Heat stress can negatively affect dairy cows in many ways. DairyNZ is researching methods of identifying when heat stress might occur to help farmers manage their herds and lessen its impact.

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

Winter preparation for cows is key to their health and productivity. Ensure they're in good condition, as fat acts as insulation. Group dry cows based on their condition and calving date, enabling tailored feeding and protection from dominant cows.

The loss of sediment from a farm can affect farm productivity, as well as the health of waterways. The good news is there are on-farm actions that can help.

Breeding Worth (BW) is an index that ranks cows and bulls on their ability to breed profitable, efficient replacements. This page explains how BW is used to create herds resilient to changes and disease, therefore increasing farm profits.

A breeding value is an estimate of an animal's genetic merit for a particular trait. Using breeding values to select cows and bulls to be the parents of the next generation is the most effective way to achieve genetic improvement.

Cow performance measurement lets you identify the most and least productive cows in your herd.

Effective cow data recording and performance measurement on your farm can make the difference in breeding decisions.

A new multi-year programme of work, led by AgResearch and jointly delivered by DairyNZ, is working with farmers to understand and reduce E. coli losses into waterways.

DairyNZ’s subsidiary NZAEL (New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited) has recently made a new fertility trait update – in this episode we’ll discuss what this change will mean and how it will benefit farmers.

Scientist

NZ Animal Evaluation Manager

Dead stock management is the process of dealing with farm animal fatalities. It is important to appropriately dispose of carcasses to avoid spreading diseases, contaminating water, and harming the dairy industry's public image.

During the transition from dry to milking cows, it's crucial to manage their health effectively to ensure their reproductive performance, production, and longevity aren't compromised.

Thousands of New Zealand dairy cattle are wintered and/or grazed off farm. There are many ways graziers can protect the health of the stock they manage.

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.