Emaciated cow debate hits wall

Simplified assessment system needed

DairyNZ says the public discussion on body condition scoring of cows, started when Clive Dalton photographed an emaciated mob at a Waikato saleyards before Christmas, is going nowhere.

Dr Dalton, a retired agricultural scientist and former Wintec lecturer, blamed farmer ignorance on the sale of the cows which he estimated to be below body condition score 2. On the 10 point scale, set by farmer levy-funded industry-good body DairyNZ, a cow of body condition score 3 or below is emaciated.

Kevin Macdonald, a senior DairyNZ scientist, was not allowed to speak to the Waikato Times after a closed meeting on the subject yesterday called by Waikato Federated Farmers, because he had no media training. But he said, in an email statement, "We believe this line of discussion on condition scoring is going nowhere. Farmers are not all poor at condition scoring cows or making plans. We believe the training and resources given to farmers are good enough to help them make good feed management plans, which is what this is all about."

DairyNZ sends 10,000 condition scoring booklets out to dairy farmers, nationally, every year.

"What you set your cows up for at the start of the season is what you'll get. Body condition scoring is just a tool to aid a farmer's decision making. Whether you decide to dry-off early, move to milking once-a-day, increase feed rations once they have dried off or cull cows, it is that plan that counts. The most important thing at present is for the farmer to have a plan."

Mr Macdonald also argued with Environment Waikato's sustainable agriculture co-ordinator Gabriele Kaufler who said on Wednesday the average Waikato cow was at body condition score 4.1 or 4.2 when they should be closer to 5 now.

"To aim for BCS 5 at this stage of lactation is not practical advice we would recommend to farmers," Mr Macdonald said. "It is a target pre-calving condition for cows, which farmers must aim to achieve in early June."

Stew Wadey, president of Waikato Federated Farmers, said: "What came out of this meeting is the willingness to work together to make sure that standards of stockmanship be brought to the fore and the need for the industry to work together to bring in a body condition score process that's not contentious."

The body condition score system, taught using manipulated digital images of cows, was too complicated, he said. "All the organisations, Federated Farmers, DairyNZ and MAF, are all heading down the track of getting a body condition score system which will be simple. Something that we can clearly understand."

Mr Wadey said DairyNZ had created the compliance toolkit for dairy farmers which included body condition scoring.

He suggested a four-score system based around the terms "skinny" and "fat" because if three farmers were asked about the body condition score of a cow they would give three different answers.

"It's like looking at a car. Some will say it's a flash one, and some will say it's a waste of money. It's important that everybody is coming from the same perspective."

"I think you will find a happy Clive Dalton."

Dr Dalton said he was reasonably happy with the outcome of the meeting but did not want to comment further.

Justin Courtney, senior communications advisor for DairyNZ who also attended the meeting, said no review of the body condition score system was under way and Mr Wadey's conclusions weren't discussed at the meeting.

"We do not disagree with the intention of the meeting, which is to continue to work together in the best interests of animal welfare. The body condition score system is not broken."

MAF said the cows should not have been transported for sale, under animal welfare legislation, but its investigation to find out who the seller or buyer was had reached a dead end. The Waikato Times, however, understands the cows came from either three or four farms and were bought by a meatworks buyer. The SPCA, which concurred with Dr Dalton's assessment, is also investigating the case.

Greg McNeil, manager of the Te Awamutu branch of VetEnt who had previously said over-estimating condition scores and using herd averages was to blame, also attended the meeting but was not available for comment.

James Houghton, chairman of Waikato Federated Farmers Dairy Industry Group, said farmers needed to make sure they acted in a professional manner. He said boner cows, like the ones Dr Dalton photographed, should be sent straight to the meatworks instead of transported to saleyards. "It's run by people who just want to clip tickets."

- © Fairfax NZ News