Why you need to keep dairy feed declarations
The origin and production of dairy products are being increasingly analysed by consumers and regulators alike. The suitability and traceability of dairy animal feed has been recognised as an important factor due to its potential to impact milk quality and consumer perception. As a result, the Dairy Industry Technical Advisory Group (DITAG) has updated their processes to ensure the dairy products contributed by dairy farmers and feed providers meet regulations of the Animal Products Act 1999, the NZCP1 Code of Practice for the Design and Operation of Farm Dairies and customer expectations.
The Animal Products Act 1999 requires that all supplied feed is declared suitable for feeding to lactating dairy animals. Your animal feed supplier is obligated to provide the product information at the time of delivery for every consignment. It may be printed on the load docket, bagged product, included as an information sheet accompanying the weighbridge docket or emailed.
The NZCP1: Code of Practice for the Design and Operation of Farm Dairies requires a declaration for all feed brought on to farm that will be fed to dairy animals producing milk for supply to a dairy processer. Feed grown on farm or on a support block managed by you, does not need a declaration. All purchased stock feed should only be accepted when delivered with documentation identifying what it contains, the source (where it came from) and confirmation that it is suitable for feeding to dairy animals. This information allows you to confirm that contaminant risks associated with feeds are being properly managed.
Keep feed declarations for four years
Agrifeeds’ responsibility to its customers is to provide a complete and accurate feed declaration. To make sure all Agrifeeds’ deliveries are compliant with these regulations, Agrifeeds’ transporters will provide the following documents for every consignment at the time of delivery:
An Agrifeeds Product Specification Sheet declaring the product is a suitable feed for lactating dairy animals
A copy of the order pick list
A weigh and/or carrier docket
DITAG requires purchasers to retain these documents for four years and the feed must be stored in a manner that avoids degradation or contamination. Providing somewhere accessible and weather-proof for the transporter to leave the documents is advised. These documents, as well as information retained by Agrifeeds, satisfy the DITAG declaration and provide the necessary requirements for auditing purposes.