1 August 2011

2 minute read

Oceania

For many years this booklet has assisted farmers to make accurate measurements of cow condition. Tens of thousands of copies, dog-eared with use, reside in dairy sheds, utes and the back pockets of overalls throughout the country.

First published in 2004, the booklet has been updated as a response to farmer feedback.

“This is a farmer-designed booklet,” says co-author and DairyNZ Principal Scientist Dr John Roche.

“At each step of the way, a reference team of farmers were consulted and the makeup of the booklet changed on their advice. I’m really excited by the end result. It was a great team effort.”

The new booklet features pictures of Jersey, Holstein-Friesian and Crossbred cows alongside updated descriptors.

“Farmers told us that they would prefer to see pictures of real animals instead of the computer-generated images in the old booklet,” says Dr Roche.

“We followed a number of cows as they gained condition, making weekly trips to photograph them.

“A number of farmers have given very positive feedback on the final product, and are really delighted with the quality of the photos. They all believed this would help them condition score cows better and train their staff to do the same.”

DairyNZ’s Condition Scoring Made Easy is free to levy-paying dairy farmers and can be ordered on the DairyNZ website or through the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service on 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969).

TheCattleSite News Desk