I went to a DairyNZ field day last week where the results of an investigation into feed conversion efficiency were presented. Some animals just manage to achieve more production from less food eaten with the difference between the best and worst highly significant – so it’s well worth a look at the issue. The researchers found that the contribution played by genetics to the difference between the best and worst performers was between 14% and 19%. It was concluded that further

I had coffee with a bloke the other day who was a former dairy company director and a director of several corporate dairy farms. I tugged on his coat about the acceptance of production diseases. He called it “balance sheet farming”. Rampant pay outs and easy credit meant that in the board room you didn’t really have to worry about the cows themselves. But things have changed. Historically, corporates never survived the down turns. Whereas, the family farm just pulled the bel