Senior Quantitative Geneticist

Discover the benefits of flexible milking for dairy farms - DairyNZ provides insights on milking intervals beyond OAD and TAD.

Backing gates are tools used in the dairy yard to improve cow flow into the dairy, leading to more efficient milking. Moving the gate little and often takes up space in the yard, while still providing cows enough room is important.

Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is a widespread disease impacting around 80% of New Zealand's dairy and beef herds, causing losses in reproduction, increased disease, and reduced growth and milk production.

White clover is a top-quality feed used widely in New Zealand's dairy pastures. Different types have varying purposes in dairy farming. Italian and Annual ryegrass, and Red clover perform well in summer dry areas, complementing white clover in mixes.

The nature and scale of many dairy farming businesses is changing and there are many self-employed business opportunities available for individuals and partnerships.

Calculating Metabolisable Energy (ME) needs is important for dairy cows. You adjust for feed quality by adding or subtracting 4% per MJ ME/kg DM from the standard 11.0 MJ ME/kg DM.

Here you’ll learn about ways to make your herringbone dairy more effective, often for little or no extra cost. The swing-over herringbone is the most common dairy type in New Zealand, used on 69% of dairy farms.

Trace elements, including cobalt, copper, iodine, selenium, and zinc, play a vital role in dairy cow nutrition. Your cows need these elements for functions like growth, reproduction, and milk production.

Carbohydrates, forming about 75% of plant dry matter, provide the major energy source for dairy cows and aid in milk glucose and fat production.

Moving animals on and off a farm has its risks. A common way for cow-associated mastitis bacteria to be introduced into a herd is in the udders of cows that are brought in.

Dead stock management is the process of dealing with farm animal fatalities. It is important to appropriately dispose of carcasses to avoid spreading diseases, contaminating water, and harming the dairy industry's public image.

Salmonellosis is the most common disease associated with acute diarrhoea in adult dairy cows. Salmonella bacteria from cattle can also be transferred to humans, causing significant illness.

Giant buttercup, one of 14 weedy Ranunculus species in New Zealand, is harmful to dairy pastures because cows find it distasteful due to its toxin, protoanemonin. This weed spreads across dairy farms, damaging pasture quality.

Feed density and storage are crucial for dairy farming. Proper planning optimises storage solutions and maximises feed resources. Use our tables to help calculate storage space requirements when planning new or evaluating current storage.

Maize is an essential crop for New Zealand dairy farmers, helping enhance feed supply, manage climatic risks, and support pasture renewal. Growing maize on a dairy farm can also extract soil nutrients and reduce costs in high-fertility effluent areas

Proteins are essential for many metabolic functions in dairy cows, including growth, lactation, and reproduction. This page explains that the protein in feed, known as crude protein (CP), is calculated based on the feed's nitrogen content.

Late summer strategies in dairy farming involve continuous monitoring of feed demand and body condition score (BCS). This page discusses how managing pasture effectively, considering factors like over-grazing and dry periods, is crucial.

Regular service and maintenance of your milking machine will help ensure that the speed and completeness of milking is maintained, and the risk of mastitis due to milking machine faults is minimised.