Dairy Farmers Gypsy Day 2012
A number of farms will change hands at the end of the 2011/2012 season on 31st May/1st June, as share milkers take up new contracts, move up to farm ownership or maybe their contracts are at an end.
Farmers will take to the roads moving cattle up and down the country, and are asked to be mindful of their animals effluent during their transport. Clean movement is essential.
It isn’t a good look to leave roads covered in effluent when it can be minimized by planning ahead.
So, farmers have to be organized if they are moving stock on roads. Things like:
- Get permits from your local council.
- Have plenty of staff on hand and wear helmets and high visibility clothing if your team are operating quads and bikes.
- Motorists need to be patient if they themselves stuck behind a convoy of cattle trucks, and to avoid using their horns and spooking stock.
Top tips for Gypsy Day
Selection of stock
- Cows must be fit and healthy
- Cows must able to stand evenly on all four legs
- Cows must be acting normally and if not, please call the vet
- Body conditions score must be at least 3.0.
Prepare stock for travel
- Precondition cows. This is important for those travelling long distance.
- Stand all cows off green feed for a minimum of four hours and up to 12 hours to empty themselves
- Feed these cows straw, hay or baleage with free access to water.
Communication
- Book your stock transport in advance.
- Ask for an estimated time of arrival of the truck to pick up the cows. This allows time to get the cows in and stand them off for the recommended minimum time (at least four hours). This may mean getting them in the night before.
- Check the transport operator has a plan for the journey, covering: effluent disposal sites.
- Adequate stops and rest periods (particularly for cows on long journeys)
- Talk to the farmer at the other end where your cows will be offloaded. Tell him what time you expect the truck to arrive
At the new farm
- Give all cows free access to feed and water on arrival
- Inspect the cows regularly over the first day; put them in a paddock that is convenient for you to do this
Effluent
- Check the truck effluent tanks are empty before the journey.
- In some instances, farmers can accept effluent from the stock truck. Please see here for tips on how to management this. Download Fact sheet: Discharging effluent on-farm.
Then there is the machinery and household furniture to shift, makes you tired just thinking about all!
June 02 2012 09:14 am | Waikato Rural Real Estate Agent