with

bigger jobs all around. This is what BEL Group is

all about – our people, our business and our

community growing together.

You can catch up on all the awards highlights in

this newsletter.

Congratulations to all of the finalists and the

winners of the BEL Awards, it was such fun see-

ing your success and being able to recognize you “in lights”.

2017 = BACK TO BASICS, DRIVE OUT

COST, BE CREATIVE

Our mantra for this year is 10% up and 10%

down.

Our long game hasn’t changed, we are still all

about building a financially secure and sustainable

future for our BEL family and community.

At the end of April, we had a very robust Board

meeting, debating our way through the upcoming

year’s plan. The goal is to thrive through volatili-

ty. Our current focus is all about getting back to

basics and taking control so that we can emerge

BEL GROUP CEO UPDATE

Page 2

DECISIONS MADE

At our April board meeting we reviewed the budget and op-

erating plan presented, and considered the other strategies

that were raised in the March newsletter.

The following are the ‘big’ decisions made:

1. Once-a-day milking system will be implemented at

Ellingham and Hedley Farms. These will be managed

under one farm manager, Peter Borges. Total num-

bers across the two farms will increase by circa 150

cows with about 50ha of Peterdale coming into the

dairy farms.

2. Reigate will reduce cows down to 900 at calving and

will manage a large proportion of its own wintering

requirements in 2016 & 2017.

3. Dairy Support will provide100% self-containment for

feed and grazing, and we will be relinquishing our

Kellog’s property lease this winter and our

McGregor’s lease in November 2016, supporting our

land use intensification strategy.

4. Contract Milking will continue to be developed as an opportunity for Managers going into 2017/18 and

beyond.

5. Implementation of Farm Tune across BEL Group to

seek further efficiencies across the entire business:

a. Priority is to achieve the 50hours average work-

ing week on farm.

b. Reduction of waste.

c. Do more for the same.

d. Do the same for less

LEADERSHIP CHANGES

BEL Group is ready for its next phase of business and this

means there will be some leadership changes.

Management Changes:

From June 1st, I will be moving aside to let the Senior Leader-

ship Team step into more responsibility and greater leader-

ship of the business.

As was presented in the “Restructure Document” presented

in April, I will move across into a Consultancy Support role

and Toni Goodlass will move into the General Management

Role that I’m vacating. With this, Doug Dolan is increasing his

responsibilities for Production Management across the busi-

ness, with a flow on effect to both Anthony Williams and

Mike Oakly, whose roles are changing and expanding. Rachael

Riddell will continue to lead the financial and asset manage-

ment focus.

Nicola Whittle will increase her responsibilities across our

People focus. We are still nailing down the finer details of

these various transitions but for me it represents Andrea and

BEL Group delivering on our promise to grow our business

and our people together. It has always been one of my goals

to create internal succession within BEL Group so that the

culture, values, learning and experience that is created as we

work in this business are captured and leveraged through

internal promotion of our leaders and managers.

Back in 2010, we determined that BEL Group needed to be a

fully managed business not reliant on any single person, well

organized and systemized to minimize business risks and max-

imize stakeholder confidence and be strong enough to contin-

ue to grow and stay relevant. I really believe that this describes

BEL Group today.

It will be different, but BEL Group is ready and this will provide

an opportunity for new ideas, new energy and new perspective

to continue to grow performance.

Advisory Board Changes:

We have said farewell to Deane and Diane Purdue from the BEL

Advisory Board. They were foundation members of this board

in 2010 and have provided expertise and wisdom through our

journey to a fully managed, systemized and robust business.

Deane and Diane brought a huge amount of knowledge, encour-

agement and support as BEL Group found its feet and the Advi-

sory Board became established. Thank you and we will miss

your insightful contributions.

We have welcomed John Parker to the BEL Advisory Board.

John has a broad CV of dairy and agricultural industry experi-

ence, from an executive career with the Dairy Board to direc-

torships with leading New Zealand companies such as the Port

of Tauranga and Dairy Holdings, to involvement with industry through appointments such as Chair of PITO and most recently

the appointment to Chair of the Primary Growth Partnership.

RWSS POSITIVELY PROGRESSED

At a whole of business level, we have negotiated our Water

User Agreement with the RWSS, signing up for 5.0m cubic me-

tres, making BEL Group the largest water user of the scheme.

This was as much about supporting the scheme to progress for

the upside in our community as it was about the future potential

opportunity for our business.

We now patiently await the expected financial close to occur

towards the end of June.

There have been several opportunities identified to grow BEL

Group with this water and we will be developing a business plan

over the coming year with the expectation of RWSS water being

available from the end of 2019.

THANKS FOR THE RESULT

As we track towards 1st June 2016, we have delivered a strong

result and I want to thank every person in the BEL Family for

their part in this. We have delivered a profit result well ahead

of budget with our operational business costs sneaking in under

$4.00/kgMS to the end of April, our end of year KPI was $4.50/

kgMS. Seven dairy farms achieved over 600kgMS/ha to the end

of December, 5 over 650 and overall we achieved 64% of our

production to the end of December. Our 6 week in-calf results

improved again with 3 farms over 70% and all farms over 60%. We have internally promoted into all “vacancies” for June 1st,

and have all of our Farm Managers staying with us to start the

2017 season.

We still have much to work on, we always will!

Thanks for all of the effort, all of the work and all of the fun that

you brought with you to the 2016 season.

Justine Kidd - CEO

PEOPLE AND LEADERSHIP

This new season marks the end of Justine’s leadership of BEL Group. She has done an outstanding job shaping this business to

what it is today. Justine’s stewardship has been characterised by systemisation, innovative ideas, strategic thinking and most valua-

ble, her focus on our people strategies and a values-driven culture within BEL Group.

From a personal point of view, Justine’s support and guidance has been very important throughout the last two years. Her energy

and devotion to the role will be tough to match, but she leaves this role with BEL Group a better organisation and on a strong

footing for those of us who follow her. We wish Justine all the very best in her future endeavours and we look forward to her

continued involvement in our business from a consulting perspective.

If I think back to my very first day at BEL Group, like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I

believed BEL Group was an outstanding business. I saw then how clearly we empower people to do great things and achieve great

results, and grow together in our community. I knew there was no better company to join if I wanted to make a difference in agri-

business in my community. This same inspiration continues to drive me today.

It is a privilege for me, as it is with the other members of the leadership team, to lead this business for the Barry family. Justine has

taken this legacy built by Peter and Andrea, to one of the greatest and most admired dairy farming companies in the New Zealand.

And even on the back of that success, as a leadership team we are hungry to do more. It is a critical time for the dairy industry

and for BEL Group. Make no mistake, we are headed for great places and our job is to make sure BEL Group gets there and

thrives. The leadership team and I look forward to the start of this new phase of our journey together .

Page 3

GM—PEOPLE & PRODUCTION UPDATE

NEW SEASON START

With the 1st of June comes the start of our new farming year. Unlike previous years, this year there is no industry ‘Gypsy Day’ for

BEL Group, our own gypsy movements are occurring due to people being promoted and achieving their career development aspira-

tions within our business. This is a great outcome and what we have been working to as part of our people strategies!

On that basis, we will not be planning a ‘Season Kick Off” event for all staff. Instead the Leadership team will meet with you on-

farm to share with you our strategy and plans for the coming year at your individual team meetings.

This new season sees our absolute focus on improving our productive performance and tuning up our business, processes and prac-

tices to become more efficient. This is no surprise based on the new milk price forecast of $4.25. There is no more opportune

time to improve our performance and look at ways to make our business simpler and more efficient. This is a great opportunity for

us to focus on the basics and perform those basic things exceptionally well.

Every farm has a Farm Management Plan and an Operating Budget that has been set to deliver the priorities identified in our busi-

ness plan. These business plans have been targeted to achieve the KPI’s set in the BEL Group Performance Plan. We encourage

you to understand what this means for you, your team and your farm by asking questions of your Manager and making sure you

really engage at your team meetings.

DAIRY UPDATE

• Debt : Equity Ratio

• Diversity Options

• People Capability

• Asset Management

•BE Milk Price $5.00/kgMS

•<$3.50 Dairy Farm FWE

•Dairy Support >$800/ha EBIT

•100% Self Contained

•2,830,000 kgMS

•67% 6 Week In-Calf Rate

•100% Compliance

•<5% Stock Losses

•50 hours/week

•>80% Retention

• Lost Time Injuries/200,000 hrs < 4

People Production

GrowthProfit

Page 4

BEL GROUP STRUCTURE 2016-2017:

PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE TO MAY 2016

As I write this newsletter, we have 3 farms still milking. We are forecasting to come in 5.7% behind total milk production budget

of 2.65M vs 2.81MmkgMS. Only Ashton and Ellingham will have met their milk production targets and Ellingham and Hedley have

exceeded their 1000kgMS/ha KPI. Our autumn milk production has been off plan and in part attributable to not feeding planned

silage in late summer. This was an economic decision based on the milk price, but we could have done better in managing our

pasture intakes to maximise production through this period and managed our dry-off decisions in a timelier manner. So our abso-lute focus this season is about improving our peak production, managing our herd health to maximise numbers in vat, and improv-

ing our days in milk.

All farms followed their rotation round this year for the first time, which was a significant performance result. Your Ops team will

be working with you this year on improved management and how to meet your targets without compromising feed intakes.

Our mating results across the farms were improved on last year with 6-week in-calf results overall of 68% - Hedley and Elling-

ham achieving our top results of 81% & 80% respectively. Our winter milk farms will require increased attention to meet our KPI’s

this season.

We had a disappointing start with our young stock on Dairy Support. However an action plan, developed by Jim and Doug, has

improved individual farm and animal performance. Implementation of a new sustainable system will set us up for wintering and

deliver 100% self-containment for supplementary feed this coming year.

So based on the focus on improving production (10% up), we have to do this by growing quality pasture. Simply, this means know-

ing your farm plan, understanding the BEL Farming Principles (in your Employee Handbook) and STICKING to the decision rules.

This last season we saw a significant improvement on farms sticking to their rotation lengths. Ensure that you continue to review

this at every team meeting, double-checking the area ACTUALLY grazed for the week against the plan and the Handbook guides. I

know if you are on the correct rotation length every week you will fast track towards your 1,000 kgMS/ha. Have a go – how much

area did you graze this week compared to plan? Did anyone move the cows on or extend a break? Did this get recorded? Was it

made up with a smaller area grazed on another day, or do we need to include it this week? Did you BACKFENCE?

Overall, we have seen improvement across all of our KPI’s and budgets this year, in comparison to last season. I commend you all

on your focus and attention to deliver, but we still have more work to do. The great news is that we are well positioned, with a

stable and committed team across the whole business, to deliver on this season’s plan and KPI’s! Let’s go for it!

Page 5

W INTER PASTURE MANAGEMENT

As we head into the wetter months we must keep our focus on

pasture damage. We plan for NIL.

The following is a table from a piece of research completed in

Taranaki through to early 1990s. The topic investigated was the impact of different grazing methods on winter damage to pasture.

While researched more than 20 years ago, it’s still highly relevant

today.

Treatment KgDM/ha grown % Decline

This trial ran for 120 days, from 1 June to 30 September. The first

treatment saw a piece of land simply mown and its volume of feed

grown measured at 30 day intervals. This grew 2030 kg DM per

ha. The second treatment saw cows eating their daily allocation

for four hours then the cows taken off. This saw 1980 kg DM

grown. The third treatment saw stock given their daily allocation

then left on the paddock and kept in their 24-hour area. This saw

1680 kg DM per ha grown. A 17% decline in available feed. The

fourth and final treatment saw cows daily strip grazed, with long

narrow strips with no back fence for at least five days. This saw a

further decline in feed grown to 1440 kg DM per ha over this 120

-day period.

Mower 2030 0 4 hour on off

grazing

1980 2

24 hour block

grazing

1680 17

5 day strip

grazing

1440 29

In summary, we can reduce the amount of feed grown by

up to 29% over this June to September period by doing

too much pasture damage. To put this picture another

way, this is 590 kg DM per ha of potentially grown feed

that is lost. At a conversion ratio of 15 kg DM/kg milk

solids, this is an extra 40kgMS per ha; 40kg MS at a pay-

out of $6.00/kgMS is $240 per ha extra earned. If our

farm is say 300ha, the amount of milk lost equates to

$72,000 over this 120-day period. This is a serious

amount of money! This is only on one farm!

As we start to progress further into the winter we need

to be aware of how to minimize pasture damage. Your

Farm Manager and Operations Manager are key team

members to help source ideas from.

As a rule we target NO pasture damage.

Toni Goodlass - GM People & Production

BST LEADER - UPDATE

The Development Programme has now completed all the

People Management Workshops with Lee Astridge – they

are always challenging and a lot of fun. The team will con-

tinue to work with Lee and the managers throughout the

year as part of Farm Tune.

We also completed our second Finance Workshop with

Simon Charteris from ASB, with a focus this time on Farm

Budgets. The training was opened up to all BEL Staff and

was very informative.

The next couple of months will be a busy time for the DP

team with Autumn & Winter Management Training fol-

lowed by a Feed and Fertiliser Workshop.

The Primary ITO team met again in April for a study ses-

sion. This was a great opportunity to get work signed off

by the Primary ITO trainer and mentors. It also provided

a great opportunity for help with those difficult questions.

On farm, we had Fencing Training in March, led by Doug

Dolan, and Stack Management in April, led by Mark Burke

from Pioneer.

With the start of the new season pending, I am preparing

to update and improve all training and training records

with the help of the Ops Team, to ensure this year is our

best yet in ensuring all our staff are being trained ade-

quately.

June will be a busy month with Motorbike Skills, Tractor

Skills, Stock Handling and a Calf Rearing Refresher lined

up.

Nicola Whittle - BST Leader

DAIRY UPDATE

Page 6

Asset Manager - Update

Where’s Pauly?

Paul Phippen recently travelled to Sri Lanka to attend Rudda’s

wedding.

GM PROFIT - UPDATE

At the end of February, our results showed that we remain on

track to hit our target Break Even Milk Price Key Performance

Indicator for this season of $5.60/kgMS. To the end of March,

we were on track to do better than this by 52 cents/kgMS.

Our forecast farm working expenses are $3.78/kgMS (28c

above our target of $3.50) and total operating expenditure

$4.49. Both Hedley and Ellingham have forecast farm working

expenses below $3.50 which is a fantastic result. Neither farm

has met this KPI previously, so it is a huge accomplishment.

Well done Daryl on your Financial Performance Award; it was a

well-deserved win.

Kowhai Terrace has also made significant improvements on last

season. Their March Forecast showed a $1.62/kgMS improve-

ment in farm working expenses from the 2014/15 season, an-

other fantastic result achieved by conscious planning of farm

activities and regular review of financial data.

Fonterra have announced the total dividend for the financial

year will be 40 cents per share, producing a total forecast cash

pay-out of $4.25-$4.30 per kgMS. While the forecast farmgate

milk price has not been increased again, we are still on track to

14% ahead of budgeted income due to stock and dividends

income offsetting negative variances in milk production and

retrospective payments.

Savings have been made in animal health in the areas of Mastitis,

Minerals and Reproduction. Fertiliser and Nitrogen are fore-

cast to come in 12% below budget. Currently we are under

budget due to autumn activity varying from original plan

(weather) as well as some savings on Nitrogen through pricing.

Unfortunately, maintenance costs on dairy sheds have come in

over budget. This is due to refrigeration and chiller issues,

worn platforms and backing gates. This over has been offset by

compliance activities budgeted but not carried out.

We have made savings in cropping by carrying out some activi-

ties internally. The forecast is to achieve an 11% saving in crop-

ping. Rape crops are currently sitting at 30% less than budgeted

cost/ha. Oat crops are also significantly under budget, currently

44% less than budgeted cost/ha. We are still expecting to re-

ceive invoices for these activities, however year-to-date spend

on the activity is positive.

Grazing costs have been reduced significantly. We are forecast-

ing a 54% reduction due to savings on external youngstock

grazing and summer grazing being contained within the group.

To the end of April, total on-farm expenditure was 14% less

than budget, and we are forecasting an 8% saving overall due to

expected expenditure yet to come in May.

Capital expenditure and projects are 54% complete, with just

17% of smaller projects remaining in progress, and 28% were

cancelled or held. Outstanding projects will be carried over to

the new financial year. Still in progress is work on the Spring-

field Villa. This has had significant cladding and roof repairs and

is currently being painted. The latest project achievements

have been the completion of a water system at Indigo Heights,

the Reigate effluent pond, effluent irrigators at Springfield and

Hedley, and the new house builds.

The Board have approved next season’s budget, so we are

looking forward to another challenging year and repeating our

savings performance achieved in this financial year. Amanda and

I are currently tidying up Farm Management Plans and final

budgets per farm. These will be distributed at the Farm Manag-

ers meeting on 8th June.

Rachael Riddell GM - Profit

OUT & ABOUT AT BEL GROUP…

Congratulations to Rudda and his new bride.

We wish them all the best for the future.

Looking fresh: the Villa at Springfield is sporting

a lovely new paint job.

Page 7 DAIRY UPDATE

Page 8

Long Service Awards:

Basil Bath

Ray Peters

Paul Hopkinson

Recognition Awards:

Isaac’s Pumping and Electrical Rookie of the Year –

Ferdinand Reyes

Meridian Energy Idea of the Year -

Hedley

Vet ABS Stock Care and Performance –

Peter Borges

Fonterra Milk Quality Award–

Daryl Spooner

HazardCo Workplace Safety Top Individual of the Year –

Gavin Dougherty

TruTest Workplace Safety Top Team of the Year –

Parkhill

Management Awards:

Andrea Barry Business Owner Award –

Nikki Johansen

Staples Rodway Financial Performance Award –

Daryl Spooner

Ballance Productive Performance Award –

Daryl Spooner

No8 HR People and Leadership Award –

Rhys Spooner

BEL Awards:

LIC Development Programme Participant of the

Year –

Robert Barry

ASB Top Individual of the Year –

Stacey Bain

Farmlands Top Team of the Year –

Springfield

BEL Group Farm Manager of the Year –

Daryl Spooner

Page 9 DAIRY UPDATE

Page 10

BEL PEOPLE

Gavin Dougherty

1. Position - what do you do

at BEL Group?

2IC at Parkhill

2. Time with BEL Group:

2 Years

3. What were you doing

before coming to BEL

Group?

Making concrete water tanks in Auckland

4. What are your hobbies/interests?

Fishing, fixing stuff and spending time with the family.

5. Where is your place of birth?

Te Puke

6. What dream would you love to come true?

Become a millionaire. Who wouldn’t!

7. What is the craziest or worst job you have ever

had?

Doing QC work in forestry for two years.

8. Which 3 people (dead or alive) would you most

like to have dinner with, and why?

Paul Walker—He was a great driver

Karen— We haven't had a chance to go out for dinner

9. Something no one at BEL Group knows about

me is...

I can walk on my hands for a long time.

10. The coolest thing I have ever been part of

was…

Having a family

11. My unusual talent is…

I can stand on my head and drink a big bottle of beer.

Natalie Thomas

1. Position - what do

you do at BEL

Group?

Herd manager’s assis-

tant at Reigate.

2. Time with BEL

Group:

1 year

3. What were you

doing before coming to BEL Group?

Dairy farming

4. What are your hobbies/interests?

Catching up with friends, travelling and netball.

5. Where is your place of birth?

Dannevirke

6. What dream would you love to come true?

To grow taller

7. What is the craziest or worst job you have

ever had?

Working at McDonalds

8. Which 3 people (dead or alive) would you

most like to have dinner with, and why?

My two best friends and Channing Tatum, I mean who

wouldn’t want to have dinner with Channing Tatum.

9. Something no one at BEL Group knows about

me is...

I'm really short

10. The coolest thing I have ever been part of

was...

A missionary trip to Vanuatu to help re-build and teach a

few classes at the local schools.

11. My unusual talent is…

Being able to wake up before my alarm every morning.

DAIRY UPDATE

Management practices when under risk of high nitrate levels in

feed include:

Feed low nitrate feeds, low digestibility feed first to

suppress appetite and limit subsequent intake of high

nitrate feed.

Reduce its access for younger and pregnant stock.

Stock should be allowed to adjust to the feed over a 3

-4 week timeframe.

Dilute high nitrate feeds with low nitrate feeds. Dilu-

tion is one method that can be used to help ruminal

microorganisms adapt to high nitrate feeds.

Release cattle in the afternoon when night-time nitrate

accumulations have subsided.

Avoid grazing shortly after a drought-ending rain.

Stock lightly so animals can choose lower nitrate

leaves over higher nitrate stems.

Provide clean drinking water for the stock whilst on

the high nitrate forage.

James Parsons - Ballance

Page 11

BALLANCE

AGRI-NUTRIENTS

Nitrate Toxicity

When plants grow rapidly, they absorb a large proportion of soil nitrogen as nitrate. Normally plants convert that nitrate

into other forms of N (ammonium and simple amino acids) in

the roots and these are then transported around the plant.

Even still, practically all plants contain detectable amounts of

nitrates afterwards. Alas excessive nitrate accumulation can

occur under certain conditions, when the uptake exceeds its

utilization for protein synthesis. This nitrate is then trans-

ported to the plant’s stem and leaves – which if ingested by

grazing stock can lead to nitrate poisoning or toxicity.

The conditions that are likely to lead to high nitrate levels in

plants (commonly accepted critical nitrate level of 0.21% or

21,000ppm and above) and the management practices that

can minimize such risks are the following:

After an extended dry spell: Nitrates accumulate in plants dur-

ing periods of moderate drought because the roots continu-

ally absorb nitrate, but very high daytime temperatures inhib-

it its conversion to amino acids. During a severe drought,

lack of moisture prevents nitrate absorption by plant roots.

Following a rain, however, the roots rapidly absorb nitrate

and accumulate high levels. After a drought-ending rain, it

requires at least 2 weeks before the nitrates will be metabo-

lized to low levels, provided environmental conditions are

optimum.

Wilted, diseased or herbicide affected plants: Conditions such as

hail, light frost, herbicide drift or plant disease can damage

plant leaf area and reduce photosynthetic activity. With less

available energy, nitrate reduction is inhibited and nitrates

accumulate in the plant.

Overcast, moist conditions with warm soil temperatures: Shaded

plants lack sufficient photosynthetic energy to convert nitrate

to amino acids. Extended periods of cloudy weather increase

nitrate content and dangerously high levels can occur when

wet, overcast days follow a severe drought.

High application rates of N fertilisers: Split nitrogen applications

late in the season provide better nutrient distribution and reduce the potential for toxicity.

Plant type: Greenfeed rape is notorious, closely followed by

other brassica greenfeeds. Vigorous ryegrass can also create

problems, as can cereal greenfeed crops and fresh grasses.

Nitrate content generally is highest in young plant growth

and decreases with maturity. Stalks are highest in nitrate

content, followed in order by leaves and grain in decreasing

amounts.

Supplement condition at harvest: Silages made from stressed

forages should be analysed after ensiling because the fermen-

tation process usually converts only about 50% of the ni-

trates to a nontoxic form. If forages are harvested as hay,

nitrate concentrations remain virtually unchanged over time.

Taking centre stage: Lee Astridge, Daryl Spooner and

James Parsons during the presentation of the Ballance Agri-

Nutrients Productive Performance prize at the recent BEL

Group awards evening.

Simply the Best: Tina Turner dropped by to help cele-

brate the BEL Awards on May 19th.

Page 12

As you can see from the photo below, a lot of the old tradi-

tional farming methods are still very strong...

Anthony Williams - Operations Manager Ashley Clinton

LONGROW

The weather has been good to us this autumn, with pasture

covers increasing on all the Longrow farms.

Target is 2200kgdm/ha by the end of May, with rotations at

80 days from May 10th.

Cow condition is still our main concern, so continue to

separate cows into mobs on BCS and feed as you would if

they were still milking. Our target is 4.5 BCS on all cows at

the end of May.

Cows are mostly dry across the farms and will all be dry by

May 20th. Remember to check dry cows for winter mastitis

and treat early.

The new structure is out now so let’s all get behind it as we

look forward to the new season.

DAIRY OPERATIONS TEAM UPDATE

WINTER MILK FARMS

As the season winds down for the spring calving farms, Ash-

ton, Fairlea and Springfield have just about finished an une-

ventful autumn calving - other than dealing with below target

pasture covers due a bit of an Indian summer, with Ashton

and Fairlea still irrigating through to late May. Never the less,

calving has gone well and we are nearly at quota production

levels.

All farms have had some cow condition slide through late

February, with feed losing quality. This meant that not every

cow hit target at calving but we are close to being back on

track now as we get close to winter mating. This year the

winter milk farms will be running an all-natural mate pro-

gramme, using Hereford bulls to save costs on AI and to capi-

talise on autumn calf sales.

All spring cows on Fairlea and Springfield are now dry and

well on track to reaching BCS targets. Teams are in the pro-

cess of using up all annual leave and readying farms for anoth-

er exciting season.

There have been a few internal staff movements which most

will be aware of by now. I’m looking forward to seeing what

Sam, Rob and Gav bring to their new teams. As a result,

there a couple of vacancies at Ashton which we will be filling

with some fresh blood.

Lastly, I would like to wish Alison and Rob all the best with

their impending arrival…

Doug Dolan - Operations Manager Winter Milking Farms

ASHLEY CLINTON

Another season draws to an end and it has been a very good

one for the teams.

This year they have been on the ball from day one and all the

ducks have lined up to make it a very enjoyable and reward-

ing year. KPIs have been achieved and teams have been sta-

ble. Weather conditions have been favourable and fortunate-

ly the El-Nino didn’t arrive; but what it did do is made us

think differently about our approach to round lengths and

farm systems and we will be using the same approach

next year.

Next year’s restructure is exciting and we will all be looking

forward to the challenges ahead of us.

I have just got back from my trip to the UK. Thanks to

the Barry Farm teams for keeping things on track and achiev-

ing a strong finish to the end of the season.

For those of you that are interested, farming in the UK is no

better than here. Milk prices are slightly better but with the cost of production a lot higher (mainly because they are stuck

in their ways), very few farms are doing better

than breakeven. But what I did see there, was a lot of room

for improvement.

One farm I went to visit was a 900 cow farm that has gone

from milking 3 times a day with 400 cows on a high input

system, to 900 cows rising to 1100 OAD and making

more money. The other thing that stood out was solar panel

farms. I don’t know much about these other than they get

paid 1000 pounds/acre and can still be grazed - now that is an

easy way to farm.

A solar panel farm in the U.K. Farmers can still graze

the area but also get paid £1000 pounds per acre.

DAIRY UPDATE Page 13

Coaching & Farm Tune

It was our absolute pleasure to present a workshop on coaching at

the Dairy Women’s Network conference recently and to have the

opportunity to network with this outstanding group of professional

women who, every day, make a big difference to the lives of those

around them.

One of the things we covered in our workshop was the importance

of coaching as a tool for developing autonomy, relatedness and

competence… the key things for motivating staff:

Autonomy: The belief that you can control your own life and hav-

ing opportunities to do so.

Relatedness: Feeling connected with others in a positive way that

encourages trust and liking.

Competence: Knowing that you have and use valuable skills, quali-

ties and abilities.

Coaching isn’t a ‘soft’ option; it is a tough option that holds the

person being coached to account, provided we do it well and we

don’t save the world one incident at a time by fixing the problem

rather than helping the other person to find the answer and own

the solution themselves.

So how do you do it?

The Grow acronym is a popular coaching framework and stands

for:

Goals

Reality

Options

Will do

It is a process of taking people through questions to identify what

they want to achieve, where they are now, what options they have

and finally, what they are going to do about it. The challenge of

coaching is allowing the other person to find their way…

As we start the Farm Tune process at BEL Group, involving the

team and ensuring they are at the front of problem solving will mean

we get great results. Engaging and motivating our teams will be a

key part of that process.

I look forward to working with you all over the next period as we

fine ‘tune’ our businesses and set ourselves and BEL Group up for

the future.

Lee Astridge - No8HR

I’d like to thank everyone for their hard work this season

in controlling FWE, it is a credit to you all. The savings we

have made this season, and your continued effort in look-

ing for efficiencies, will help us to go forward into the fu-

ture.

Mike Oakly - Operations Manager Longrow

DAIRY SUPPORT

It’s been a challenging late summer/autumn at Dairy Sup-

port with some late personnel changes and Indigo Heights

getting a bit off track. Unfortunately, this has effected

some heifers’ growth rates over this period, and will result

in some on farm teams getting stock back that are not at

their desired weights.

On a positive note, such is the depth of talent in BEL, we

got Jim to jump out of his tractor (which was surprisingly

easy) and take the reins. I’m happy to report that with a

bit of prodding and Jim’s tireless work ethic, things are

back on track. Indigo’s cover rose 600kg in two months.

All mobs at Indigo are on daily breaks and have back-

fences right behind them every day. Back to basics is the

way forward for Dairy Support.

There has also been an upgrade to the tracks at Indigo

which will help with being able to get silage gear in and out

and will make stock work a lot more efficient. It should

also allow anyone to go and check their stock without the

need of 4wd - even Toni could get in there with her new

car.

This year, all winter crops were in the ground early and

haven’t required any extra N to get them to yield, so there

has been no issues with nitrates this year. This will mean

all winter blocks will be ready for cows to arrive.

There are plenty of changes at foot for Dairy Support,

especially on the people front. Emma Bell has been ap-

pointed to the new Team Leader role and starts in July.

We are pretty excited to see what she brings to Dairy

Support, coupled with being coached and mentored by the

best in the business.

Mike Palleson has also taken on a role as stock manager, and has been instrumental in helping turn the ship around.

And this is my first and last newsletter article at the helm

of Dairy Support as Ant will be taking over as Dairy Sup-

port Ops manager.

Doug Dolan - Operations Manager

Mmmmm: Cows at Ashton enjoy breakfast on a

beautiful autumn morning.

Page 14

PAYROLL & BUSINESS SERVICES

REMINDERS:

Leave: Please ensure that you complete leave request

forms for all Days in Lieu, and Annual Leave that you

wish to take – BEFORE YOU TAKE THEM

Changes of Details: There is a ‘Change of Details’

form on the website (or available from the Business Ser-

vices office), that should be filled out whenever any of

your personal, address, contact (phone/e-mail) or bank

details change.

PAYROLL ENQUIRIES - who should you

contact?

Please firstly talk to your Farm Manager or Operations

Manager with any queries regarding payroll.

All Longrow Dairies (Cloverlea, Kowhai Terrace, Parkhill

and Reigate) payroll queries can be directed to:

Kelly on 021 0816 3455, 9am – 3pm.

All BEL Group (Ashton, Ellingham, Fairlea, Hedley and

Springfield, Dairy Support, Engineering) payroll queries

can be directed to:

Nikki on 027 360 1022.

ASSET PURCHASES AND SALES: Please remember that there is a process to follow with

regards to BEL Group Asset Purchases/Sales and Dispos-

als. Please make sure you contact Paul Phippen in the

first instance regarding any Purchases/Sales or Disposals

of BEL Group Assets.

LATEST PAYROLL NEWS

UPCOMING CHANGES TO CONTRACTS:

As you are all aware, there are changes coming soon regarding

the structure of BEL Group, which is going to mean internal

movements of some employees, changing leave entitlements and

standard hours being worked per week, among other things.

This will mean for most of you changes to your contracts, with

new Schedule A’s being generated for you.

This also means that Kelly and I will have our hands full altering

details on the payroll system. Please bear with us while we get

these changes processed. If you notice that we have not made

the correct changes on the payroll system, please get in touch

with us to rectify any errors we may have made. This will ena-

ble us to have the processing of pay-runs running smoothly as

quickly as possible.

NEW LEAVE FORMS:

Please ensure that you use the website to obtain the latest ver-

sion whenever applying for leave.

SORRY, but we have altered the leave form yet again as we

require the Business Services Manager to approve or decline

any request which falls under ‘Special’ circumstances. Nicola

will need to sign off your leave request if it:

Is a request to cash up annual leave.

Is a request for leave, and your employment with BEL

Group is in the process of being terminated (either by yourself or BEL Group).

Remember – your leave is not officially approved until you

receive notification from the business services office.

Nikki Johansen - Finance and Payroll

ACC

If you need to go on ACC for any reason it is im-

portant that you quote “BEL Group” as your em-

ployer HOWEVER if you work for any of the

Longrow farms - Parkhill, Cloverlea, Kowhai Ter-

race or Reigate you will need to quote “Longrow

Dairies” as your employer.

Please note: if staff have been absent and are receiv-

ing ACC payments during this time—please ensure

the time off is coded with a ‘C’ for ACC on the

timesheet (and not ‘S’ for sick leave).

Upcoming Statutory (Public) Holidays

Monday 6th of June – Queen’s Birthday

Looooonnnnnggggg Winter working stint.

(I for one am hoping that it is very cold and snowy (only where I

need it, not on the farms!) during this time J)

Monday 24th of October – Labour Day

Page 15 Page 15 DAIRY UPDATE

ON FARM WORKPLAN

ACTIVITY JUNE JULY

EFFLUENT (RECORD

USE OF APPLICATION

IN EFFLUENT DIARY)

Irrigation Scheduled - Check pumps

greased and serviced. HBRC Inspection.

Effluent Irrigation Scheduled - Travellers checked

greased and serviced. Effluent analysis/ soil tests/

nutrient budgets review.

FARM BUILDING

MAINTANANCE

Dairy Shed water blasted – internal & ex-

ternal. Check and tidy calf sheds.

Check external / internal of dairy for re-

pairs completed.

All early milking 2 x hot wash

FINANCIAL Review your Farm Budgets.

HOUSE AND SECTIONS Wash house exterior, clean gutters and

mow lawns.

Mow lawns, spray section boundaries.

House Inspections.

MILK AND COLOSTRUM

SUPPLY

Check storage for penicillin milk

Training of staff on dairy routine.

Shed check completed

Colostrum supply routine organised.

PEOPLE Set Training Goals. Review vehicle and

machinery policies with all staff.

All milking routines to be written down.

KOT Review 1. Establish relief milker options.

Review milking roster with all staff.

Review calf rearing routines with all staff.

REPAIRS AND

MAINTANANCE

Shed check. Doseatron serviced.

Fencing all up to 4000 volts. Race repairs

completed.

Replace rubberware. Tanker tracks / driveways

graded.

STOCK RECORDS Winter Mating. Update culls and first cal-

vers. Retagging completed

BCS Herd

Record Mating's daily into mating book and

weekly into Daily Update

Yearling weights reviewed.

Record Matings daily into mating book and week-

ly into Daily Update.

Record spring calvings daily to MINDA and Daily

Update. Queries attended to while cows in co-

lostrum mob. Record Natural Matings daily into

mating book and weekly into Daily Update. Year-

ling weights reviewed.

SUPPLEMENT AND

FEEDING

Complete annual feed budget. Cows @

grazing checked. Feeding out recorded

daily on jot form.

EVENTS/MEETINGS/

REVIEWS

Farm Managers Meeting - Ashton.

On-Farm Plan Update.

Farm Managers Meeting.

On-Farm Plan Update.

CALVING Organise calf sheds and dehorning gear

Wean lates. Set up for calf rearing.

PSC 20th July - trim Cow tails.

Colostrum to Spring calves. Feed calves 2x daily

until 14 days old.

Dehorning autumns & wean lates.

MASTITIS & SCC Teatspray 14 days after last milking, run

herd through shed. Teatspray manually.

Mastitis treatment in Colostrum mob - risk of

Mastitis in Colostrum Mob and high SCC post

Calving. Teatspray manually.

MINERALS Cu Sulphate in troughs. Blood Tests.

Order spring mag.

Mag Dusting to dries and springers @ 80-100g/

cow. Cu Sulphate in troughs. Selenium.

TREATMENTS 7 n 1 Booster - Cows.

Rotavirus Vaccine -21 Days prior to PSC

Lice treatment if needed.

REPRODUCTION PSM June 10th - all natural mating, bulls in

herd. PSM Heifers 3rd. Bulls at 1:18.

Bulls out of autumn heifers at grazing.

Check bull soundness Daily.

SEASONAL RISK Calves: Scours, Pneumonia, Navel Ill, Parasite

Cows: Milk Fever.

STOCK MONITORING CS 5.0 all cows June 20. Hazard review

stock handling. BCS profile.

All cows minimum BCS of 4.5 by 1st July.

BCS profile herd, to be ≥ 5 at Calving.

Monitor LW of heifers at grazing

Page 16

Christchurch by Laurence Elliot

Page 17

NEWS AND EVENTS

LOCAL & INDUSTRY NEWS AND EVENTS

May

28 May CHB Service Day (Community Day)

Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau

10.00am Onwards

June

9 June Hawkes Bay RBN Farming Successfully within Nutrients

Limits

CHB Municipal Theatre, Waipawa

6.00pm-10.00pm

Tickets $10 www.ruralbusinessnetwork.co.nz/

event-tickets/

10 June Te Aute College Matariki Festival

Te Aute College, Otane

6.00pm-8.30pm

www.eventfinda.co.nz

15-18 June NZ National Agricultural Fieldays

Mystery Creek, Hamilton

8.00am-5.00pm Daily

www.fieldays.co.nz/

22 June DairyNZ Lower North Island

High Input Group

Plantation Dairies

Plantation Road, Waipawa

10.30am-1.30pm

Abby Scott: abby.scott@dairynz.co.nz

24 June F.A.W.C

Whiskey, Wine & Wild Food

CHB Municipal Theatre

7.30pm-11.55pm

$85

www.fawc.co.nz

26 June F.A.W.C

Mid-winter Christmas Market

Hawkes Bay A&P Showgrounds

Free Entry

www.fawc.co.nz/

July

17 July Norsewood to Takapau Fun Challenge

Takapau School, Takapau

8.30am-1.00pm

Adults $15, Kids: $5

www.sporty.co.nz/shbchb

30 July Motel California NZ Eagles

Tribute Show

Cactus Jacks, Waipawa

$35

www.eventfinda.co.nz

BEL GROUP EVENTS

May

30 May ACC Accreditation Audit

June

8 June Farm Managers Meeting

Ashton

11.00am – 2.00pm

10 June Effluent Samples due into BS Office

15 June SHED Leaders Meeting

Longrow Office

10.00am-11.30am

15 June Development Training

Winter Management

Longrow Office

6.30pm-9.30pm

21 June Lee Astridge

Farm Tune Workshop 3

Longrow Office

10.00am-2.30pm

July

6 July Farm Managers Meeting

TBC

11am-2pm

10 July Effluent Samples Due into BS Office

14 July Development Training

Fertiliser & Feed Workshop

Longrow

6.30pm-9.30pm

18-20 July Housing Inspections

TBC

WEBSITE LOG-IN

All staff are welcome to access the BEL Group

website (www.belgroup.co.nz) and resources.

Should you require a login and password,

please contact the Business Services Office on

06 858 8921. You will need to have an email

address to have this facility set up.

DAIRY UPDATE

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