New research is helping farmers better understand and manage fertility, with clearer tools and measures to support more robust, productive herds.
The dry period isn’t just a farm holiday but a chance to get your herd match-fit for calving and early lactation. If you treat it as a focused phase of preparation, recovery and capacity building, you’ll see the benefits when the cows return to milk.
Research data and practical experience, from New Zealand and around the world, has shown that youngstock rearers can positively influence lifetime productivity of calves, kids and lambs, simply by feeding them well in the first eight weeks of their lives.
Somatic cell counts on the rise in late lactation?
New DairyNZ research will help farmers mitigate the impacts of heat stress on herds in high-risk regions of the country.
Bovonic says a return on investment study has found its automated mastitis detection technology, QuadSense, is delivering financial, labour, and animal-health benefits on New Zealand dairy farms worth an estimated $29,547 per season.
When Ian Smith built a 520-bed free stall barn on his Drummond dairy farm in 2014, it changed the way he farmed.
Summer can be a tricky period on farm. Cows approach the summer period milking well, but the summer heat causes rapid changes in pasture.
As we move towards the warmer, more humid months, farmers across New Zealand are already preparing for the annual challenge of facial eczema (FE).
A question many farmers ask themselves each year is: do we select individual bulls or take the team approach?
Animal welfare is of paramount importance to New Zealand's dairy industry, with consumers increasingly interested in how food is produced, not just the quality of the final product.
Third-generation Ashburton dairy farmers TJ and Mark Stewart are no strangers to adapting and evolving.
Thirty years ago, as a young sharemilker, former Waikato farmer Snow Chubb realised he was bucking a trend when he started planting trees to provide shade for his cows, but he knew the animals would appreciate what he was doing.
Animal owners can help protect life-saving antibiotics from resistant bacteria by keeping their animals healthy, says the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
The black and white coat of Holstein- Friesian cows is globally recognised as a symbol of dairy farming and a defining trait of domestic cattle. But until recently, scientists didn’t know which genes were responsible for the Holstein’s spots.
It's not often that mother and daughter share the limelight, but for two of Tahuna's Charbelle Holsteins' show cows, that's exactly that happened at the Holstein Friesian North Island Champonships, held at the Waikato A&P Show.
Most dairy goat farmers focus on getting energy, protein, and fibre right, and fair enough – feed drives milk.
Selenium pour-on is back on the market due to demand from veterinarians and farmers for the selenium specific veterinary treatment, says animal health company Inovata.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
Lameness takes toll on cows and farm performance. A lame cow produces less milk, loses condition and takes longer to cycle. The good news? Catching it early and treating it promptly gives her the best shot at a quick, full recovery — and helps keep your herd’s productivity on track.
The inaugural intake of the Holstein Innovation programme has produced its first young sire set to make an impact on the Holstein Friesian breed in New Zealand.
With spring underway, maize growers across New Zealand are preparing for planting.
An early adopter of a 10-in-7 variable milking regime, the Lincoln University Demonstration Dairy Farm (LUDF) is tweaking the system this season in search of further boosting farm performance and profitability.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
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