How are farmers helping to shape DairyNZ’s animal care research and why does it matter for our global competitiveness? Penny Timmer-Arends and Dr Stacey Hendriks explain market expectations and the key factors influencing cow comfort.

Lameness is a cow health issue that requires timely detection and treatment. It affects the wellbeing of cows and people, taking time, energy and skill to treat. The DairyNZ lameness scoring system helps you spot early signs and monitor.

Fodder beet is a crop with high yield potential, offering many benefits for dairy farming, including adding body condition to cows and having less environmental impact than other feeds. It must be managed correctly to ensure the health of your cows.

Fodder beet is a feed option for cows that requires careful planning to avoid health issues such as acidosis. Before feeding it, you should measure your crop yield and test the leaf and bulb to determine its nutritional content.

Successful calf rearing starts as soon as the calf is born, requiring careful attention to safety, identification, and health protocols during collection.

Prioritising the health of bobby calves makes transporting them more efficient. Additionally, they must meet requirements for transportation before leaving the farm to keep them comfortable and healthy.

To ensure optimal growth, health, and well-being of calves, feeding strategies should be considered carefully. Research indicates that feeding a higher daily allowance, split into multiple feeds, is better for calves.

The transition period in a cow's life requires precise feed management to ensure health and optimal milk production. It’s important to set BCS targets, monitor those targets and adjust your feed budget as required, especially pre- and post-calving.

Senior animal care specialist

The purpose of allocating pasture accurately is to optimise both animal performance and pasture eaten per hectare.