COWS WERE spooked, milking disrupted, goods fell from shelves in shops and many rural homes were damaged when the 6.2 earthquake struck the lower half of the North Island last week.

THE MINUTE you walk onto Stu Hopkins dairy farm at Maxwell, north of Wanganui, you can tell he’s got goals.

IN PLANNING a new dairy conversion in Central Hawke’s Bay, Campbell Chard wanted the operation to use recycled water as much as possible.

MASSEY UNIVERSITY has completely revamped its No 1 dairy research farm to try to find new ways to farm more sustainably and profitably and produce high quality milk. 

ASK VETERINARIAN and Waikato farmer Ian Scott what he thinks of new pasture cultivars and, off the record, you’re likely to get a four-letter-word answer.

GETTING DAMAGED irrigators back up and running is the big concern on many dairy farms in the wake of the September 10-11 windstorm.

SEALESWINSLOW HAS upgraded its Wanganui stock feed mill and says it will provide better service in the lower North Island.

SEVEN YEARS into once-a-day milking of a split herd, life for 50:50 sharemilker Sean Ross has settled to a productive routine.

Any farm with several stock classes presents its challenges but as Peter Burke reports, research farm managers have a whole new level of complexity to deal with.

EXPECT MORE animal health issues in animals during prolonged wet weather, says Dairy Australia.