TheDairySite Newsletter - 29 June 2012

TheDairySite Weekly Newsletter

Friday 29th June 2012

Our Sponsors Helping keep you updated for free!

ON-LINE SHOP News Company News Events Articles Diseases Treatments Employment Cattle Breeds SEARCH

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Compulsory Electronic Tagging of Cattle Goes Live in NZ

This Sunday, 1 July, the mandatory National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) scheme for cattle in New Zealand will be implemented. Deer will follow in March 2013.

Support for the scheme has split the industry, and provided quite a controversy over recent years. Anders Crofoot, Federated Farmers Board says that the group has always opposed a mandatory scheme.

Mr Crofoot said Federated Farmers has accepted Nait is going live and the group is aiming now to make the roll-out as easy as possible for farmers.

One of its main concerns has been the cost, with farmers having to pay about NZ$2 or NZ$3 more for Nait-compliant ear tags than for the current non-electronic tags.

How ready the cattle industry is, is still unknown. Nait Ltd Chief Executive Russell Burnard says that more than 30,000 cattle and deer farmers have signed up for the scheme.

However, it is unknown exactly how many people will need to register.

It appears that the first point of enforcement will be at the meatworks but animals will also be checked at saleyards.

“This behaviour change will take time to achieve. The introduction of cattle to the scheme on 1 July marks the beginning of a transition period and we are committed to working with farmers and industry to help them meet their Nait obligations,” Mr Burnard said.

The Nait scheme links individual animals to the person responsible for them, and their current location via the animal’s radio frequency identification device (RFID) ear tag and a central database. As a web-based scheme it will enable animal movement information to be updated and accessed much quicker than the current paper-based system.

"Lifetime animal traceability is an asset that New Zealand can leverage as part of its international reputation for producing food to the highest standards. It is also an opportunity for farmers to increase productivity by identifying superior animals," says Primary Industries Minister David Carter.

“In the case of a biosecurity outbreak affecting livestock, NAIT will enable a quick and efficient response reducing the impact on the agriculture sector and the entire New Zealand economy.”

Nait was established eight years ago as a partnership between the industry and the government in recognition of the need for better animal identification and tracing.

Producers must register with Nait, tag and register their stock and record animal movements on and off farm.

Charlotte Johnston

The DairySite Book Focus

Dry Period, Special Needs Cows and Treatments
We are currently preparing this long awaited collection of practical information about the most important period in the cow’s lactation cycle, the group of cows with special needs and about the work that has the greatest influence on the health, welfare, production and pleasure of the cows and the workers: Dry period, special needs cows and treatments. This book is bursting with photographs, practical examples, fabulous illustrations and look-think-act pictures designed to challenge and educate the reader.
NEW RELEASE - Order Now Online

The Cow Signals Series
Cows send out signals continuously about their health, well being, nutrition and production. The challenge for every dairy farmer is how to interpret these signals and use them. Knowing what to look for enables farmers to pick up these signals everywhere and anytime. Cow Signals explains how to identify these cues. The Cow Signals series contains five best selling 'signals books'.
Order Now Online

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Individual Factors Associated with L- and H-Type BSE in France
In what they believe is the first study of atypical cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in France, researchers based in Lyon found that the cases were detected in animals much older than for the classical form of the disease. There was a significant geographical cluster in central France for one of the atypical forms although this may have been due to the BSE testing scheme in place.

High Feed Prices, Low Milk Prices - What Can You Do?
Current economic conditions are causing intense frustration throughout the dairy industry, writes Bob James, Extension Dairy Scientist, Virginia University.

Managing Personnel for Milking Parlours on Large Herds
This factsheet from the University of Arizona looks at the importance of labour in the parlour.

Keeping Cows Cool, Where do I Start?
Heat stress occurs when a dairy cow’s heat load is greater than her capacity to lose heat. Heat stress effects include: increased respiration rate, increased water intake, increased sweating, decrease in dry matter intake, slower rate of feed passage, blood flow to internal organs, milk production and poor reproductive performance, writes JF Smith, JP Harner and MJ Brouk from Kansas University.

Market Reports

» USDA GAIN: Agricultural Biotechnology - Slovakia Annual
» USDA Dairy Products Sales - 27 June 2012
» UK Milk Prices and Composition of Milk - Review of May 2012
» USDA Agricultural Prices - June 2012

Company News

Exploiting Natural Defences of Farm Animals to Control Infectious Diseases
NETHERLANDS - Pfizer announced the launch of a new Public-Private partnership research program, ALTANT - ASIA in collaboration with leading scientists in the Netherlands, seeking to develop alternative strategies to protect farm animals from infectious disease by minimising the likelihood of inducing antibiotic resistance.

MSD Presents Results of Vaccine Against Schmallenberg Virus
NETHERLANDS - MSD Animal Health (known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada) announces the successful development of a candidate vaccine against the Schmallenberg virus. Immediately after the first cases appeared at the end of 2011, MSD Animal Health started the emergency development program.

Global Dairy Cattle Industry News