Beef

Building better calves for performance and profitability

Building Better Calves: Nutritech’s 2025 Calf Range Delivers Performance and Profitability Raising strong, healthy calves is the cornerstone of a productive and profitable Dairy or Beef operation. Nutritech’s newly updated Calf Range is designed to help farmers rear robust calves with optimal health, growth, and lifetime performance – whether for dairy or beef systems. At […]

Beef, Calf, Dairy

Keeping Livestock Healthy Through Winter

Keeping Livestock Healthy Through Winter at Darroch’s Grazing Ltd Located 45 minutes south of Christchurch, Darroch’s Grazing is situated on the northern banks of the Rakaia River, where winter conditions can be harsh.  Over the years, however, Adam Hardie and Don Hayes have found a way to keep the 3000 winter graziers and 1000 beef […]

Beef, Silage

Facial Eczema

New ways to supplement zinc for facial eczema. Getting enough zinc into youngstock and dairy cattle to help prevent facial eczema is an ongoing challenge. No method is perfect, and blood testing for zinc is critical to ensure serum zinc levels are sufficient for facial eczema prevention. Water, feed and bolusing have been the main […]

Beef, Calf, Dairy, Sheep

New forage inoculant proving its worth

After 10 years in the making, New Zealand farmers and contractors have finally had the opportunity to try new bacterial forage inoculant technology. Feedback on the new L. Hilgardii bacteria has been overwhelmingly positive, with the unique combination of bacteria and enzymes in MAGNIVA® Platinum having a noticeable effect on silage quality, palatability and temperature. […]

Beef, Dairy

New technologies improve silage quality

New Zealand farm businesses can significantly reduce silage spoilage and retain more nutrients in their forage thanks to improvements in silage preservation technologies. At a time when feed costs are rising, it is now more important than ever to reduce the impact of silage losses to retain valuable, locally grown feed. What are silage losses? […]

Beef, Calf, Dairy, Miscellaneous

Should we stress about heat stress?

A large US study found that severe heat stress (above 25°C) can cause significant financial losses across all species (St Pierre et al., 2003). An estimated 80% of these losses were associated with loss of productivity and 20% with health issues. In ruminants many of those losses were due to rumen acidosis problems and related [...]
Beef, Calf, Dairy

Plan now for the springer period

Some of the most significant opportunities to increase production efficiency and reproductive health come from supporting dairy cows as they transition from late pregnancy to early lactation. While many traditional systems have a hands-off approach to the transition period, it is now considered one of the most critical times of the year, with as much […]

Beef

Biotin and its role in improving hoof health.

Biotin (Vitamin H or B7) is an essential water-soluble vitamin. It is naturally present in some feeds and can be synthesised by rumen microbes.  Usually, ruminal biotin synthesis supplies sufficient biotin for biological functions, however, diets containing high quantities of grain may reduce the natural synthesis of Biotin by the rumen. Biotin for hoof hardness. […]

Beef, Calf, Dairy

Nutritional Impacts of the Wet Weather

As we navigate another period of wet weather, there are some key points which we must keep in mind as we head into the new season. When grass gets covered in soil and dirt it leaves deposits of Ash and specific metals which can cause problems. Any pastures that have flooded or had lying water, [...]
Beef, Dairy, Deer, Forage