DairyBase Senior Analyst

NZ Animal Evaluation Manager

Ryegrass selection for a dairy farm system involves key decisions: choosing the right ryegrass variety (from annual to perennial), picking an endophyte for insect control, and selecting ploidy (diploid or tetraploid) and a heading date.

Establishing a successful sharemilking or contract milking relationship requires thorough due diligence. Understand your own situation, including goals, values, financial standing, and farming practices.

White clover is a top-quality feed used widely in New Zealand's dairy pastures. Different types have varying purposes in dairy farming. Italian and Annual ryegrass, and Red clover perform well in summer dry areas, complementing white clover in mixes.

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

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

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.

Governance in farming involves leading the business and managing its daily operations. This page explains the role of governance in all farming businesses, regardless of size, including small family-owned farms.

Once-a-day (OAD) milking is a practice adopted by dairy farmers to manage their herds during late lactation, particularly from Christmas onwards.

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).

Improving milking efficiency is one of the great wins for dairy farmers.

Learn the habits of farmers with excellent pasture management, including controlling daily grazing area, treating pasture like a crop, and maintaining optimal pasture cover.

Frustrated that milking wasn’t more enjoyable for his team, Bay of Plenty farmer Gordon McFetridge decided it was high time to seek help from milking expert Josh Wheeler.

Volcanic eruptions pose a risk to dairy farm animals due to toxic ash containing fluorine. Hungry animals grazing short pastures are especially at risk, but rainfall can reduce the danger as fluoride is soluble.

Exploring new, cost-effective off-paddock wintering options for dairy farmers, particularly in the southern South Island, where farmers utilise winter crop grazing.

Use this calculator to calculate the dimensions and working volume of your effluent pond or tank.

This is a financial tool. It estimates the relative profitability of different catch crop options.