New Zealand's Beef Cattle Herd Up Despite Trying Season

New Zealand’s beef cattle herd increased by 2.8 per cent to 3.7 million during the 2015-16 season, at the same time as the country’s sheep flock decreased by 3 per cent.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s latest stock number survey showed that the 2015-16 year has been an exceptionally trying farming season, with facial eczema in the North Island and widespread weather challenges in other parts of the country.

Facial eczema is a fungal disease spread by fungal spores growing on pasture, which causes lowered production, skin irritation and peeling and sometimes death.

The 2.8 per cent increase in beef cattle numbers follows a 3.3 per cent decline in the 2014-15 season - click here to read more.

In other news, a young Mexican graduate has developed an ear tag for cattle that measures the vital signs of the animal to identify early stages of disease.

The technology, called LifeMonitor, weighs 40 grams and is able to measure temperature, heart rate and blood pressure in real time to identify disease. The measurements are sent to the cloud, allowing producers to monitor the cattle.

The innovation is expected to help vets treat animals more quickly when needed, improving productivity of livestock farming in Mexico - read more.