There is now new Dry Cow Therapy (DCT) legislation that will come into effect on the 1st January 2027, to further reduce New Zealand's antibiotic use in farming.

This won't affect us too much until dry-off next year. However, like many things, it will probably take us that long to get our heads fully around all it entails!

Ultimately, we will no longer be able to blanket-treat whole herds with DCT.

For many of you, the change back to individually-selected DCT for only a portion of the herd, with teat sealants used to protect low somatic cell count (SCC) cows and heifers instead, has already happened in the last few of years. For those who have already made the move, and have got the information needed for good decision-making around this, well done!

In general, New Zealand dairy farmers have been dragging their feet about giving up administering DCT to whole herds. But we have all known it would eventually be coming, and the legislation has now been made. 

From 1st January 2027 there will be penalties for vets who prescribe DCT without justification. So, what justification is required?

We'll need individual cow's records showing test results consistant with a high likelihood of infection in the udder to prescribe DCT. Testing methods can include herd tests, in-line mastitis tests, RMT results, and milk cultures. If you are unsure about the testing methods available to you, please ask us. 

This means the paperwork for Dry Cow consults may increase a little for herds complying with individual cow DCT application, but it will mostly be the same. 

If someone says, "I have been battling mastitis all year and I have been trying not to grade for most of the season, so I need to treat everything!”, there will still be the ability to treat a whole herd. But, looking at the paperwork we'll need to complete in order to do this, it's going to add a lot of time and expense.

The farm would then work with their vet towards less mastitis cases and a lower bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC), so that the need for whole-herd treatment should not reoccur. 

In this situation, we would still require individual cow records that justify the use of antibiotics in each of the cows, and we'd also need to have a milk quality consult. This assists dry-off decisions and transition feeding plans, as well as supporting the other information gathered for the paperwork. 

A milk quality consult is quite in-depth. It requires the collection of a lot of data, such as individual and bulk SCCs, milk cultures, teat scores, and culling history. A milking hygeine assessment and staff training are part of it as well.

We would recommend that if you have a high BTSCC level that you get in touch with us so we can help you be proactive in reducing mastitis. There are plenty of good flow-on effects of having lower mastitis numbers! Fewer cases to treat leads to less milk out of the vat, which in turn leads to higher milk production for the season. There are also the positive time and cost implications of having fewer cows needing treatment.

Plus, not getting mastitis – or at least not getting severe clinical mastitis – means cows will have less internal udder scarring, which enables them to produce more milk throughout their lifetime. 

In summary, dry-off legislation is changing soon! Farmers doing what they always have and applying blanket DTC to all their cows will be the most affected. It's time to start making plans now, ahead of dry-off in 2027.

If you have any questions about the new legislation and how to move your farm towards being compliant, please talk to your KeyVet.