Fonterra knows the people on farm make all the difference. The Dairy Hygiene training programme was developed to enhance the knowledge and expertise already on farm, and arm staff with the tools they need to provide top quality milk to the Co-op.
Sometimes on farm things don’t go as planned and milk quality challenges can happen. Fonterra’s unique Milk Quality Support model enables farmers who have received a downgrade to access specific services and advice to improve milk quality.
For years the Co-op has partnered with independent quality assurance company QCONZ to run these programmes and work with farmers and their wider farm team to improve on farm capability around milk quality and hygiene.
Last year 24 farms completed a pilot series of Milk Quality Support Training workshops, held on farm in Southland between July and August. These farms had experienced milk quality challenges, with all having seven or more downgrades during the 2022/2023 season. The training delivered by QCONZ was funded via reimbursement of the downgrades the farm had received in the season, in-line with the Milk Quality Support model. The training was attended by more than 100 people ranging from milk harvesters through to farm managers and owners.
Of the farms that participated, there was a 78.3% reduction in downgrade days following the training and none increased their downgrade days.
- Nine farms went grade free for the 23/24 season
- Nine farms only had one or two grades this season
- The total downgrade days across all 24 farms went from 327 to 71.
Positive engagement
In its report, QCONZ congratulated the Co-op farmers’ engagement in the process.
“The turnout within these visits was awesome with 109 attendees total. A highlight was not only seeing the level of engagement within staff, but also owners, overseers, and operators all feeling that it was very worthwhile going through the training. They all left having learnt something.”
Attendees were positive in their feedback
“Never seen staff members so engaged, as a boss you feel like you repeat yourself and having someone else come in to run through the importance really helps get the point across.”
“Worthwhile, will recommend to other farms. Staff took in a lot.”
“Staff are new to dairying so really helped set them up around the why and how they influence milk quality and what they can do to make sure milk produced on farm is high quality.”
“The training highlighted the importance of everyday tasks that have always been ‘just cos’.”
“Felt more confident following this as learnt some tricks and importance of checking wash programme.”
‘Attention needed’ trends
The main trends observed during the visits and training related to wash programmes and hygiene, including:
- Wash programmes not designed to cylinder/tub size resulting in incorrect detergent rates
- Silo cleaning best practice; with QCONZ trainers educating around removing door and door seal for greater wash performance
- Interceptors not being checked regularly and needing to be cleaned out.
Expanded support and resources now available
In addition to those involved in the Southland workshops, a further 200 farms have undergone training with QCONZ, with more than 700 people taking part. The Co-op is now scaling up this support and training nationwide. Any farm can now take part in the training as professional development. The focus is farms that have had milk quality challenges and where a farm has incurred downgrades this can be used to offset the cost. If other farms are interested in the training, this is available at a cost of $475+GST. Call us on 0800 65 65 68 to get a training session booked in for your farm.
The Co-op has a range of resources available to help farmers improve and maintain milk quality including a pre-season and downgrade solving checklist, and a series of factsheets on reducing the risk of downgrades.
Call our Milk Quality Team on 0800 65 65 68 to arrange a training session on farm.