Since 2002, Dairy Training Ltd has been helping dairy farmers and rural professionals grow through quality training. As a self-funded subsidiary of DairyNZ, their focus is on doing what’s best for you and the sector. Check out the courses on offer.

Swedes serve as winter feed for livestock. They thrive best in cooler, moist conditions and dislike waterlogged areas and dry spells. For best growth, avoid soils that are either too light and drain quickly or too dense and retain too much water.

A collaborative project is underway between farmers, DairyNZ and other stakeholders in South Canterbury, to analyse and support implementation of solutions that further decrease nitrogen in water and help ensure farmers can meet plan change rules.

Animal feed can affect animal health, milk quality and food safety, and the source of dairy products can be important to buyers and consumers. That’s why it’s important when buying and selling feed, it can be traced to its origin.

Getting the cluster attachment and removal right is crucial during milking. It ensures that the milk is of good quality, prevents harm to the teats, and reduces the risk of mastitis.

Freshwater Farm Plans are a new tool for freshwater regulation. These require a farm plan tailored to mitigate risks to land and water on farm. Many farmers already have a farm environment plan or are part of an industry programme.

Grass silage is pickled pasture, preserved through the conversion of its sugars into lactic acid by bacteria. This process extends the shelf life of the pasture beyond what it would have if exposed to open air.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Calf scours, or diarrhoea in calves, can be caused by multiple factors and if untreated, can lead to severe dehydration and even death. This disease disrupts the normal water movement in the digestive tract, leading to water and salt loss.

Establishing a healthy pasture requires attention to several factors: sowing date, seedbed preparation, sowing depth, and perennial ryegrass sowing rate.

Early detection of clinical mastitis is key to protecting milk quality and cow health. Check regularly for signs such as, heat, swelling, pain in the udder, and changes in the milk. Learn how to recognise the signs and take appropriate action.

Lipids or fats, found in plant and animal products, are a key energy source in dairy cows' diet. They are typically low, between 2-6% of dry matter in pasture-based diets, as excess can harm rumen function and milk production.