Preparing stock for transport is about ensuring a safe and comfortable journey, along with checking their wellbeing on arrival.

Nitrate poisoning in cows happens when they eat feed with high nitrate levels, often in late autumn or winter.

Copper deficiency in cattle, common during winter/early spring or in fast-growing calves over six months, can lead to issues like weight loss, reduced milk yields, reproductive problems, and anaemia in cows.

Calf scours, or diarrhoea in calves, can be caused by multiple factors and if untreated, can lead to severe dehydration and even death. This disease disrupts the normal water movement in the digestive tract, leading to water and salt loss.

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.

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.

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.

Theileriosis is a cattle disease spread by ticks, causing anaemia and sometimes death, especially in calves and cows during calving.

Milk fever is a metabolic disorder in dairy cows caused by insufficient calcium, often seen after calving. It can cause lowered milk production and other health issues, like ketosis and metritis.

Johne’s disease is a long term, infectious disease that affects the gut of cows and reduces their ability to absorb nutrients. There is no cure, so management focuses on reducing the risk of spread.

Humane on-farm slaughter refers to the practice of ending an animal's life with minimal pain, distress, or suffering.

The sooner you spot and treat sick and lame cows, the better. Learn how to identify, separate and care for sick and problem cows, about marking and recording systems, and the most common cow diseases. 

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease that threatens herd health and New Zealand’s dairy and beef industries. TB control and eradication is a shared responsibility, led through the TBfree programme managed by OSPRI and supported by DairyNZ.

Economic Values (EV's) are an estimate of the dollar value to a NZ dairy farmer of a unit change in each trait. Ten traits have been identified as having a measurable economic value to NZ farmers.

Discover how well-planned tree planting on farms can provide livestock shelter and prevent soil erosion while enhancing biodiversity, water quality, and pollination.

How can your actions during calving impact success at mating? Find out about the herd fertility cake concept and the key ingredients to focus on between calving and mating to improve in-calf rates.

In this episode, Jac McGowan and Mitch Cooper, veterinarian and DairyNZ’s Senior Technical and Policy Advisor, discuss how to prevent and manage down cows during calving season. Get practical tips on how to recognise early signs, treatment and care.