Dairy & Beef

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.

As changes to Red Tractor standards loom, an on-farm pilot initiative is tackling the key challenges of breeding, rearing and marketing.

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) has welcomed the retailer’s decision to tackle food waste by swapping use-by dates for best before on the majority of its own-brand milk.

With risk of tick-borne diseases changing as new seasonal and geographical patterns emerge, Ruminant Health and Welfare (RH&W) has brought together a new online resource to help farmers and vets to tackle these diseases.

Last year, Adrian Bland of Ninezergh Farm began taking steps to tackle increasingly high somatic cell counts in his 120-cow milking herd. Just over a year on, he took part in a recent AHDB webinar to explain the farm’s progress.

Extra measures are being implemented for Dairy-Tech 2022 held on 2nd February to ensure it is Covid-secure.  

A grant is available for award-winning ozone disinfection technology that promises to offer a safer, more effective and more environmentally friendly solution – with benefits for milk quality, mastitis rates and money-saving.

Simple steps can have a big impact in the avoidance of pneumonia during winter housing, and taken early, can drastically cut potential losses. Kat Baxter-Smith, MSD veterinary advisor for ruminants, shares her recommendations alongside tenant dairy farmer and Disease? Not On My Farm! ambassador, William Westacott.