Trace elements, including cobalt, copper, iodine, selenium, and zinc, play a vital role in dairy cow nutrition. Your cows need these elements for functions like growth, reproduction, and milk production.

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

Dead stock management is the process of dealing with farm animal fatalities. It is important to appropriately dispose of carcasses to avoid spreading diseases, contaminating water, and harming the dairy industry's public image.

Salmonellosis is the most common disease associated with acute diarrhoea in adult dairy cows. Salmonella bacteria from cattle can also be transferred to humans, causing significant illness.

Giant buttercup, one of 14 weedy Ranunculus species in New Zealand, is harmful to dairy pastures because cows find it distasteful due to its toxin, protoanemonin. This weed spreads across dairy farms, damaging pasture quality.

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.

Late summer strategies in dairy farming involve continuous monitoring of feed demand and body condition score (BCS). This page discusses how managing pasture effectively, considering factors like over-grazing and dry periods, is crucial.

Understanding the maximum milking time (MaxT) is key to making your milking system as efficient as possible. MaxT is a strategy to milk cows for a predetermined time based on milk volume.

The Taits focus on balancing sustainability with profit in their dairy farming practices. Based in Lowcliffe, Ashburton, the Tait Family Trust oversees an intergenerational dairy business that began milking in 2011.

Heifer grazing involves estimating your farm's ability to support the growth of dairy heifers to meet their target weights. It's important to evaluate the number of heifers your land can sustain based on the amount and quality of pasture.

Effective irrigation management benefits your dairy farm by preserving water quality, reducing costs, and ensuring compliance with water supply conditions. Find out how to operate within these conditions efficiently.

Heifer growth, best measured by liveweight, is a vital aspect of dairy farming. Consistent weigh-ins, ideally every 4-8 weeks, help monitor growth and spot issues early on.

Financial success in the dairy industry involves five steps. First, you need a motivating dream or purpose. This will encourage you to save money, invest wisely, and work harder.

Tony Coltman dairy farms near Dunsandel. At the start of the programme the dairy farm had an effective milking platform area of 335 ha. This was 100% irrigated, at a stocking rate of 4.1 cows/ha.

The P3 (Profitable Progressive Plains) Trust was set up in 2012 by a group of people, mainly dairy farmers to help drive success of the Dairy sector on the Hauraki Plains and to lift the wealth and well-being of the Hauraki Plains community.

Healthy animals and strong biosecurity systems are essential to support NZ dairy production and exports. Our work advocates for strong, evidence and risk-based systems and pragmatic policy outcomes that supports us to deliver a resilient future.

Thousands of New Zealand dairy cattle are wintered and/or grazed off farm. There are many ways graziers can protect the health of the stock they manage.

Exotic animal diseases, pest plants, and insect pests are significant threats to New Zealand's dairy farming. The page details DairyNZ's proactive steps to identify these risks through the Dairy Biosecurity Risk Evaluation framework (D-BRiEF).