Sodium is vital for dairy cows, aiding in water balance and nerve and muscle function. It's expelled routinely and needs replacing. This page discusses how certain regions, like the Central Plateau pumice soils, can be deficient in sodium.

Changing to shorter twice-a-day (TAD) milking intervals allows you to redesign your day and achieve a better work-life balance. The traditional TAD milking intervals in New Zealand have been 10-14 hours, leading to long workdays.

Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is a widespread disease impacting around 80% of New Zealand's dairy and beef herds, causing losses in reproduction, increased disease, and reduced growth and milk production.

Once-a-day (OAD) milking is the practice of milking cows only once during a 24-hour period. This page covers the reasons and options for implementing OAD milking on your farm.

The nature and scale of many dairy farming businesses is changing and there are many self-employed business opportunities available for individuals and partnerships.

Calculating Metabolisable Energy (ME) needs is important for dairy cows. You adjust for feed quality by adding or subtracting 4% per MJ ME/kg DM from the standard 11.0 MJ ME/kg DM.

Here you’ll learn about ways to make your herringbone dairy more effective, often for little or no extra cost. The swing-over herringbone is the most common dairy type in New Zealand, used on 69% of dairy farms.

The page focuses on the importance of well-designed and maintained intersections between the yard and track on a dairy farm.

Apart from milk culture, individual cow somatic cell counts (ICSCCs) are the best method for determining whether cows have subclinical mastitis.

Carbohydrates, forming about 75% of plant dry matter, provide the major energy source for dairy cows and aid in milk glucose and fat production.

Body Condition Scoring (BCS) is a method to monitor dairy cow health and productivity. This page provides a guide on how to carry out BCS, highlighting specific body parts to check, including the backbone, ribs, hip bones, and more.

Understanding calf digestion and rumen development is crucial for successful growth and future production.

Integrated cattle handling facilities, including head bales, crushes, and AI races, are essential for safe and efficient animal health tasks for both cows and handlers.

Lameness treatment in cows is crucial for quick recovery. This page details how to effectively treat various hoof conditions, such as white line disease, sole bruising, hoof wall cracks, and digital dermatitis.

As a farm owner, you are responsible for a multimillion-dollar business. When looking to establish a successful relationship, an important approach is to view this as a business-to-business partnership.

Herd reproductive performance is a crucial factor in your dairy farming success. This page highlights the importance of accurate record-keeping, right from a calf's birth, to get a true picture of your herd's reproductive health.

Feed density and storage are crucial for dairy farming. Proper planning optimises storage solutions and maximises feed resources. Use our tables to help calculate storage space requirements when planning new or evaluating current storage.

Maize is an essential crop for New Zealand dairy farmers, helping enhance feed supply, manage climatic risks, and support pasture renewal. Growing maize on a dairy farm can also extract soil nutrients and reduce costs in high-fertility effluent areas

Proteins are essential for many metabolic functions in dairy cows, including growth, lactation, and reproduction. This page explains that the protein in feed, known as crude protein (CP), is calculated based on the feed's nitrogen content.

A successful dry period for cows entails hitting body condition score (BCS) targets before calving. This page emphasises the importance of meeting the cow's energy needs for maintenance, activity, BCS gain, and pregnancy during this time.