ANIMAL HEALTH / NUTRITION

June 2006

Dairying Today

Onshore meal venture

chief executive of Turners &
Growers. He quit that position
five months ago but remains a
director. He is also chairman of
Turners Auctions and McKay
Shipping.
David Dossor is a commodity trader in Australia, trading in
soya bean meal, wheat and barley. He imported large volumes
of palm kernel to Australia during the drought of 2001-02 and
he and Price first began importing it to New Zealand five years
ago. We started with J. Swap,
Matamata, to provide the essential pathway from sourcing the
product from Malaysia to delivering to the farmgate, including
warehousing, transport and dis-

Stock may
die on new
pasture
BEWARE of nitrate
levels in new grass or risk
poisoning stock, Dexcel
warns. The problem is
not restricted to Waikato
and could occur on farms
nationwide.
Exposure to high
nitrate levels while grazing new grass, winter
pasture and forage crops
can cause sick cows,
abortion of calves and
even death.
Dexcel farm systems
specialist Chris Glassey
urges farmers to take
care with newly sown
pasture. Recent tests for
nitrate levels in annual
ryegrasses at Dexcels
Scott Farm showed
dangerously high levels
before first grazing.
It tested at 4.4g/kg/
DM (0.44% of DM), a
dangerous level for nitrate poisoning. Anything
above 2g/kg/DM is a risk.
With a lot of new grass
approaching grazing
time, farmers need to be
aware of this problem.
Nitrate poisoning can
be rapid and deadly,
Glassey says. If cows
graze high-nitrate
pasture, acute poisoning
usually occurs between
half an hour to four
hours after consuming
toxic levels of nitrate.
Symptoms include
bluish/chocolate-brown
colour of mucous membranes, rapid/difficult
breathing, muscle tremors and staggering and
eventually death through
suffocation.
Quick treatment is
necessary. Should you
suspect nitrate poisoning, contact your vet
immediately, so the
animals have a chance to
be cured with an intravenous injection.
Any new grass has

the potential to cause

nitrate poisoning. Farmers must graze new grass
with caution. The problem wont go way over
winter, and farmers need
to be thinking about
nitrate levels in pasture
until July and August,
Glassey says.
New grass is pasture
sown in autumn after
crops such as maize have
been removed from midFebruary.
Toxic nitrate levels
naturally occur in plants
when nitrates accumulate.
Plant roots can still absorb nitrates at low soil
temperatures, but plant
growth and photosynthesis are relatively slow.
Therefore the
conversion of nitrates
to plant protein is much
reduced. This causes
nitrate to accumulate in
the plant.
Applying high levels of
nitrogen fertiliser in periods where plant growth
is limited by other factors
such as moisture and
temperature means more
nitrate is available for
uptake through the plant
roots.
When farmers put
cows out to graze new
grass they should consider the following:
Never put the
animals hungry in a highnitrate crop; fill them first
with hay, straw or other
safe forage.
Dont let cows graze
kale or ryegrass too hard.
The plant parts closest
to the soil (stem) contain
the highest concentration
of nitrate.
Monitor stock one to
two hours after putting
them on a new break
Ensure stock have
access to clean water.

tribution, David says.

The size of the operation
now demands we form a New
Zealand company to manage
and further expand growth to all
dairying areas and to complement the supply of soya meal to
the chicken-meat industry.
Palm kernel is an excellent
feed for dairy cows and the price
means it easily competes with
feed grown locally on expensive
dairying land.
Price has been New Zealand
distribution manager for several
years and now, with a stake in the
new company, expects to further
improve and increase coverage
throughout the country.
Hunter Grain directors (from left) Michael Dossor, Richard Price and David Dossor

Tel. 07 574 3484

FR AV O
O AI NL
M L Y
YO AB
U LE
R
VE
T

RAPID growth in the New Zealand market for palm kernel

meal has led to the formation of
a new Kiwi company to service
that demand.
Hunter Grain Ltd is a new
company replacing Hunter
Grain (NZ) Ltd, the biggest importer of palm kernel into New
Zealand. The name change is
subtle; the main difference is the
business will now be run locally,
not from Sydney.
Shareholders and directors
are Michael Dossor, Wellington,
David Dossor, a New Zealander
in Sydney, and shareholder and
managing director Richard
Price, Mt Maunganui.
Michael Dossor is former

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