DairyNZ has put together in-depth tools and animations on how to milk efficiently while ensuring cow health.

A new dairy conversion is a vote of confidence in the dairy industry by farmer Peter Schouten, of Swannanoa, North Canterbury.

They can be described as Fonterra’s unsung heroes.

Civil Defence, or ‘Emergency Management’ as it prefers to be called, must put its staff and volunteers through a rural awareness course.

Waiau dairy farmer Graeme Coats is full of praise for the engineers who got his rotary milking shed working again within two days of the November 14 7.8-magnitude quake which has disrupted the South Island’s upper east coast.

Some actions by Civil Defence (CD) staff in the quake-hit Kaikoura region are stressing farmers, says Federated Farmers spokeswoman on adverse events, Katie Milne.

The Minister for Primary Industry, Nathan Guy is planning to visit badly quake damaged farming areas in North Canterbury and Kaikoura tomorrow.

There are reports of rotary dairy sheds being badly damaged around Kaikoura and parts of North Canterbury by the earthquake.

Earthquakes can result in considerable damage and disruptions to farm businesses. Following is information offered by DairyNZ to help farmers and farm workers deal with the aftermath of earthquakes.

The success of an on-farm exercise run by the Ministry for Primary Industries shows that NZ is well prepared to manage the biosecurity aspects of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, it says.