Big response to feed review visits

The free online game Farm Rules! teaches children to avoid danger on farms. Photo / DairyNZ

Sixty-five Northland dairy farmers called in DairyNZ for one-on-one farmer feed-review visits and the response was so good registrations will remain open until the end of the month.

DairyNZ Northland regional leader Chris Neil said 54 visits had been carried out so far, with most farmers needing only affirmation or mild tweaking of their feed systems and only a few needing more help to get them back on track.

The key to the feed-review visits was the belief pasture was the most economical source of dairy-cow food and improving it was a path to profitability, he said.

"The most common response to our visits is appreciation that someone is checking and confirming farmers are doing the right thing. If we find they have problems we generally refer them to a consultant they can get to help them."

The farm visits could uncover more than pasture issues. If farmers had financial problems they could be referred to an accountant. If animal-nutrition advice was needed they could be referred to an expert in that.

Mr Neil said Northland had experienced consultants that farmers could hire and the DairyNZ team was not intruding on such experts' pitch.

Farmers can register for the feed review visits on www.dairynz.co.nz/tactics.

Meanwhile, DairyNZ has teamed with WorkSafe and ACC to create a free online farm-safety game for children on smartphones, computers and tablets.

Playing Farm Rules!, they need to avoid danger while tackling the challenges of farm life. From driving tractors and avoiding cow pats, players learn how to navigate through challenges to win points.

With bright graphics and lots of sneaky scenarios, players can become a farmer for a day, moving cows, driving quad bikes and tractors, fixing broken fences and spraying gorse. They try to do all the farm work while avoiding surprise dangers.

The Farm Rules! game can be played online by going to www.rosiesworld.co.nz and is also available as an app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.

Rosie, the cow character DairyNZ uses to help children learn about farming, has her own Facebook page and visits schools and community events.

More than 5500 children have visited dairy farmers as part of the Rosie's World Find a Farmer programme and 900 parents have attended one of those visits.