COCCIDIOSIS AND CRYPTOSPORIDIUM REDUCTION IN CALVES

Coccidiosis and Cryptosporidium, both diarrhoea causing infections common in young calves, can be fatal and are hard to treat.

Evans Vanodine recommends using Target Powergel and GPC8 in your cleaning and disinfection programme and following our calf pen cleaning routine to help reduce cases. This routine has been tried and tested and is shown to be e ective in destroying the oocysts which enable infections to spread.

Find out more and read the full article on our website.

can handle 150 cows’ worth of slurry a day, followed by the 655 which handles up to 300 cows, and the 855 which does 300+ cows. Bauer also exhibited two mobile, plug and play separators, as well as pumps, mixers and a slurry tanker.

Agri-tech company Dyneval spoke to delegates at the show about its innovative Dynescan semen analyser, a portable pen-side test that provides highly accurate results on semen quality. It aims to help farms to be more pro table and improve fertility management. As a plus, more e cient farms will have reduced carbon a footprints.

Tom Oxtoby, of the George Farm Vets in Wiltshire, has been using the product with his farming clients. It allows him to be proactive, especially

with block calving herds that need to serve a lot of cows in a short space of time to hit their fertility targets. By the time performance issues are identi ed at pregnancy scanning it’s too late.

Using the Dynescan Semen Analyser, he can advise farmers on which semen is likely to give the best conception rates and which bulls to use more in xed-time insemination programs.

Inevitably, however, calves will be exposed to viruses, bacteria and parasites in their environment, which can cause scours, respiratory problems or other diseases.

Through the use of a controlled disinfection programme, the number of infections and organisms to which the calf is exposed are reduced.

The health of calves should be a priority, as how they are looked after in early life a ects their adult life, which can essentially save both time and money.

Coccidiosis and cryptosporidium, both diarrhoea-causing infections that are common and potentially fatal in young calves, are hard to treat. However, prevention through good cleaning and disinfection is key to reduction.

Taking the subjectivity out of semen testing is one of the main bene ts of the Dynescan Analyser, Tom believes. It can also be done there and then in the eld without the added time and cost of sending samples o to be tested. In addition, the product can help identify semen quality issues that occur after quality checks at the genetics company’s lab or factory, for example, during transport, storage or handling.

Whilst it’s early days, Tom has already identi ed some bulls that could have a ected conception rates. FG as a thoroughly cleaned and disinfected pen aids the health of calves and reduces mortality rates. Therefore, it is important that housing management systems are optimised in order to prevent stress and limit the calf’s susceptibility to disease.

Evans Vanodine has tested and found the following system to be e ective in destroying the oocysts which enable the infections to spread, and it recommends this cleaning and disinfection programme to help to reduce cases:

• Remove all animals and portable equipment from the pen

• Remove any organic material

• Apply Target Powergel at 1:14 through a foam cleaner or low- pressure washer (less than 70 bar). Allow a one-hour contact time before rinsing o thoroughly with clean water and allow to air dry

• Spray all areas thoroughly with a solution of GPC8 at 1:35, at a rate of 300ml per square metre. For best results apply as a foam

• Re t portable equipment and allow to air dry.

Protective clothing and equipment (PPE) must be available for all personnel. It is essential that the correct clothing and equipment is utilised when using chemicals to clean and/or disinfect.

Evans says its extensive product range, complimented by its hands-on approach, from technical support and farm visits to its in-house testing facilities and comprehensive literature, help provide customers with the tools and expertise to implement a successful and e ective hygiene programme.

To view and download Evans’ Calf Pen Best Practice yer or its Calf Hygiene Brochure, visit the Brochures section at: www.evansvanodine.co.uk FG

The Moocall Calving Sensor, which appears in the new series of Clarkson’s Farm, reduces potential calving complications by notifying farmers when their cow or heifer is about to go into labour.

Attaching to the cow’s tail in seconds, the sensor sends an alert to the farmer’s smartphone around an hour before birth. No more staring at CCTV monitors on the o chance a cow is about to calve. The Moocall Calving Sensor continually monitors your cow’s condition day and night, allowing you to focus on other areas of your farm.

Modern farming is a fast-paced and increasingly stressful industry. To help today’s cattle farmer, Moocall technology solutions streamline and improve productivity, while minimising animal losses on farm, the company says. By alerting the farmer to an imminent calving, the Moocall Calving Sensor helps reduce unforeseen birthing complications by ensuring there is someone present at the right time. Any necessary interventions, or even a call to the vet, can then be made as necessary.

With almost 17,000 satis ed users in over 65 countries, the Moocall Calving Sensor is a proven, fast, and easy way to help reduce calf mortality, the company says.

You can see the Moocall Calving Sensor in action on the new series of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime Video. Find out more at calvingsensor.co.uk FG

Storth Machinery has recently extended its range of trailing shoes, o ering a whole new range of tanker and umbilical trailing shoes ranging from 9–30m.

These trailing shoes are designed for use on grassland and arable land for applying slurry directly to the soil surface with minimum contamination of the plant leaves. This also provides a quick delivery of nutrients to the root structure of the crop, Storth says.

One of the new machines, the Contractor L-Line 15m Trailing Shoe, was showcased at this year’s YAMS on 8th February.

The Contractor L-Line is a fully galvanised, horizontal folding trailing shoe consisting of two selfsharpening OptiCut Pro Macerators, with the trailing shoe boasting a rapid folding/unfolding time to ensure a high work throughput.

Storth also o ers a tanker range of Farmer S-Line, Contractor M-Line, ContractorPlus and ContractorPro X-Trail, and the umbilical Contractor Trailing Shoe. With this range of trailing shoes, Storth reckons it can guarantee a suitable sized machine for all users.

All these tanker trailing shoes are retro t to a large range of tankers, new and old, to help farmers and contractors get the most out of their slurry without changing their tanker.

To nd out more about this new range of trailing shoes, get in touch with your local Storth sales rep or contact the o ce. FG

Following a catastrophic re back in November, which saw the entirety of Westermann’s stock and assembly hall reduced to ashes, the German manufacturing company has managed an almost impossible turnaround to get back up and running.

UK importers, SPA Power Machinery, says the Westermann team’s fast action enabled them to begin rebuilding and shipping new machines by January – “an incredible achievement”. The company found a temporary warehouse and got straight to work contacting all of its suppliers to arrange replacement parts and materials. Over 200 re ghters sought to extinguish the blaze, in which fortunately nobody was injured.

Westermann supplies farm cleaning equipment to 54 countries across the world. As a result of the re, it has decided to now focus its range on its best sellers, removing a few of the less popular models.

The CM2 Pro Ride-On will now be available in hydraulic petrol and also electric, with multiple attachments for dairy scraping, feed aeration, lime spreading, and sweeping. The WR870 Pedestrian machine remains as it is, with poly and wire brush options for yard sweeping, and also weed/moss removal. And the Weed Ripper options are now available in the original WKB660 and smaller WKB330, with petrol and battery o erings.

Westermann is available across the UK and Ireland from SPA Power Machinery of She eld; contact SPA directly for more information. FG