TAUHARA MOANA Trust dairy farm near Taupo is a long narrow block located between Mt Tauhara (Maunga or mountain) and Lake Rotokawa (Moana - water). It’s one of many large-scale dairy farms in the Broadlands area where Mt Tauhara forms an imposing backdrop, as does steam rising from Lake Rotokawa and adjacent geothermal sites. The farm is part of Ngati Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa’s ancestral lands, the tribes to which the trust is affiliated.

The revolutionary robotic rotary dairy is now a reality with the world's first commercial installation in operation at Gala, the dairy farm operated by the Dornauf family in northern Tasmania.

Cow behaviour expert, Darold Klindworth, says farmers need to identify the signs of cow stress to improve the milking experience for their animals and staff.

People, perception and pride is the theme of this year's South Island Dairy Event (SIDE), challenging dairy farmers' views on the industry now and into the future.

Canterbury won the trifecta at the 2012 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards on Saturday night, with its regional representatives winning all three titles.

The North Island cow kill has still yet to find its feet. This continues to help support beef schedule prices which continue to hold fairly steady. Returning to a full kill week a fortnight ago, the kill increased slightly from the shorter Easter weeks but was still struggling to match levels seen at this time of the year. Just over 21,000 cows were slaughtered the week ending April 21st, down on the usual 27,000/wk for this time of the season.

THE KAPENGA M dairy farm has a simple philosophy: maintain ownership and grow its people’s expertise in farming.

BULLS BRED to meet the special requirements of farmers milking once a day (OAD) could be available in New Zealand within the next five years.

THE MANTRA of regional councils and dairy companies on dairy shed effluent is that holding capacity must be sufficient to ensure that, during wet weather, effluent spraying can be avoided, so minimising risk of ponding and runoff to waterways.

LELY HAS launched a new automated feeding system.  The Lely Vector is the next major step in automating working methods within dairy farming and as such, it matches the impact of the milking robot, the company says.