Planning your calving season

Calving can be a busy time of the year for many farmers, and it is important that
good biosecurity practices are maintained during the season. Knowing your plan and
making sure that you have everything you need prior to calving will help reduce
stress and keep you on track for a successful season. To help you with your
planning, DairyNZ has put together some useful information for pre-calving cow care.

Keep your NAIT records up to date

Farmers play a critical role towards building lifetime animal traceability, starting with
new-born animals on-farm. Accurate NAIT records help to track down infectious
diseases including M. bovis, reducing the risk of spread in our farming communities.

Be sure to:

• fit all calves with a NAIT tag before they reach 180 days old (the tag should
  be in the central or inner part of the right ear, between the 2 veins)
• register any fitted NAIT tags within 7 days of tagging
• tag and register all calves before their first movement. So if you are sending
  them off your location, make sure you meet your NAIT obligations.

You can find more information on the OSPRI website including:

• Buying and selling calves (includes NAIT obligations)
• Calving Checklist