Dairy grazing payment sought

Dairy graziers say a change to the payment system is fair and long overdue. They want to be paid when the cows arrive or early rather than in arrears reports Country-wide. The Cookson family in Canterbury have had a relationship with a dairy farmer that spans eight years which they value a great deal. "Its success comes down to communication both ways," says Tim Cookson. The farmer and agronomist says graziers like themselves spend a huge amount of money establishing feed crops in spring and yet they are not receiving final payment until after August 20 the following year, long after the cows had finishing grazing the crops. "There is a big lag between when we spend the money and when we get paid. "Even we could get paid a month earlier it would make a difference." He feels all payments should be settled before the cows leave their winter grazing. In the past, the Cookson family ran sheep and only got cows in if they had a surplus of feed in autumn. Now it is the other way around, but if the margins went out of dairy grazing they could go back to other land use options. Tim believes dairy farmers have set their farm systems up in the expectation that they will winter their cows off-farm. The other option is for farmers to drop cow numbers and winter on the milking platform, but Tim suspects few would be prepared to lose production at this time. Colin Glass, general manager of Dairy Holdings, says grazing agreements are a case by case basis and are something both parties need to agree upon amongst themselves.