increase font size
Farms are now required to have proper loading facilities for bobby calves.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says farmers nationwide appear to be better treating bobby calves headed for slaughter.
This is a response to last year’s new regulations requiring proper facilities for loading calves onto trucks, including shelter, and the rule that sick calves or those up to four days old must not be sent to the works.
MPI manager of animal compliance, Peter Hyde, told Dairy News compliance this year is very good, as it was last year.
He says in 2017 only six calves out of every 10,000 arriving at meat plants were defective; he reckons so far this season the number is the same or slightly better.
“Compare that with 2008 when 68 per 10,000 calves arrived in a poor state. Over the years we have seen significant improvement and we got a very big improvement in 2017 and now this year,” he says.
Hyde refers to MPI’s ‘follow the bobby calf truck programme’: MPI vets and inspectors follow trucks onto dairy farms for inspection including checking the loading facility. They check the calf shelter and the calves presented for trucking.
“This year we have checked trucks in Northland, Waikato, Manawatu and Southland and, yes, we’ve been pleased with the rate of compliance. So far we’ve found only one farm with no loading facility and that farmer has been ordered to stop sending calves to the meat works until he gets a loading facility.
“Two farms had inadequate shelter so again they’ve been ordered to get shelter in place and we will re-inspect.”
The rules allow fines for truckers who take sick calves to the works, and now MPI is hearing of truckers leaving calves on farms because they judge they are unfit for trucking.
Hyde says farmers should take greater responsibility for their animals and not leave it to truck drivers to decide what animals should go to the works.
MPI is also closely monitoring calves arriving at saleyards and has so far issued three infringement notices to people presenting unfit calves at sales.
“The message is aimed at people who might understand that because we have 200 vets in meat plants they think they might be able to offload weak or poorer calves at saleyards.
“But we are inspecting saleyards also and we’ll take action if we find non-compliance.”
MPI staff have this season issued 40 infringement notices which carry an instant fine of $500. Offences have included calves being blind in both eyes, unable to walk and poor general health.
Hyde says the number of such infringements is roughly the same as this time last year, but it’s much better than several years ago.
The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
An initiative by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to connect farmers with scientists is taking off judging by the response at recent regional field days.
Scientists from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) are part of an international team working to develop a low-cost diagnostic tool that could significantly improve food crop production in developing countries.
Horticulture Minister Nicola Grigg says she takes her hat off to all NZ growers for the hard yards they have put in over the last few years which have resulted in horticulture exports expected to reach the milestone of $8 billion this year.
At a gala evening held at Palmerston North in March, the sporting and rural communities came together to celebrate the Ford New Zealand Rural Sports Awards.
Assessing pasture cover has just been become easier, thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) has appointed Dr Scott Champion as its new chief executive.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has launched a powerful new tool to help commercial beef farmers select the best bulls for their farm businesses.
Air quality is a major safety issue for New Zealand, with approximately 650 deaths per year caused by cancer attributable to airborne contaminants.
Three weeks on from Bremworth’s board overhaul, the carpet maker’s chief executive Greg Smith is stepping down.
OPINION: Is it the beginning of the end for Greenpeace?
OPINION: The good times felt across the dairy sector weren't lost at last week's Beef + Lamb NZ annual meeting.
