Getting your farm ready before calving season
Calving is one of the most demanding periods in the dairy calendar. The farms that come through it cleanly are the ones that started preparing before the first calf hit the ground.
There's a version of calving prep that happens in a panic; chasing supplies, realising the vat hasn't been serviced, finding out the teat spray ran out halfway through week two. And there's a version that's calm, methodical, and sets the tone for the entire season ahead.
This guide covers the three key areas worth sorting before calving kicks off: your dairy hygiene programme, your refrigeration, and your data visibility. Get these right early and the rest of the season has a much better foundation.
1. Dairy hygiene - set your programme before day one
Freshly calved cows are at their most vulnerable. Teat canals take time to fully close after calving, and the first few weeks of the season are when new mastitis infections are most likely to take hold. Your hygiene programme needs to be ready before the first cow walks through the shed — not the week after.
Teat spray stocks confirmed and on-farm - don't rely on a last-minute order during calving week
Post milking products matched to your herd's teat condition from last season
CIP chemicals checked and replenished - a clean plant from day one protects milk quality from the start
Teatcups and liners inspected and replaced if worn - damaged rubber harbours bacteria and is hard on teat ends
If you had teat condition issues late last season, talk to your supplier before calving, not after
Teat condition at the start of the season often predicts teat condition at the end of it. If cows are going into calving with cracked or rough teat ends, those issues tend to compound over the season rather than resolve themselves.
2. Refrigeration - get your vat serviced before the milk starts flowing
A vat that hasn't been looked at since last season is an unknown quantity. Cooling failures, faulty agitators, and temperature drift don't always announce themselves - they show up quietly in your milk quality results, or not-so-quietly at 2am when something stops working.
Pre-season is the best time to book a service because technicians aren't flat out yet and there's time to fix anything that needs attention before it matters. Mid-calving is the worst time to discover a refrigeration problem.
Book a pre-season vat service and inspection - ideally 4–6 weeks before calving
Check agitator function, door seals, temperature accuracy, and compressor condition
If your vat is getting on in age, ask your technician for an honest assessment of its remaining life - better to plan than to be surprised
Confirm your service provider has parts available for your vat model before any issues arise
DTS/Cryvex technicians carry out 35-point pre-season inspections across New Zealand. Booking early means you get a time that suits you - not whoever's left at the end of the queue.
3. Data and visibility - know what's happening in your vat in real time
One of the quieter changes happening on New Zealand dairy farms is the shift toward real-time vat monitoring. Knowing your vat temperature, milk volume, and collection status from your phone - rather than walking out to check - sounds like a small convenience. But across a busy calving season, it adds up.
For farms supplying Westland Milk Products or OFI, the Agora monitoring platform integrates directly with your supply company's systems, meaning your data is shared automatically and discrepancies are flagged early rather than after the fact.
If you don't have real-time vat monitoring, calving season is a good time to consider it - you'll be checking your vat constantly anyway
Agora installs are straightforward and work with most modern vat setups
Talk to your Terravest rep about whether your shed is set up for monitoring and what it involves
Kip Bodle
Founder & CEO, Terravest