Providing a newbown calf with colostrum within 12 hours of birth is vital, we know that. And if maternal colostrum is unavailable or poor quality, a colostrum replacer can provide an essential alternative.
With milkings typically taking around 17 to 24 hours a week per worker, many farmers have been focusing on milking smarter to reduce hours and creative ways to shorten the working week - like the 22% who report they are using flexible milking.
Farming is becoming increasingly complex. Until recentyl, farmers had relatively few issues to focus on: feeding cows, producing milk and hopefully making enough money to feed their family and pay off their mortgages.
Everywhere I go, whether it be in town or on farm, I hear a similar topic being discussed. It’s the fact prices have risen and as a result farmers and growers have become very focused on controlling on-farm costs.
Making key decisions around feeding and supplementation for springer cows can have a bigger impact on a dairy farm’s profitability than any other single set of management decisions made throughout the rest of the season.
A proposal by Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to ban once-a-day (OAD) calf feeding will be unpopular, says Chris Collier, Probiotic Revolution.
SIDE 2022 will offer a wide range of workshops which provide practical solutions to farming challenges and help farmers taking advantage of a rapidly changing farming environment.
South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) 2022 chair Anna Wakelin is promising a dynamic two-day affair.
It was third time lucky for Smaller Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH) in staging a field day in the Manawatu with previous attempts being thwarted by Covid. About thirty people turned up at the dairy farm of Aly and Ian Passey in the beautiful Pohangina Valley, about 20km north east of Palmerston North.
Lawrence Satherley's mother Joy was an incredible woman, by anyone's reckoning.
Over the last decade there has been an increasing national emphasis on measuring and mitigating the environmental impacts of food production systems.
Contemplating what this year’s dry will mean for your feed supply in late winter and early spring?
A deficit in pasture protein levels last summer, combined with a good payout, has seen dairy farmer demand for quality, cost-effective protein-rich supplements soar. according to a feed importer.
Given that New Zealand farmers are being expected to improve their environmental footprint, some trials in the UK around under-sowing in growing forage maize crops may have some benefits here too, particularly in the south.
A Waikato family among the first to enter the commercial dairy sheep industry is starting to see the rewards of their hard work as they come to the end of their second season.
Solar-powered smart cow collar manufacturer Halter claims it will help combat the country's acute labour shortage when it expands into Taranaki, Southland, Otago and the Central Plateau next month.
CRV says it is now offering innovative sexed semen technology to New Zealand dairy farmers.
Now into its seventh year, the Beef+Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Genetics Dairy Beef Progeny Test (DBPT) continues to create value for both the beef industry and the dairy industry, by identifying and enabling the widespread use of superior bulls for use over dairy cows.
Using DNA to identify the unique make-up of a dairy cow will become an increasingly powerful tool for dairy farmers as they look to fast-track the genetic gain of their herds, says new CRV myDNA product manager Anna Morrow.
With pressure growing on the farming industry to minimise wastage, reduce omissions and develop sustainable practices, many dairy farmers are now proactively looking for opportunities to optimise their herd and derive complementary income through involvement in a dairy beef value chain, says First Light Wagyu.
The Horn family's Kuku and Allandale Jersey Studs are the oldest Jersey studs owned by one family in New Zealand, says Peter Horn recalling his great-grandfather started the Kuku Stud in 1914.
Animal nutritionist Natalie Chrystal is urging farmers to choose the right milk replacer for calves this season.
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