Cow wellbeing at the leading edge | Ep. 113

How is the great animal care already happening on your farm helping New Zealand dairy stay ahead of global market expectations? In this episode of Talking Dairy, we explore why animal care matters for New Zealand’s dairy competitiveness and how farmers have helped shape DairyNZ’s research right from the start. You’ll hear from Penny Timmer-Arends and Dr Stacey Hendriks as they explain what markets and consumers are asking for, how NZ compares internationally, and what influences cow comfort and welfare in our pasture-based farm systems. Penny and Stacey also discuss the challenges to good cow welfare that farmers are managing, like heat stress, comfortable lying surfaces and seasonal staffing pressure. They explain how current DairyNZ research – including work using wearable tech – is building better insights into how cows experience their environment, so farmers can make informed decisions, and our sector can stay future-ready. This episode gives you a practical overview of where animal care expectations are heading and the science that supports farmers to stay ahead.   Links to more information mentioned in this episode: Animal Welfare - DairyNZ | DairyNZ Research - Science Projects - Heat Stress | DairyNZ Research - Science Projects - United States Mega Dairies | DairyNZ The development of a tool to assess cow quality of life based on system-level attributes across pastoral dairy farms - ScienceDirect Download the Preventing and managing lameness guide  Have feedback or ideas for future episodes? Email us at talkingdairy@dairynz.co.nz Connect with DairyNZ Stay up to date with advice, latest research, tools and resources. Read, browse, scroll, listen, or be there in person. Visit dairynz.co.nz/get-connected