DairyNZ has redeveloped and updated a reproduction knowledge course known as the InCalf training programme.

InCalf promotes a ‘continuous improvement process’, challenging farmers with their advisers to take a systematic approach towards a sustainable improvement in reproductive performance.

For Wilfred van Beek, getting the basics right in a simple grass-fed system has led to successful herd reproduction and repeatability.

Handheld digital or optical Brix refractometers offer a low cost, practical way to assess colostrum quality onfarm, and can help encourage famers to seek advice if colostrum is inadequate.

Getting cows in calf well takes a year-round approach. The results achieved in the mating period are impacted by many factors earlier in the season or even in seasons gone by.

DairyNZ experts will speak at a series of Bay of Plenty workshops on herd reproductive performance during September and October.