Latest news from the dairy team
Stay updated and follow us on our Facebook Page Rangiora Vet Centre - Farming
Teat Score to Reduce Mastitis
Along with financial incentives to produce higher quality milk, there is a new reason to improve milk quality and that is animal efficiency.
Calf Rearer of the year 2023!
We would like to thank everybody who nominated or entered this year’s awards. We have had a noticeable increase in entries this year which is fantastic!
Calf Rearing Seminar July 2023
Interactive Stations on: Colostrum quality and access after birth, Shed hygiene, Calf tubing, Preventing sick calves.
The weird and wonderful: A case of a calf born with extra legs
Meet Spider, an Angus calf born with 3 extra legs!
Liver Biopsy in Cattle
A liver biopsy extracts a small amount of a cow’s liver tissue and is used for pro-active health monitoring of the herd. What happens during a liver biopsy? This video shows the procedure step-by-step with our Large Animal Vet John Spearpoint.
RVC’s 8th Annual Dairy Awards
As the winter ‘break’ seems to disappear before our eyes most of us are focused on preparing for the busy season ahead, but it is also important to remember to celebrate the successes of the season just been.
We had the privilege to host the annual Dairy Awards at the Rangiora RSA to acknowledge those who have performed above and beyond the normal in the past season. This was a great opportunity for everyone to catch up over a shared meal and congratulate each other. Rico presented to us on the future of farming and the technology that will be available to us soon to further improve cow health and production systems. We would again like to acknowledge and appreciate the following farm teams for their exceptional performance:
Fertility award: Wilcock Farming Ltd
Best Heifer Rearing: Eyrewell Dairy Ltd
Milk quality award: Gronigen Farm Ltd
Honorable mentions go to Avalon Dairy Ltd and Keilder Farm for most improved Milk quality and Fertility respectively.
RVC has always been proud to be a part of farmers achieving success and these awards have been a part of this; congratulations to all the winners!
Calf Rearing Seminar June 2022
Interactive Stations on: Colostrum quality, Shed hygiene, Calf Tubing, Colostrum access after birth.
Farmer Mastitis Webinar
If you missed the Mastitis Prevention and Treatment roadshow we encourage you to watch the recorded version. Those who attended gained alot from the event.
Local dairy manager wins NZ dairy industry merit award
After last year’s success taking out the 2021 RVC Fertility Award for the highest 6-week in calf rate, Todd Portsmouth, Dairy Manager at Oxford Farming Ltd, decided to challenge himself by entering the 2022 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.
Judges awarded Todd with the DeLaval Livestock Management Merit Award, demonstrating superior knowledge in animal health, breeding, managing youngstock, animal welfare and record keeping. The judges were impressed with Todd’s on-farm presentation which included discussion on areas where he excels as well as identifying areas where they would like to improve.
Caring for the herd as if they were his own and working closely with vets was recognised by judges as contributing towards achieving excellent results in animal welfare, breeding and production. Recording loads of data and continually tracking progress is integral in responding to changes and improving management of his dairy stock.
A huge congratulations goes to Todd for winning this award.
Calf Rearer of the Year 2021
We feel calf rearing is an extremely important part of dairy farming and that until recently, has not been fully appreciated. The research is clearly demonstrating that better calves = better dairy cows = more milk in the vat!
Changes for the
2021/2022 season
The LWP programme has introduced some changes which require additional reporting and record keeping requirements.
Teatseal tubes can now be recycled.
Our aim is to significantly reduce the amount of plastic going in to landfill and to support a healthier, more sustainable future.
Improve cure rates for lame cow with pain relief
A lot of our farmers have seen the benefits of using pain relief in a wide variety of diseases, including lameness. The trial work is backing up what farmers see - using pain relief in addition to corrective hoof trimming and blocks improves cure rates and gets cows back in the milking herd quicker!
Body Condition Scores
Autumn creeps up on us all, the days seem to get shorter and the mornings colder. Suddenly it’s dry off time and the herds body condition score may not be where you’re hoping it would be. Now is the time to get the herd ready for dry off and next season’s calving.