Primary Industries minister Nathan Guy welcomed the report and said it showed a major improvement in bobby calf welfare last year.
“The Ministry for Primary Industries has vets at nearly every processing facility and in the 2016 season the mortality rate for bobby calves between farm and processing has more than halved, from 0.25% to 0.12%.
“This is a major drop of just over 50% and shows that new regulations and education campaigns have made a real difference. As well as the big drop in mortality, calves are also arriving in much better health and condition.
“This is also a significant drop from 2008 when the mortality rate was 0.68%.
Guy said the industry and MPI had put a lot of work into improving practices over recent years and they deserve recognition for this.
“While there are still a few in the industry who need to improve their behaviour, this provides strong evidence that things are improving.
“This is the first season with tighter new rules and regulations for handling bobby calves. From August this year it will also be a requirement to have loading and unloading facilities when young calves are transported for sale and slaughter and appropriate shelter.
A full copy of the report is available at www.mpi.govt.nz.
