ATM - A2 Milk Corporation Limited

[Leftfield]

Thanks also Beagle, great to have this update on A2's progress in China. Thank you for posting it.Good comment also on the Nestle entry.

I also liked today's news release and was pleased to see an effective Tripling of the science role in ATM. Good to see the incumbent man staying on, and two replacements adding skills and support. I also suspect this is all planned and approved by the new CEO. Good succession planning.

Interesting times ahead.

[ratkin]

Suprised there not even been a slight reaction to todays news concerning the rapid spread of Mycoplasma, probably immaterial, however would have expected a little wobble.

[couta1]

Suprised there not even been a slight reaction to todays news concerning the rapid spread of Mycoplasma, probably immaterial, however would have expected a little wobble.

Doesn't affect the Milk.

[Jaiden]

Doesn't affect the Milk.

Actually Mycoplasma bovis causes the calcium content to be decreased in the milk and a higher somatic cell count. It just doesn't cause disease in humans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma_bovis

According to this stuff article, 22000 cows are being culled as a result, possibly with more to come. That's only about 0.03% of NZ's total herd.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/far...-mpi-estimates

[BlackPeter]

Actually Mycoplasma bovis causes the calcium content to be decreased in the milk and a higher somatic cell count. It just doesn't cause disease in humans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma_bovis

According to this stuff article, 22000 cows are being culled as a result, possibly with more to come. That's only about 0.03% of NZ's total herd.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/far...-mpi-estimates

Read the article again.

It is not Mycoplasma bovis (MB) creating these effects, but Mastitis (which can be caused by MB). No farmer will allow to have a significant number of cows with mastitis, because this is a condition which leads (if untreated) quite fast to the exitus of the respective animal. I.e. this might be (given bad enough living conditions for the herd) an issue for animal mortality, but no material issue for milk quality ...

I think as well that the overall impact of MB is widely exaggerated. It is endemic in all other parts of the world - without (given proper farm management) any significant impact on milk production.

I am grown up in Europe and used to live in an area with plenty of dairy farmers (and knew several of them quite well). MB was never an issue for any of them. However - they tend to look better after their animals than the typical NZ farmer does, they provide shelter for the animals, they have typically a lower animal density per hectar (and smaller herds) and they keep the animals cleaner. Wouldn't it be great if a disease would force NZ farmers to look a bit better after their animals?

[waikare]

Read the article again.

It is not Mycoplasma bovis (MB) creating these effects, but Mastitis (which can be caused by MB). No farmer will allow to have a significant number of cows with mastitis, because this is a condition which leads (if untreated) quite fast to the exitus of the respective animal. I.e. this might be (given bad enough living conditions for the herd) an issue for animal mortality, but no material issue for milk quality ...

I think as well that the overall impact of MB is widely exaggerated. It is endemic in all other parts of the world - without (given proper farm management) any significant impact on milk production.

I am grown up in Europe and used to live in an area with plenty of dairy farmers (and knew several of them quite well). MB was never an issue for any of them. However - they tend to look better after their animals than the typical NZ farmer does, they provide shelter for the animals, they have typically a lower animal density per hectar (and smaller herds) and they keep the animals cleaner. Wouldn't it be great if a disease would force NZ farmers to look a bit better after their animals?

Our cockies won't be to happy regarding your comment that, NZ farmers need to look after their animals a bit better.........

[BlackPeter]

Our cockies won't be to happy regarding your comment that, NZ farmers need to look after their animals a bit better.........

Didn't realize that it is my job to make cockies happy. Sorry, just calling a spade a spade. And just to avoid any misunderstanding - generalizations are always wrong - of course are there as well some farmers in NZ looking well after their animals. However - you don't need to drive far to see some where improvements wouldn't go amiss.

Some examples: I can't remember any other country where I have seen that frequently dense herds standing without any shelter in paddocks covered with animal excrement instead of having fresh grass. No wonder these farmers are the best customers of the medical industry (deworming). They probably wouldn't like to eat their own excrement, but they don't mind if their animals have to.

Can't remember to have seen in other countries that many examples of complete herds suffering from diarrhea, and the animals dropping basically liquid sh*t instead of nice and well formed cow pats.

As well rare to see in other parts of the world large herds covered with a dense mixture of mud and excrement. Not that unusual in NZ, though - again a result of too intense farming. No clean place for the animals to sit down and nothing (like trees, stumps or similar) on the paddock to allow them to clean themselves up.

Too many farmers see their animals only as milk production engine and don't care about their well-being.

Not surprising that animals like that are more susceptible to suffer serious consequences if they catch MB (or any other disease).

Just to finish this post on a somewhat higher note - as indicated, there are good farmers around as well (but not enough), and I think that initiatives like e.g. Synlait's "Farming with Pride" will over time improve things in the dairy industry. But yes, they are small steps and it is a long way to go.

[couta1]

Unfortunately animal abuse is quite prevalent in both the farming and non farming sector in NZ.

[Beagle]

Looking forward to confirmation of MSCI index inclusion early this coming week.
All good, no worries, $15 here we come

[bohemian]

I certainly hope you're right. See a fair bit of discussion on HC, one poster calculated it would only involve about 600000 shares which he reckoned wasn't that much. That is if ATM does even get included.