An important part of calf rearing is reflecting on how the season has gone. It doesn’t take much to forget the bad times, especially towards season’s end. As the calves become stronger and their immune defence develops, we forget about the hours of electrolyting scouring calves, the frustrations of calves with no suck reflex, transitioning […]

If you are a dairy farmer with a spring calving herd, now might be a good time to reflect on how many downer cows you’ve had to treat for milk fever (periparturient hypocalcaemia) last spring. Treating downer cows is not only stressful, it’s expensive in terms of treatment costs, time, energy and the impact on […]

Just as an airplane needs air to fly and diesel engines cannot run on petrol, ‘long fibre’ is an essential carbohydrate source for a ruminant and vital for good health, productivity and even its survival. Carbohydrates, including fibre, are the main source of energy for all ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats or deer) and necessary to […]

Kiwis by nature and out of necessity, are known for their ingenuity. Innovation is turning a good, original idea that provides a new solution into a practical reality. It is little wonder then that innovations have spearheaded New Zealand agriculture to help facilitate increased and better economic production from the land. Examples of this include […]

In the autumn, seeing young stock graze on a new break of green grass as the dew drops sparkle in the early morning sun is a welcome sight, especially after the summer dry. Or is it? In fact, danger often lurks hidden in plain sight, which is something important for livestock owners to know. Consider […]

Some of the 175,000 or so lifestyle blocks in New Zealand could form part of a stratified, integrated system of red meat production if more lifestylers opted to raise young stock. Commercial dairy farmers with infant cattle, sheep and goats would really like to find more productive homes for their male offspring and surplus females. […]

Ironically the tiniest of organisms – bacteria, fungi and viruses – can inflict some of the greatest physical and economic harm to our livestock sectors. Close to 100,000 cattle were culled in the first year alone of the Mycoplasma bovis eradication programme. In September 2019, Type 1 bursal disease virus (IBDV Type 1) was confirmed […]

Facial eczema is a condition caused by the spores of a fungus commonly found living on ryegrass. Hot and humid weather triggers the fungus to ramp up spore production, so spore numbers can explode given the right conditions. The most obvious sign of the disease is sunburn in ruminant animals, which is where the somewhat […]

The long-term health and wellbeing of cows within a seasonal calving system is highly dependent on their fertility. According to LIC, the national not-in-calf rate for spring calving herds averaged about 14 percent in 2012 (when mating was on average 85 days) rising to 17 percent in 2015 (when inductions were fully phased out) and […]

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