Let your neighbours know you'll be walking stock in front of their properties.
April and May are the months when cows start to go off farm and on to grazing blocks or to new farms. Most go by truck but some walk down the road.
Walking down a country road behind a mob of cows is a nice way to spend a day.
I have done it. What I found, though, is that these cows greet all their neighbours' stock, often nose to nose, over the fence. While it's good to be social, it's not great for biosecurity.
With the New Zealand dairy sector aiming to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis, it's a good idea to curb these social calls, no matter where you farm.
One way is to contact all those farmers whose paddocks face the road to let them know you will be walking cattle past. If you give them the details, they will be able to shift their stock away from these paddocks, or at least run a hot wire 2-3 metres inside the boundary.
It's a good idea to let them know when you have completed the job, too, so that they can revert to normal practice.
