For the 2025/26 season, on-farm solutions funded by customers Mars and Nestlé are available to all farmers who achieve any level of the Co-operative Difference.
TAKING ACTION
Using your Farm Insights Report
GET TO KNOW
Get to know your report
Water quality
Fonterra farmers work hard to manage risks to water quality.
This section of your Farm Insights Report highlights your farm’s surplus nitrogen at risk of being lost to the environment (PNS), along with and a summary of the Nitrogen Risk Scorecard, which assesses the environmental risk of your on-farm nitrogen practices. For a full breakdown, the complete Nitrogen Risk Scorecard is available in a separate document outside the Farm Insights Report.
Biosecurity
Farms operate more efficiently when pests and diseases are kept out or detected quickly if they do appear.
Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is used as the example disease here, but many of the prevention steps apply to other diseases too. Farms that test bulk milk for BVD can detect new infections early and are able to respond more quickly than those that don’t. Heifers grazed off-farm are more likely to mix with stock from other farms, increasing the risk of infection and the chance of bringing disease back to your farm.
Milking
Milking is one of the most time-consuming tasks on farm. Improving efficiency means you and your cows spend less time in the shed.
This page within your Farm Insights Report draws on farm specific data from milk vat monitoring systems, farm dairy assessments and farm dairy records. It connects that information to industry research to provide insights into the individual farms milking performance during the month of peak milk production.
One key research source is Maximum Milking Time (MaxT) by Dairy NZ. This examines animal productivity, shed size and shed type to offer guidance on how long milkings should take.
The key metrics highlighted in this section focus on cows per hour and litres per cluster per hour. These are strong indicators of milking efficiency and play a significant part in the overall milking time. This page benchmarks your performance against industry standards and identifies potential time savings.
Somatic cell count
Effective mastitis prevention will ensure more milk in the vat, higher quality milk, and reduced use of antibiotics.
This section of your Farm Insights Report benchmarks each farm’s seasonal average somatic cell count (SCC) and clinical mastitis cases against other farms in their region. It also tracks monthly trends over the past three seasons to help identify patterns and progress.
Opportunities for improvement are highlighted using industry research focused on the impact of subclinical mastitis. A bulk SCC above 100,000 cells/ml suggests the presence of subclinical infections, which can quietly reduce milk production. Research shows that for every doubling of SCC over 100,000 cells/ml, farms may experience a 2.1% drop in milk yield. High performing farms typically maintain seasonal averages below 100,000 cells/ml.
What you can do
If milk quality or milking time is a focus for you this season, book in for a Milk Quality Service Visit: Your Milk Quality Manager will meet you on-farm to provide free, independent advice on potential opportunities to reduce your farm’s bulk somatic cell count and/or to save you milking time in the shed.