Milk from the desert
How long does it take a country to build a dairy industry? One year, Qatar would answer.
On his 107ha Hauraki Plains farm Schipper applied Biozest to half the property. He says the effect on milk production was almost instant.
“As soon as the cows go on Biozest treated pasture, the fat and protein content in milk shot up,” he told Dairy News. Urine samples from treated and untreated paddocks are also said to show Biozest reduces urea excretion by 33%.
Schipper, who has trialled Biozest for four months, plans to keep going with it.
“In fact, I will do the whole farm with Biozest this season. My milk production from treated pasture definitely went up. I think it helps the animals utilise grass better.”
Schipper, who milks 300 cows, says 2011-12 was a great season and Biozest further helped push his returns up. In a bad year, he expects Biozest to offset production drop by lifting fat and protein content in milk.
Biozest, a liquid, is mixed with 50-500L of water. Schipper applies about 1L of Biozest per hectare. He says there have been no animal health issues so far. Feed costs are also less as pasture growth is improved.
Biozest is marketed by Indigo Investment, whose managing director Nathan Balasingham describes the product as “a new generation product”.
Biozest is an example of the new science ‘biomimicry’, where nature’s own process is cleverly imitated, he says.
“Biozest is made from plant extracts. It is prepared by a process that preserves the potency of the cell stimulant obtained from plants.
“The Biozest cell stimulant is the same natural stimulant that is present in animal, plant and microbial cells. Used at extremely low rates, it will increase the metabolic behaviour of the microorganisms to high activity levels. Microorganisms treated with a continuous supply of Biozest maintain the maximum metabolic rate.”