Tuesday, 02 October 2018 11:36

Have your say on dairy herd improvement

Written by 

A review is underway of the NZ dairy herd improvement regulatory regime.

The regulatory regime contributes to the breeding of more productive dairy animals through herd testing, herd recording, animal evaluation and artificial breeding. It also has the potential to support better environmental and animal health outcomes.

Farmers have been testing samples of milk from their dairy cattle and recording data to inform their herd management decisions for over a century. For industry to achieve optimal rates of genetic gain, it needs a comprehensive, accurate and continuous supply of data to inform decisions on herd management and breeding. 

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) wants to hear from industry stakeholders about how the regulatory regime can help to ensure that New Zealand’s dairy industry remains world leading. 

The dairy herd improvement regulatory regime has not been comprehensively reviewed since it was established in 2001, says Emma Taylor, MPI’s Director of Agriculture, Marine & Plant Policy.

“It’s important the dairy herd improvement regulatory regime reflects the changing needs of the dairy industry. It’s timely to look at how the regulatory settings can better support industry both now and into the future.

“Dairy herd improvement adds substantial value to New Zealand’s dairy industry, estimated at around $300 million each year.

“We want to hear from people about how the regulatory regime can more effectively support the performance of the dairy industry. We also want to hear from industry on the effects of changing technology and the future implications on the dairy herd improvement sector.”

The six week consultation will run from Monday 1 October 2018 to 5pm Monday 12 November 2018. 

This review is separate to the review of subpart 5 of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (DIRA) which will look at the contestability settings and requirements on Fonterra. 

More like this

Bikinis in cowshed

OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.

Editorial: Agri's mojo is back

OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter