Dairy & Beef

This month, livestock editor Sarah Kidby spoke to Hannah Fitzsimmonds at LLM Farm Vets, part of the VetPartners group, about reducing the risk of digital dermatitis (DD) in dairy herds.

RABDF has launched the new service, which is free for members and offers practical resources to help recruit and manage employees.

Research has revealed substantial benefits to using ketoprofen for the treatment of pain and lameness associated with digital dermatitis in cattle.

The arrival of spring grass and turnout time is welcomed with open arms by many dairy farmers. And nothing beats the sight of cows out grazing. But the downside of turnout can be milk fat depression, particularly in spring and early summer.

The cost of calf pneumonia is considerable on UK farms, with well-known implications for rearing costs, profitability and lifetime yield. While vaccination is key to control plans, live intranasal vaccines can offer enhanced protection and bridge the immunity gap in the first few months of life.

Supermarket sales of all dairy products remain higher than they were pre-pandemic, with an extra 302 million litres of milk bought last year compared to 2019, according to AHDB figures.

Taking place from 2nd – 9th February, the event celebrates the progress made since the launch of the GB Calf Strategy and has seen a range of experts offering guidance to improve calf performance.

Calf scour is significant when it comes to the future health and performance of every herd, but controlling it can be a challenge. Virbac experts take a comprehensive look at the causes and multifactorial approaches to control.

Calves are an expensive commodity nowadays, and to successfully rear healthy calves, prevention of disease is a better financial bet than firefighting clinical outbreaks and attempting expensive treatment. Boosting of gut health and the general immune system, together with avoidance of calf scour and calf pneumonia is of paramount importance to avoid a negative financial impact.

Having an effective cleaning and disinfection programme is essential in modern calf house management, to reduce the risk of disease. Evans Vanodine provides advice on a controlled disinfection programme.

NFU president Minette Batters met with minister for exports Mike Freer MP, to explain the NFU Dairy Export Strategy designed to help unlock new opportunities within international markets. 

Adverts by the oat drink brand attracted over 100 complaints, with critics raising concerns about the company’s environmental claims.