Practical information on heifer training, drenching, and tail care to strengthen dairy farming through effective stockmanship and animal care.

Dairy nutrition is about understanding the nutrient requirements of dairy cows at various stages of lactation and combining various feed alternatives to meet those needs in a cost-effective manner.

Lameness is welfare issue that takes time, energy and skill to treat so early identification of lame cows is critical.

Udder health and milk quality are important to farm productivity and profitability. Every farm stands to gain from less mastitis.

In today’s tight labour market, we need to ensure our dairy farm assistant jobs are attractive and competitive – but how?

Our guests on this episode are Morrinsville farmer Johan van Ras, planting professional Antony Snodgrass, and DairyNZ’s Aslan Wright-Stow, Senior Manager – Environment.

This section covers a wide range of information about feed management on dairy farms, including seasonal management, production systems, supplements, crops and pasture types.

Why plan? As a business owner planning is an essential tool in helping you build a successful business, as it helps to clarify goals and strategies for your business to ensure you are achieving the best results.

Animal management is a critical component of farm profitability and sustainability. From genetics to herd management and more, this section covers topics that will help guide your decisions.

Methane is a big topic and it’s a pressing concern for our sector. We need to reduce our emissions, while improving profitability – but how? In this episode we dig into the research DairyNZ’s doing in this area.

How can we lift the national average six-week in-calf rate from its current position of 67%?

How does heat stress affect cows, what are some warning signs, and what can you do on farm to make life more comfortable for your cows?

Could reducing the number of milkings in a week help the dairy sector attract new staff and improve work-life balance?

How did we arrive at our current wintering practices? What’s next for wintering animals on crop? And what kind of changes can you make on farm now?

Shobana Reddy joined DairyNZ as an intern in 2019 and has continued to be part of the DairyNZ whānau in her role as a Research Technician.