Free New Zealand tours

British beef, sheep and dairy farmers are being offered the chance of the holiday of a lifetime with four, free, travel tours of New Zealand, courtesy of Agrimin, the specialist feed company.

The competition to travel to the Land of the Long White Cloud on the two-week holidays comes soon after Agrimin agreeing a product export deal for a 20,000-cow dairy group in New Zealand.

The deal, to supply its vitamin and mineral bolus products through Dairyconcepts of Waikato, North Island, builds on Agrimin's other export successes, including Australia, Estonia, France, Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland and Uruguay.

James McCulloch, marketing director and shareholder in the north Lincolnshire-based Agrimin, said: "This is an important deal, but while we have been doing some good business abroad, we also wanted to do something special to show our appreciation of our customers here in the UK.

"We chose New Zealand for the draw competition because it is such an important place for livestock farming, as well as being an incredibly beautiful place people would like to visit."

The competition, which is being run in conjunction with farm tour specialists Farm to Farm, is open to all UK customers. One each of the four winners, who can take partners on the trip, will come from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

All customers buying an Agrimin bolus product from their animal health supplier or veterinary surgeon between February 1 and April 30 can enter the draw competition.

Mr McCulloch, recipient of the OBE for services to British exports, said: "Our bolus range encompasses different technologies, all of which are designed to deliver a controlled quantity of nutrients to an individual animal over a certain period of time.

"They dissolve completely, leaving the reticulum free of any bolus residue."

The natural but controlled characteristic of the products has been Agrimin's passport for success 'down under', hitting the spot with New Zealand's livestock vets.

Hugh Jellie, from the Dairyconcepts group, is one New Zealand veterinary consultant who has backed the Agrimin product range. Following trials and Hugh's advice, 20,000 milking cows in a 14-farm dairy group across North Island, are now provided with Agrimin boluses.

Mr Jellie said: "The cows in the dairy are all seasonal supply, which means they are dried off about the end of May and then calved-down in the spring of July to September.

"Winter management in large herds in New Zealand is a time from which many of our spring problems arise, as cows tend to be grazed off-farm where the farm manager does not have tight control over their feed intake.

"I chose to use the Agrimin boluses because the trial work showed they could cover us with good levels of essential trace minerals through our key challenge periods.

"Results to date confirm this to have been a justifiable decision, and we will also be using them in replacement young stock once they reach 150kg."

For further information contact: Julian Woodford or Mike Ackroyd at Mapa.

Tel: 01482 589900;

Fax: 01482 589926;

Email: julian@mapa.org.uk or mike@mapa.org.uk

For sales information, contact Agrimin: info@agrimin.co.uk or visit the company's website on www.agrimin.com