Resources for Veterinarians
Topics
2 min read
Get quick access to trusted DairyNZ resources, designed for busy vets supporting dairy farmers. As a veterinarian in the dairy industry, your insights help shape resilient, profitable and sustainable farm businesses. To support your work, we offer apps and resources designed to help you analyse, plan, and support farmers with confidence.
Your go-to tools and resources
If you are short on time, start with these quick links to the most used resources.
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Johne's Disease Management
Provide farmers with risk management tools to protect against the spread of Johne’s infection.
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Johne’s Disease – laboratory testing
This guide provides information on laboratory testing for Johne’s disease for both veterinarians and farmers.
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Caring for cows in transit
Support farmer discussions on cow welfare during transport with a simple, shareable visual tool.
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Down cows
Use this page to support farmers to promptly diagnose the cause, decide on a treatment, and follow a management plan.
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Tail management
Support behaviour and welfare conversations by addressing tail damage causes and practical prevention options.
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Body condition scoring
Use these body condition scoring with resources to support on-farm conversations.
What's new
Updated calf-rearing resources
New evidence-backed calf‑rearing guidance you can confidently point farmers to, focused on healthier calves and better lifetime performance.
What's timely
Achieving BCS targets at calving
Autumn is a make‑or‑break period for body condition score (BCS) outcomes at calving. For rural professionals, BCS conversations are a clear way to connect cow condition to production in the vat and reproductive outcomes.
Cows that calve at target BCS typically deliver better milk production and reproductive performance, resulting in:
- more cows in‑calf to AB
- more replacement calves
- fewer not‑in‑calf cows
- greater flexibility at culling.
Taking action now gives these cows the best chance of reaching target BCS, before the window to influence condition gain closes. Read more on strategies to improve body condition score on farm
Set the herd up for a more productive season by reducing mastitis on farm.
Now is the best time to review mastitis and SCC results and set clear targets for the coming season, as this informs critical dry‑cow decisions. For rural professionals, these conversations support calmer farmers, clearer expectations, more sustainable outcomes and reduces reliance on antibiotics.
Lower mastitis and SCC improve production, reduce costs, and can unlock milk quality premiums, while also supporting lower emissions intensity and reduced antibiotic use.
Use DairyNZ’s mastitis prevention resources to review on-farm strategies and dry‑cow management.
Explore more tools to strengthen your advice and support farmers
Support farmers to take practical steps to prevent and manage lameness on their farm.
Use these tools to guide consistent detection, early intervention, and informed on-farm conversations:
Work together to boost reproduction results with the InCalf programme.
Explore over 15 tools and resources, including guides, calculators, and training courses to support on-farm reproduction decisions.
Help farmers protect their herds with these practical biosecurity resources.
Use these tools to support on-farm planning, reduce disease risk, and strengthen farm resilience and guide confident biosecurity decisions.
Support mastitis conversations with practical, veterinarian‑approved resources.
Improve udder health, reduce clinical cases, and strengthen herd performance with the resources below:
The mastitis technotes to have on-hand, selected by vets:
Reduce exposure to environmental mastitis bacteria - Smartsamm Technote 1
Resources
Mastitis
How to reduce exposure to environmental mastitis bacteria
Use good milking technique and a consistent routine - Smartsamm Technote 5
Resources
Mastitis
How to use good milking technique and a consistent routine
Decide dry cow management strategy - Smartsamm Technote 14
Resources
Mastitis
Decide dry cow management strategy
Administer dry cow treatments as recommended - Smartsamm Technote 17
Resources
Mastitis
How to administer dry cow treatments as recommended
Unlock practical insights for animal health with these podcasts
We've curated a selection we think you'll find both relevant and thought-provoking for your role.
Looking for something else?
Explore the links below to return to the Rural Professional Hub, contact your local area manager, explore current research, or sign up for updates on upcoming events, resources, and insights to support your work with farmers.