New associate director for DairyNZ
After 20 years of milking cows, Northland farmer Greg Collins is ready to step into the governance side of dairy.
Taranaki farmers will have the opportunity to hear about shifting to autumn calving at DairyNZ’s Farmers’ Forum this week.
The forum will update farmers on a project looking at the effects of transitioning a herd from spring-calving to autumn-calving. The project is being delivered by Dairy Trust Taranaki with support and funding from DairyNZ.
“Autumn calving is an option that some Taranaki farmers think may better suit the dry summers and warm winters they experience in this region,” says DairyNZ senior scientist Dr Jane Kay.
“Given this interest among local farmers we are supporting Dairy Trust Taranaki to investigate the costs and benefits of different systems.”
The forum is the fourth of five forums nationwide during February and March, and will be held at Dairy Trust Taranaki’s Gibson Farm at Hawera on March 11.
Provisional results of the Kavanagh farm trial, which compared a steady state spring-calving herd with a herd that has transitioned from spring-calving to autumn-calving, will be presented at the forum. The presentation will cover differences in animal performance such as milk production, reproduction, body condition scores and changes in pasture growth and supplementary feed use from the first two years of the three-year project.
Massey University Masters student Jake Jarman analysed the project data and will be delivering the presentation in conjunction with Dairy Trust Taranaki.
“Local farmers want to know if autumn calving is an option for them, so it’s exciting to be able to aid their decision-making in this area by providing good quality data and analyses,” says Jarman.
Recent rain has offered respite for some from the ongoing drought.
New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.
With much of the North Island experiencing drought this summer and climate change projected to bring drier and hotter conditions, securing New Zealand’s freshwater resilience is vital, according to state-owned GNS Science.
OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
The golden age of orcharding in West Auckland was recently celebrated at the launch of a book which tells the story of its rise, then retreat in the face of industry change and urban expansion.
OPINION: Should Greenpeace be stripped of their charitable status? Farmers say yes.
OPINION: After years of financial turmoil, Canterbury milk processor Synlait is now back in business.