April/May Changeover – Working Together for Success
May changeover is one of the most complex operational periods for the New Zealand Grazing Company. Our Service Managers spend months planning grazing allocations, weigh dates, transport bookings, and farm-to-farm coordination. During a short window, large numbers of R1 heifers move to our NZ Grazing properties while in-calf heifers return home to their dairy farms.
Transport companies are operating extended hours, and efficient movements rely on cooperation from everyone involved.
These movements rely on careful planning, strong communication, and thorough preparation from both dairy farmers and growers and long days from NZ Grazing Company staff.
New Zealand Grazing Company asks all dairy farmers and grower farmers to:
- Communicate early
- Confirm numbers and weigh times promptly
- Prepare stock correctly including tag and registration completeness
- Maintain safe yard facilities
- Have documentation ready
- Show patience and respect to transport operators
When preparation and communication are prioritised, movements run smoothly, animal welfare is protected, and growth and mating targets remain achievable.
At New Zealand Grazing Company, our focus is simple: healthy heifers, smooth transitions, and successful outcomes for both dairy farmers and grower farmers.
We really appreciate your assistance through this very busy time with us.
Belo outlines tips and guidelines to ensure smooth, safe, and successful stock relocation.
Specific Instructions For Dairy Farmers Sending R1 Heifers Out Grazing
Confirm Stock Numbers Early with your service manager (SM)– late number changes may not suit the grower farm they are planned to go to or fit on the trucks that have been booked for them.
- NAIT & Tag Compliance – Before heifers leave your property you need to ensure that
- All animals are NAIT registered
- NAIT records match stock physically on farm
- Every animal has a functioning EID tag
- Spare NAIT tags available on weigh day
Animals cannot be registered once they have left your property. If New Zealand Grazing Company is not your NAIT information provider, NAIT transfers must be completed within 48 hours.
Accurate records protect traceability and prevent regulatory issues.
- Feed Transition & Palm Kernel
- Adding fibre (hay, silage or straw) to the diet a couple of weeks before relocating to another farm will help stabilise and prepare the rumen for any possible change in diet, protecting against ill-health like thiamine (B1) deficiency.
- Remove palm kernel-based feeds at least one month prior to departure.
- Heifers heavily fed PKE often struggle transitioning back to pasture-only systems. Gut shrinkage can reduce intake and growth performance, making it difficult to meet monthly target weights.
- Growth from May through October is critical to achieving mating weight before the start of mating. Heifers must arrive at the grower farm prepared to thrive on pasture.
Specific Instructions For Grower Farmers Returning In-Calf Heifers back to the dairy farms
Returning in-calf heifers home is a critical stage in the grazing cycle. These animals are approaching calving and must arrive back to dairy farms in good condition and on schedule.
Growers must ensure:
- NAIT records are accurate and up to date if NZ Grazing is not your NAIT IP you will need to update NAIT with any replaced EID tags before they truck (cannot be done once they have trucked).
Incomplete paperwork creates bottlenecks during a tightly scheduled period.
Instructions for All NZ Grazing Farmers:
1. Mob weighed stays as mob – no changes or mob mixing. If an animal becomes sick and needs to be removed since the weigh, notify NZ Grazing SM with photo of tag for number identity and change trucking tally on ATC.
2. Provided ATC form is to go with your ASD form and stock on truck (ASD form can be done electronically)
3. Prepare stock for trucking (as below)
- Contact NZ Grazing SM immediately to confirm trucking date.
- If you have been provided the receiving farmers email address for e-ASD purposes it is not to be used for any other purposes.
- NAIT movements are recorded within 48 hours if NZ Grazing is not your NAIT Information Provider
Preparing Stock Before Transport
- Stand stock off green feed (eg grass), with water, for at least 4 hours before transport.
Decide when and where to stand stock off green feed –a grazed out paddock or stand-off pad are good options (concrete surfaces damage and bruise soles and may lead to lameness)
- Ensure stock have access to water at all times (a welfare requirement)
- Continue feeding silage, hay or straw during standing, especially prior to long-distance journeys
- Ensure all stock are fit for transport (eg. weight bearing on all limbs, no weeping or open wounds, in a strong healthy body condition)
- Help load/unload stock – this will ensure they are loaded with minimum stress and maximum efficiency
- Complete accurate and legible Animal Status Declarations and send with stock on truck or complete electronically.
Failure to prepare stock for transport will reduce their ability to recover from transport quickly and attain good post transport growth rates at their new destination.
Information Sources:
RCA (Road Controlling Authorities) Forum (NZ) Inc – Check Sheet for Transporting Stock
Animal Welfare (Transport within New Zealand) Code of Welfare 2011
Managing stock on Arrival
- Help unload stock
- Count stock on arrival
- Confirm arrival date to NZ Grazing SM
- Report any concerns to NZ Grazing SM with tag IDs immediately
- Provide access to water and feed immediately (a post-trucking welfare requirement)
