The issue of inductions has always been a sensitive subject in dairy farming circles.
The interferring with the normal birthing process by way of steriod drugs, to force the cow to calve earlier for production goals, is not a good look and Fonterra has voiced it's opposition to it.
While it is estimated that only about 4% of the national herd is induced, the number of farmers involved is much higher.
The Veterinary Association is encouraging farmers to reduce this intervention rate, and if so, do it 3-4 months before hand to prevent calves from being born alive.
With the heavy drive to maximise production, cow fertility has suffered, and some farmers are using this technique to bring cows back into season earlier.
Other less invasive management systems are avaliable to improve fertility, as the Lincoln University Dairy Farm has shown, without compromising production goals.
Consumers and purchasers of dairy products view this practice as unacceptable, and the industry needs address this issue as soon as possible.
A small percentage of dairy farmers are inducing early births in cows but the numbers continue to decrease as the controversial practice is phased out.
Paul Wiseman, a dairy production veterinarian with Totally Vets in Palmerston North, said about 4 per cent of the cows the practice covered were induced each year, and about 10 per cent of their 200 dairy clients used the practice, reports The Manawtu Standard.
A calf's birth can be induced to bring cows into milk production at the same time.
The practice has been used since the 1970s but the proportion of the national herd being induced has fallen from 9 per cent in 1998 to 4.6 per cent, according to DairyNZ.
Mr Wiseman said there were strict guidelines around induction and few calves survived, as their lungs had not developed. "And the few that are born alive die very soon after birth. A cow can only be induced in the narrow window of 8 to 12 weeks before she is due to calve."
That means cows being induced now would have calved halfway through October or later in October.
Mr Wiseman said because of the window, a veterinarian needed to know when the cow was due to calve and pregnancy testing, if done at the right time, could give that information.
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