Strong wool growers wanting to introduce merino genetics, to take advantage of more lucrative fine wool prices, can now do so with confidence.

Undetected drench resistance is costing the NZ sheep sector almost $50 million a year — and it may only get worse.

Massey University is examining the economic impact and the production consequences of crossbreeding with Wiltshire sheep to a fully shedding flock.

Even more doubt has been cast on the economic value of drenching ewes with long-acting products, following a recent jointly-funded Beef + Lamb New Zealand study.

With lambing and calving about to start, Beef + Lamb New Zealand is reminding farmers of the importance of providing ewes and cows with suitable, well-sheltered areas for lambing and calving.

The ewe is under her greatest nutritional and metabolic stress in late pregnancy and in early lactation.

As farmers strive to maximise their lamb survival, interest in orphan lamb rearing systems has been steadily growing.

North Otago calf rearer Jared Ovens believes the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak has led to more farmers embracing animal traceability.

Collection of dead calves from farms around the country has stopped with farmers and the recycling company blaming each other for the impasse.

Severe feed shortages in parts of the country mean many ewes are on a nutritional knife-edge heading into lambing and could be at risk of developing metabolic disorders.