In calf rearing, the smallest details often have the biggest impact. While feed and genetics remain critical, bedding is increasingly recognised as a key driver of calf health, growth, and overall performance.

For decades, probiotics in calf rearing have been treated as a reactive tool – something to reach for when illness strikes. That thinking, according to Matt Collier of Probiotic Revolution, is leaving significant money on the table.

When a cow goes down after calving, it is easy to blame the calving itself. Milk fever, calving stress, poor weather, bad luck. Yet many down cows are not caused by one dramatic event. They are the end result of poorly transitioned cows entering calving under nutritional pressure.

Mid-season on farm is where good habits are tested. Workloads build, the days stack up, and what felt straightforward at the end of the season can begin to feel like a grind. It is also the point where small lapses in consistency can creep in, often without anyone noticing in the moment.

As spring calving cows head into dry-off, the priority shifts to one thing: setting cows up to calve at the target body condition score (BCS).

The 2026 Holstein Friesian sales season has already delivered outstanding results across New Zealand and Australia - including a new Australasian record.

OPINION: For many Kiwi farmers, the nutrients our farmers need simply arrive when they are needed, get applied when conditions suit, and are largely viewed as one part of the rhythm of the farming year.

OPINION: Farmers have been clear: it is getting harder, not easier, to find and keep good people.

Last week marked New Zealand Sign Language Week and a South Canterbury tanker operator is sharing what it's like to be deaf in a busy Fonterra depot.

The Envrionmental Protection Authority (EPA) has welcomed the deicsion by the Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) to withdraw its appeal of the High Court's decision confirming the Authority had acted lawfully when deciding not to reassess glyphosate.