Welcome to Waikato Dairy Farming
Welcome to the Dairy Farming field trip for Term 3, operating from 26 - 28 August 2009 in Waikato. As well as this site there have been previous LEARNZ field trips on this topic. We suggest you use the Field Trip Chooser on the LEARNZ home page to find similar field trips.
Watch the Dairy Farming introductory video (2.75Mb wmv file). High quality version (5.19Mb wmv file).
Introduction
Since the early 1800s the dairy industry in New Zealand has gone from farmers keeping a few domestic cows on bush blocks, to being a world leader.
Farmers mainly kept cows to provide milk, butter and other dairy products. Initially herds were small, becoming larger near towns where the milk, butter and cheese could be sold. Dairy products were not exported until the 1880s when refrigeration made this possible.
Since the beginning of this century dairying has changed dramatically, with huge expansion. The Waikato region is well suited to dairy farming with its fertile soils and temperate climate.
By 2008, New Zealand had over 4 million cows in 11,436 milking herds, with an average herd size of 351 cows. So dairying has come a long way since its humble beginnings and is now a major earner for New Zealand.
Field Trip Plan
| Tue 25 August | Join Shelley and the ambassadors as they travel to Hamilton. Read Shelley's diary to discover why the Waikato is such a well known dairy farming region and take a look at the panorama of the mighty Waikato River. |
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Wed 26 August |
Come and visit Morlands Farm south of Te Awamutu and Read Shelley's diary to discover how this herd of 430 cows is managed to maximise cow health and productivity. View the panoramas to see the farm. Watch the videos to find out what happens during this busy calving period and how calves are reared. Get the questions and listen to the recordings of Wednesday's Audioconferences. Read the ambassador updates to find out what they got up to on the farm today. |
| Thu 27 August | Come and experience a day on the farm starting at 5.30am as the cows are milked. Get your gumboots on to take part in the milking and watch the videos about pasture and soil management. Read about what happens to the milk once it leaves the cow in Shelley's diary. Get the questions and listen to the recordings of Thursday's Audioconferences. See what the conditions were like on the farm today by viewing the panoramas. |
| Fri 28 August | Take a look around the DairyNZ research farm known as Scott Farm and view the panoramas. Meet Cameron Clark and discover what trials he is currently involved in by watching the videos. Read Shelley's diary to find out what artificial breeding is and why it is used, and learn about which milking routines are being tested. Read about what the ambassadors thought of the trip. Get the questions and listen to the recordings of Friday's Audioconferences. |
What's New
| Wed 18 March | Check out the Dairy Farming Field Trip from Term 1 to see how Dairy Farming operates in Canterbury and then compare this with Waikato Dairy Farming. |
| Wed 29 July | Waikato Dairy Farming Field Trip website is now online. |
| Mon 14 September | The Competition has closed and the winner has been drawn. Congratulations to Room 8 from Havelock North Intermediate School. |
| Tue 15 September | Newsletter 5 has been sent to all classes enrolled in the Waikato Dairy Farming field trip |
Using This Web Site
Before the field trip, teachers could start with the preparation section. Students could start with the background pages or easy-reading pages plus the activities.
During the field trip, teachers could start with the field trip section while students could start with audioconferences, videos or diaries.
Report any problems or errors on these web pages by emailing: webmaster@learnz.org.nz
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