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Thanks. There is no need for more than 1% milk fever. If you had any milk fever, please see the updated chapter on it under Animal Health, and look at the updated Magnesium chapter. The large dung beetles not yet in New Zealand are being imported by AgResearch. Treating animals for internal parasites can kill the dung beetles. Much too much chemical worm drenching is done which is an expense that farmers can reduce or eliminate like organic farmers do. Getting the soil mineral balance right by pasture tissue analysing and liming then fertilising correctly, including trace elements, and feeding the best soluble minerals in the drinking water, not only decrease internal parasites, but also give healthier animals, faster growth and higher profits. The benefits are so great that the final cost of minerals can be nothing. The low prices of milk can make rearing calves with whole milk a better deal than using alternatives, but also feed them top quality hay, and rotate them on 20 cm (8 inch) high pasture if possible, from the first week. See Calf Rearing. The current low price of milk and high price of beef yearlings could make rearing Hereford over Friesian (White face) bull and heifer calves worthwhile, and can save New Zealand farmers having to buy so mnay Fonterra Co-op shares. Keeping a cow for a year at current values costs NZ$800 per annum. Use the Spreadsheet Dairy # Cows For Max Profit kg and lb. If short of pasture, the lower production from grazing too many cows restricts pasture to your best cows that could be more than what an extra cow will earn. Entering your figures shows the optimum number of cows for maximum profit from your farm. Most New Zealand farms graze too many cows per hectare and lose money in many ways because of it. Buying supplements at current milk and supplement prices, is unprofitable. A Waikato client I changed from buying a lot of grain, Palm Kernel Extract (PKE), etc., reduced their monthly costs by $100,000. Milk production is lower, but profit is much higher, and stress on the farmer and farm are much lower. Best wishes. Vaughan Jones |