Fonterra lifts forecast milk price mid-point, advance rate
Fonterra has bumped up its forecast farmgate milk price for the season on the back of rising commodity prices and a strong balance sheet.
THE PRESENCE of antibiotics in milk is reliably detected by a broad-spectrum test called Cowside 2, marketed by Food Tech Solutions, Auckland.
Typically, the cause may be adulteration of vat milk (sabotage) or milking of cows during a drug withholding period. Either way, knowing the antibiotic status of the milk is required and is of value, the company points out.
The key information for a farmer is whether the milk contains antibiotic levels that may result in a penalty grading.
Time is a critical issue, says Food Tech Solutions. But if there is doubt about the milk quality and at least three hours before the next collection then Cowside 2 will detect any antibiotics present in a milk sample. It will detect a range of drug families at or near to the allowable residue levels as set down for grading purposes.
Cowside 2 allows a farmer to confirm:
That the cows coming off withholding (as per the recommendations from a vet and dairy company) have antibiotic concentrations below allowable levels (a single or line of cows is milked and the milk tested).
That the new cows have antibiotic concentrations below allowable levels (a single or line of cows is milked and the milk tested).
That the vat or silo has antibiotic concentrations below allowable levels.
The product is a simple-to-use microbial inhibition test, the company says. If there are antibiotics in the milk over a certain concentration then when a Cowside 2 vial has milk added to it the bacteria in the agar in the vial will not grow . The agar will remain purple in colour (positive).
If there are no antibiotics present or they are present under a certain concentration the bacteria in the vial can grow. The agar will turn yellow (negative).
A starter kit for Cowside 2 contains all the necessary equipment and test vials plus instructions for use.
09 576 7326
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…