Thursday, 08 July 2021 11:55

Have your NAIT account up to date for calving

Written by  Staff Reporters
Brothers Manoj Kumar (right) and Sanjay Kamboj on their Eketahuna farm. Brothers Manoj Kumar (right) and Sanjay Kamboj on their Eketahuna farm.

From early July, it will be all hands-on deck for award-winning dairy farming brothers Manoj Kumar and Sumit Kamboj as they start welcoming their first winter calves of the season.

The 50/50 sharemilkers, who recently won the national Share Farmer of the Year award, expect around 760 calves on both Eketahuna properties which they manage along with their six-strong team.

Front of mind for both brothers is making sure all new-born animals are traceable and their details recorded in the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) system.

"We use LIC's dairy participant code tags as we know these tags numbers are aligned to NAIT and can be matched in the NAIT system. Once we've tagged the animals, the tag numbers are recorded in MINDA [livestock management system] and that synchs throuhg to the NAIT account for registration," says Kumar.

The brothers keep tabs on the NAIT accounts for the three NAIT locations they manage. When they first took over the sharemilking duties, they discovered that the NAIT records needed updating.

"Some of the herd were not registered in NAIT and the movement records were also requiring attentio. We called the OSPRI Contact Centre, and they were brilliant and very helpful getting the NAIT accounts to reconcile so we could become NAIT compliant."

On-farm biosecurity starts with making sure new-born calves are tagged and registered in NAIT within 180 days of birth (six months) or before their first movement off-farm, whichever happens first.

Kumar believes NAIT is not difficult to keep on top of and says it is essential for supporting disease management.

"I believe we are all learning from the M. bovis outbreak and how traceability has played a part in managing and containing it. There is also more information available about keeping your animals compliant with NAIT."

This season the plan is to hold on to most calves and to manage them at a recently acquired run-off block near both farms. Kumar said they wanted to build equity with their livestock and breed replacement heifers.

"We'll keep most of our bull and heifer calves and may sell some when they reach 100 kilos or just before finishing."

When moing animals on and off-farm, both brothers choose to scan the animal tags using a Tru Test scanner. This saves time and is particularly efficient for transporting animals off-farm.

"When we send our animals to AFFCO, they can make the NAIT movement on our behalf as they are an NAIT accredited entry. So we just have to provide an animal status declaration form (ASD) along with the animals being moved."

More like this

Feeding newborn calves

To ensure optimal growth, health, and wellbeing of calves, feeding strategies should be considered carefully.

Featured

Every vote will count - Alliance chair

An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.

John Deere technician's record hat trick

Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

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.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter