This Talking Dairy episode covers the new Dairy Beef Opportunities programme, a cross-sector initiative boosting dairy-beef value, improving outcomes for non‑replacement calves, and strengthening dairy-beef integration.

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease that threatens herd health and New Zealand’s dairy and beef industries. TB control and eradication is a shared responsibility, led through the TBfree programme managed by OSPRI and supported by DairyNZ.

Proactive visitor biosecurity management helps protect your herd and your business. Visitors can unknowingly bring in diseases, weeds or pests that threaten animal health and farm productivity.

The transition period in a cow's life requires precise feed management to ensure health and optimal milk production. It’s important to set BCS targets, monitor those targets and adjust your feed budget as required, especially pre- and post-calving.

Our understanding of animal welfare has evolved. Instead of focusing solely on health and production, there is now a broader perspective that considers behaviour and affective state, which considers an animal’s experiences and overall wellbeing.

Effectively managing nutrients and contaminants is essential for sustaining waterway health and farm productivity.

Body Condition Score (BCS) is a critical element in managing the health and reproduction of your dairy herd. It's essential to maintain BCS targets, as too thin or too fat cows can negatively affect reproductive performance.

Mastitis affects udder health and milk quality, impacting farm productivity. To manage it, use SmartSAMM, which offers guidance on reducing mastitis and somatic cell counts.

Read more on how DairyNZ is understanding how predicted changes to climate will affect cow health and welfare.

Dairy stockmanship covers interactions between cows and people, and when practised effectively, creates a safe and efficient work environment; it also improves animal health and production.

Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) is a bacteria that affects cattle, impacting their health, welfare and productivity. If your farm is affected by M. bovis, there's support available, including financial assistance.

Successful weaning in calves relies on proper nutrition, adequate weight, and gradual transitions. It's important to ensure calves are consuming the right amount of feed and meeting their weight-for-age targets.

Prepare your team for a successful calving season with CalvingSmart. This workshop is designed to build confidence, strengthen skills, and ensure everyone on farm is ready to support cows and calves safely and effectively during calving.

Endometritis is an infection or inflammation of the uterus that persists beyond the third week after calving.