Animal Welfare Tool Now At Fingertips

Achieving good standards of animal health and welfare on-farm is now even simpler, thanks to the most recent addition to the Compliance Toolkit.

The DairyNZ Compliance Toolkit website is designed to help dairy farmers meet compliance requirements around health and safety and employment. The site now includes an animal health and welfare section.

The new section provides essential information on the Animal Welfare Act 1999, codes of welfare, responsibilities under the Agricultural Compounds & Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act 1997 and good practice animal husbandry.

DairyNZ developer Samantha Palmer says the recently released section, which is split into three key areas – animal welfare, animal treatments and biosecurity – is a welcome addition to the Compliance Toolkit.

“It will provide detail on a range of common animal health and welfare topics. The section is very comprehensive, covering everything from the core legal requirements to what is essentially good practice animal husbandry,” says Samantha.

The Animal Health Board and New Zealand Food Safety Authority worked alongside DairyNZ developing specific information around TB regulations and ACVM Act legislation.

DairyNZ veterinarian Gwyneth Verkerk says animal health and welfare is a core element of dairy farming and when done well, will benefit the farm business.

“Your stock are a core component of your farm business, so having them in good health with their welfare needs met is part of successful farming,” says Gwyneth.

“It is something that has positive flow-on effects through better production, fewer health issues and, therefore, reduced costs.

“Good practice animal husbandry will ensure your animals are in the best condition for milking, meeting your legal requirements in milk production and responsibilities around biosecurity.”

The animal health and welfare section also includes information about the Five Freedoms, internationally agreed ideals for good animal welfare; good practice calf husbandry; guidelines for transporting stock and the process for administering animal treatments.

Requirements around TB infected herds, movement control and testing reactors is also found in the section, along with obligations for animal identification.

Regular updates will be made to the animal health and welfare section as new codes and regulations emerge.

ABOUT DAIRYNZ DairyNZ is the industry good organisation representing New Zealand’s dairy farmers. Funded by a levy on milksolids, our purpose is to secure and enhance the profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of New Zealand dairy farming. We deliver value to farmers through leadership, influencing, investing, partnering with other organisations and through our own strategic capability. Our work includes research and development to create practical on-farm tools, leading on-farm adoption of best practice farming, promoting careers in dairying and advocating for farmers with central and regional government.

ENDS

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