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You can expect the audit to take 2 hours

The dairy shed surrounds/ milking plant, milk storage and preparation facilities, effluent systems, feed storage and any additional buildings within 20 metres of the dairy.

Dairy farms need to comply with the Animal Products Act, their Dairy Companies Risk Management Programme(RMP) and NZCP1

There is one overarching standard called NZCP1 that falls within the Animal Products Act that all dairy farms must meet. For specialty dairy farms they will have their own additional set of standard should they wish to achieve a specific requirement like organics etc.

We will be reviewing animal treatment records as well as vet documentation when inspecting animal welfare practices. Along with this we will be checking you have an up to date veterinarian consultation document for the medicines in use.

NZCP1 is the main standard relating to farm dairy assessment and this covers some of the management of waste from the farm dairy such as effluent. There will however be specific regulations farmers must met which will be found in farm consents from your local council.

Your assessor will view your system to ensure there is no hygiene or structural risk to the system as well as any potential reputational risk to your dairy company through failure of an effluent system.

Milk testing will be covered by your dairy company on a daily basis and be reported back to you via them.

Your dairy assessor will open up your plant and inspect all areas from the clusters through to the vat. This will include the milk line, receiver can and sanitary traps, milk lift pumps, non return valves, milk filters, plate cooler inlets, three way taps on vat as well as the vat itself if its empty.

Ensure you have procedures in place that all staff are trained on. Ensure your milk is cooled and stored correctly. Speak to your dairy company if you have concerns about storage.

Protein and milk soil build ups in the milking machine and/or vat.

Farm operators must ensure they are meeting the requirements of the Biosecurity Act 1993. Our auditors will be following biosecurity protocols on arrival on farm as well.

Agrichemical risk is a huge risk to milk quality. Ensure you store them correctly, have procedures on their use and keep records of where they are used. The assessor will review your procedures and records and look at where you agchemicals are stored and mixed.

There is no pass and fail with an assessment, however it is important that you understand the regulations and the requirements to meet them. If there are areas that are not being met, your assessor will give you a chance to correct any hazards identified either on the day of the assessment or within a certain timeframe.

This will depend on the severity of the issue. This could be as little as 24 hours or up to a 1 – 2 months.

Your assessor will explain exactly what is required to correct the issue.

This will be dependant on the non-conformance but you can schedule a follow up prior to the close out date if you wish.

The assessors number will be on any notification letter. Alternatively you can contact your dairy company or QCONZ directly with questions.

While there are no workshops or training sessions available, feel free to ring your assessor or dairy company should you have further questions. You can also complete the online Farm Dairy Assessment course we have created.