LIC semen probe results to be made public
The result of two probes into the supply of bad sire semen to over 1100 LIC farmer customers will be made public next month.
A SURVEY prompted by lack of data on calf deaths in the New Zealand dairy industry has found there’s a huge range in mortality.
The debate on euthanasia of calves following the Chilean clubbing footage prompted Manawatu researcher Dr Lucy Waldron to look into the death toll on farms here. She found there’s a dearth of data, not just on euthanasia but also on losses in general, so did her own poll.
While only 10 farms responded, even in that limited sample total losses ranged from 1% of calves intended to be reared, to 31%, averaging 7.4%. The survey also found a wide range in approach to farm biosecurity.
“It shows it’s a bit hit and miss, what people are doing,” Waldron, of LWT Animal Nutrition, told Rural News. “A lot are effectively leaving it to chance. They wash-out and disinfect before the calves arrive and then they have to take their chances from there.”
Only one had wheel-baths for vehicles and fewer than half had systems for ensuring rearers’ clothes were clean.
“Milk tankers may be cleaned at the factory but they often go to more than one farm on a collection round, and there are numerous other vehicles that go from farm to farm, potentially carrying infectious agents that can sweep through a calf shed.”
Even vehicles which don’t go from farm to farm pose a threat due to contamination of roads with manure and vermin carcases, she points out.
“You need to think of your farm as its own little island when it comes to biosecurity.”
Valuing heifer calves at $500 and bulls at $200 the financial loss of just the animals was up to $19,000/farm. “In a low payout year like this can you afford that?”
Only four respondents put a cost on losses other than the animal itself, ranging from $100 to $1000 in total, but Waldron suggests that given the time and effort involved in nurturing sick calves those additional costs are probably a gross underestimate.
“Calf rearing should be one of the most important activities on a dairy farm and I don’t think it gets the focus it deserves on many farms. Partly it’s because of shortage of labour but also it’s about farmers’, sharemilkers’ or managers’ attitudes towards it. Often it comes bottom of the priority list but herd replacement calves are your cows of the future and a lot of how they perform in later life is determined by their health and nutrition as calves.”
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
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