Monday, 27 July 2020 11:59

Getting transport systems sorted

Written by  Staff Reporters
Bobby calves. Bobby calves.

Advice for transporting bobby calves this season.

Whenever calves leave the farm on a truck – work with your transporter to ensure their job as easy as possible and that your calves are treated with care, DairyNZ advises.

“You can position your bobby calf pick up and slink collection point to improve on-farm biosecurity by reducing the risk of exposure to pests, weeds and disease,” the dairy industry good organisation says.

It also suggests using the red, orange, green system to map out zones on your farm.

Rules for the red, orange and green zones

• Red: No go areas for visitors, tankers, livestock trucks (i.e. paddocks and heifer rearing sheds). Red zones can only be entered after a visitor carries out biosecurity requirements.

• Orange: Areas that have a mix of cows, farm staff, visitors and equipment (i.e. the milking shed and bobby calf sheds.

• Green: Areas that have unrestricted access to visitors, their vehicles, tankers and livestock trucks, but restricted access by cows (I.e. the milk tanker track, access tracks to houses on farm, bobby calf and slink pick up points).

The bobby calf and slink truck should remain in the green zone while on farm. When loading bobby calves, minimise crossover between the truck, drivers and the inside of your bobby calf sheds.

Holding and loading facilities should be designed and constructed so that calves are able to walk directly from the loading facility onto the truck.

Health and safety regulations mean that it is no longer acceptable for transporters to repeatedly lift calves from the ground to truck deck height.  Raised loading facilities will also help to improve the wellbeing of calves being transported.

More like this

Feeding newborn calves

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

Featured

Rural contractors call for overhaul of ag vehicle rules

Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.

NZ seeks certainty on US tariff, says McClay

Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Buttery prize

OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…

Gene Bill rumours

OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter