Understand what El Niño could mean for your farm and region, with practical advice to plan early, manage feed and water, protect animal welfare, and use tools and support to prepare for changing conditions.

As a fertiliser advisor, your expertise already drives nutrient planning and paddock performance. This hub supports your broader farm systems knowledge, offering resources to help you confidently advise on feed demand, pasture, and seasonal planning.

This study aims to measure production levels, understand the balance between feed supply and demand, and estimate the profitability of an extended lactation system with a 24-month calving interval.

Use autumn to lift BCS and set your herd up for a stronger season. Hear how smart dry‑off decisions, accurate condition scoring, and targeted feeding can boost performance and production.

Bulk milk urea concentration is a near real-time indicator of the dietary crude protein status of dairy herds and their nitrogen use efficiency, helping to support feed and nitrogen management decisions in pasture-based systems.

Extreme weather puts pressure on daily farm operations, so you'll find guidance below on getting back to a normal milking schedule, managing feed, and keeping your cows healthy.

Fodder beet is a crop with high yield potential, offering many benefits for dairy farming, including adding body condition to cows and having less environmental impact than other feeds. It must be managed correctly to ensure the health of your cows.

Turnips are a brassica root crop used in dairy farming to bridge summer feed gaps and boost milk production. They can be planted from spring to winter, depending on the variety.

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.

Chicory is a leafy herb that provides high feed value, especially during its active growth months from spring to autumn. Popular in the Upper North Island during summer, chicory thrives due to its deep tap roots, which aid growth during dry spells.

Give calves the best possible start to set them up for a long, productive life. Maintain routine hygiene and health practices from birth, such as regularly cleaning feeders, limiting movements between pens, and following a vaccination plan.

Spring management focuses on the critical period from calving through to your balance date when feed supply meets demand.

Free stall barns are engineered structures for housing dairy cattle. Free stall barns can significantly improve feed usage, herd comfort, and reduce maintenance costs, but they can require a substantial initial investment and experienced management.

DairyNZ’s Policy Team is working to ensure dairy sector voices are heard as major freshwater policy changes occur.

Regular pasture assessment on your dairy farm helps you manage your feed, plan grazing, and detect surpluses or deficits in pasture.