Drystock farmers fully understand times are tough for dairy farmers, but it's vital they keep lines of communications open.

This is the message from Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chairman and Bay of Plenty region president Rick Powdrell.

Rick says farmers need to keep the communication lines open, especially around their intentions over buying supplementary feed or paying for grazing animals.

'What is going on in the dairy industry is impacting on our industry too. People are taking stock away from grazing and not buying feed off meat and fibre farmers.

'It's important that communication is good. If I have got a winter feed crop I think I have grown for farmer and he doesn't want it, I don't want to find on May 20 that he's not coming," says Rick.

'It's the same with grazing. Farmers don't want find out late in April that grazers aren't coming on May 1.”

There are ways dairy and drystock farmers can work together for mutual benefit and that includes the rearing of bobby calves.

'Meat and fibre farms throughout the country are understocked. Some have been through severe drought and in some areas, because of the predicted El Nino summer drought which didn't happen, a lot of farms destocked early."

Rick says dairy farmers also stocked down too with a lot of cull cows in the last 12 to 15 months.

'To me, there is a real opportunity with dairy farmers' bobby calves to fill this gap. However, these calves need to be well bred. If you have got a Jersey herd, drystock farmers are probably not interested.”

Good cross bred or Frisian herds will probably be of interested especially if Angus, Hereford and Simental bulls have been put over the cows.

'Dairy farmers rear calves every year and most drystock farmers don't, so dairy farmers are best able to rear them. There are real opportunities to go out and seek meat and fibre farmers who want good stock.

'Rearing is critical, so do it well and look at long term arrangements with farmers who want quality animals.”

Rick says meat and fibre beef farmers are experiencing mixed fortunes and while beef has been strong, lamb prices have been disappointing.

'Wool has been the quiet achiever, slowly creeping up. The worst thing is to have boom and bust but wool is quietly ticking along plaining upwards, which is a real favour for all of us.

"The beef price has settled back a bit in the United States since January but the outlook is pretty good.

'It comes back to something we do not do well and that is marketing. There is an opportunity to promote our grass fed, non-antibiotic beef, especially in the US.”

Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers Dairy Section chairperson, says using milk to raise calves can result in a return of $6 per milk solids, significantly better that the current payout.

First Light Beef will also pay a guaranteed price for four-day-old Wagyu calves or those reared to 90kg, he says.

Emma Higgins, Rabobank dairy specialist, says that supply and demand for beef is still quite strong.

'However, there is a lot of inventory in USA freezers and we have seen softening of imported beef. Inventories are full because of cull cows combined with the Australian drought which saw a lot of product shipped to the States.

'The question mark is what cull numbers will be like this season and what culls will be like in the next couple of months. We understand freezing works are full which will obviously weigh on price fundamental but there is still strong demand in the US which looks set to continue.”

Rick, Andrew and Emma where among the speakers at a recent Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers dairy sector seminar at Awakeri called 'We are in this together”.