Holistic plan to fix 'broken industry'

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Rural professionals and farmers are being sought for the next stage of a pilot programme that aims to offer a holistic approach to fixing a "broken dairy industry".

Veterinary consultant Hugh Jellie is co-ordinating the Caring Dairying Project, which has been set up to tackle problems with leadership and people management skills in the sector. A lack of these skills, particularly in large herds (more than 700 cows), can affect animal health and production, the environment and the overall business, he said.

"We're trying to fix the dairy industry but the hardest part is convincing people that it's broken," Mr Jellie said.

He believes the industry has not made enough advances in production, reproductive performance and animal welfare, and attributes part of the problem to farmers not employing the right people.

"Even good operators are struggling with people management and that's an area we don't seem to be identifying as an issue. We've been challenged to improve our animal and environmental stands, and ... compliance requirements, and we won't do any of them effectively without improved people skills."

Four pilot programmes have been running in Southland this season. They have had farming and business specialists – such as vets, accountants, HR experts, business and farm consultants – working with farmers to address issues.

The next step is to expand the scheme to a wider audience, with the aim to get 50 farms involved nationally, Mr Jellie said.

"If we want to get better dairy businesses ... then it requires the harmonisation of four elements – your animals, your people, your environment and infrastructure and your business stuff.

"But ultimately ... if we want to get results in large herds, it's about getting results out of other people. It's a management principle and no difference from any other business."

At the start of the project in 2008, a survey of 9 per cent of large herd (more than 700 cows) dairy farms in New Zealand showed people management was poor and the importance of the cow in those herds was not as important as expected, he said. "We expect it to be the priority but it doesn't seem to rate as high as it should in large herds – they're prone to accepting lower performance out of cows when they shouldn't. We put that down to a lack of basic skills and lack of development of capability on farm, and investment in people."

The scheme is a collaboration between Dairyconcepts, Pfizer Animal Health, the Sustainable Farming fund and DairyNZ.

To register interest, email: hugh@dairyconcepts.co.nz.

mark.hotton@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

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