Sodium is vital for dairy cows, aiding in water balance and nerve and muscle function. It's expelled routinely and needs replacing. This page discusses how certain regions, like the Central Plateau pumice soils, can be deficient in sodium.

Changing to shorter twice-a-day (TAD) milking intervals allows you to redesign your day and achieve a better work-life balance. The traditional TAD milking intervals in New Zealand have been 10-14 hours, leading to long workdays.

Paddocks damaged by pugging and wet weather can be managed with simple strategies but more extensive damage may require pasture renewal.

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.

Succession planning is the process of transferring farm assets, knowledge, and skills to the next generation.

Black field cricket is a major pasture pest in regions such as Northland and Auckland, predominantly affecting clay soils that crack in dry summers. These crickets feed on pasture grasses at night and hide in soil cracks during the day.

Establishing a successful sharemilking or contract milking relationship requires thorough due diligence. Understand your own situation, including goals, values, financial standing, and farming practices.

Renewing pasture is crucial for maintaining healthy dairy farms, and there are four primary methods to consider: cultivation, spray-drilling, undersowing, and oversowing.

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.

Managing high-quality pasture during feed surplus periods is a crucial skill in pasture management. This page explains that pasture surplus often develops in spring, which if unmanaged, can lead to low-quality pasture affecting milk production.

Once-a-day (OAD) milking is the practice of milking cows only once during a 24-hour period. This page covers the reasons and options for implementing OAD milking on your farm.

Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a natural hormone that promotes plant growth. When you use GA3 on pasture, it encourages growth by using the plant's energy, leading to more leaves and stems.

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

The page covers the essential design considerations for dairy entries and exits to ensure efficiency and cow welfare. It highlights the need for safe, reliable footing, a controlled slope at the entrance, and proper lighting conditions.

Keeping your milking system clean and safe is an essential part of maintaining your farm successfully. The cleanliness of the milking system and the dairy is critical, so understanding your systems and the processes to cleaning is very important.

Building a robust track for dairy farming requires a comprehensive understanding of construction principles and potential problems. This page guides you through the basic steps for constructing a sturdy and efficient track for cow traffic.

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.

Accurate drafting of cows into groups is a crucial part of managing a herd on dairy farms, and it becomes even more essential as herd sizes grow. This page discusses the importance of automated drafting systems in New Zealand dairy farming.

Flexible milking is a term for milking practices that fall between the traditional once-a-day (OAD) or twice-a-day (TAD) milking.

Using heat detection aids efficiently will help ensure a successful mating period on your dairy farm. There are different heat detection aids for cows, including tail paint, heat mount detectors, electronic heat detection, and vasectomised bulls.