BOP Focus on Dairying is a joint initiative between the farming community, rural leaders, as well as DairyNZ as the principal funder.

The committee also runs a monitor farm project and a number of other projects focusing on topics ranging from farm profitability through to pasture persistence.

BOP Focus on Dairying initiatives include:

• Setting up four monitor farms.
• Promoting/driving on-farm research in the region.
• Providing farmers with local climate and pasture growth data relevant to their district.

Bay of Plenty monitor farms

Farmers can access data from a range of farms in their area by signing up for regular Bay of Plenty Monitor Farm emails.

The emails provide updates on pasture growth rates, average pasture cover, rotation length, feed intake and type of feed, N use, rainfall, milk production figures and number of cows in milk. The farms that provide data are in Opotiki, Matata, Galatea and Te Puke.

To sign up for regular updates email ross.bishop@dairynz.co.nz or visit the Subscriptions page.