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

Getting the pulsation and vacuum systems right is key to efficient and comfortable milkings. This page will cover the benefits of proper pulsation, how it works, and the essential components of a pulsation system.

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.

Summer dairy farming involves efficiently using spring pasture before summer heat and dryness diminish its quality. You should formulate a summer management plan early to ensure profitable production.

Erosion control is the practice of preventing sediment and nutrients from entering waterways and preserving topsoil on paddocks.

Designing and installing a new irrigation system for your farm involves making sure it fits your land, business and water regulations. This page emphasises how a well-planned system can boost the efficient use of water, energy, labour, and money.

Kikuyu-based pasture can offer similar profits to ryegrass-based farms when managed well. Common in Northland and coastal areas of the Upper North Island, kikuyu thrives in summer and autumn.

Acidosis is a metabolic condition that affects cows when their rumen pH levels drop below normal. This is often due to a high-starch diet. You'll recognise acidosis when your cows show signs like scouring, depression, and milk fever-like symptoms.

A pasture feed wedge is a tool that visually displays your farm's current pasture situation. By ranking your paddocks based on average pasture cover, it can help you make proactive decisions about pasture management.

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.

A well-designed and maintained track for your dairy herd can save time and money, and improve cow welfare.

Yellow bristle grass (YBG) is a pest plant harmful to pastures. This fast-spreading weed lowers pasture quality as cows avoid eating it. YBG spreads mainly through its seeds, which can move via dung, water, animals, or contamination in hay and maize.

Feed quality, often quantified as metabolisable energy (ME) per kilogram of dry matter (MJME/kg DM or M/D), is as crucial as feed quantity for dairy farming. High M/D value means better feed as it has more usable energy.

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.

A risk pathway is a method through which infection or disease can reach or spread from your farm. This page emphasises the importance of being prepared to prevent foot and mouth disease in New Zealand.

Grass staggers is a metabolic disease in cows caused by a magnesium deficiency. By giving cows extra magnesium in their diet, you can prevent health issues like grass staggers and milk fever, which can help increase milk production.

The milk letdown reflex in cows stimulates milk flow from the alveoli in the udder into the teat canal. It has to occur before a cow will milk out freely.

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.

Heifers, or young female cows, require careful planning and patience when introducing them to the milking herd. The page you're reading details steps to minimise stress and enhance milk production during this transition.

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.