Mineral tonic supplement for calves
Hawke's Bay animal health supplier Animal Health Direct is further promoting its mineral tonic for calves launched in 2017.
New Zealand's dairy industry must catch up with world-best standards in respect of the environment and animal welfare, says Animal Health Direct founder Richard Kettle
He believes public perception and the new generation of farmers emerging are driving necessary changes.
“Urban people want to see green fields, healthy looking cows with free access to shelter and fresh clean water,” he says.
“If this perfect picture cannot be seen, dairying runs the risk of an end-user backlash. We will see reduced dairy consumption locally and by our trading partners.”
Consumers increasingly want to be at the farmgate and feel a connection with their food.
He says the sometimes unrealistic picture they have in their minds is what they want to see, and every effort must be made to present this scene they are after.
Animal Health Direct recently released a range of Belgian bolus products new to New Zealand via veterinary clinics.
The first – CalciTop – is a fast-release bolus containing Diacalcium phosphate as an inorganic salt for slower release of calcium, and calcium formiate as an organic salt for fast release of calcium 4.5 g phosphorus; 1.5 g magnesium and 200.000 IU per kg Vitamin D3 for milk fever prevention.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).