Dairy Farmer November 2015

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DAIRY November 2015

FARMER

Building brand Scotland Exclusive interview with Richard Lochhead Pages 28-30 Volume 62 Issue 11

Advice on boosting dairy herd health ANIMAL HEALTH Pages 34-58

Protocols key to hitting rearing goals YOUNGSTOCK Pages 24-26

Report from Bath & West Showground THE DAIRY SHOW Pages 60-67

MILK PRICES

Pages 68-70

Tip of the month: Maize shredlage boosts milk yield – p36

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***DF Nov p1 Leader_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:34 Page 1

LEADER

a word from the

EDITOR

I

t was perhaps inevitable there would be a little friction between FFA’s David Handley and AHDB’s Gwyn Jones at our Great Milk Debate at the Dairy Show.

And they didn’t disappoint. Mr Jones saw the blue sky horizon and wanted to seize the opportunity presented by global markets, while Mr Handley wondered what the benefit of unplanned extra production was especially as he has spent the last few months, with NFU help and sleeves rolled up, dealing with the here and now trying to wring a little bit more lifesaving cash out of retailers.

The fundamental question was how do we clamber onto that global stage without a greater degree of co-ordination, innovation and competiveness, especially as our currency disadvantage viz the eurozoners doesn’t look like ending any time soon.

But maybe things are changing as we see Muller Wiseman’s acquisition of Dairy Crest’s liquid business showing that three into two does go.

Contacts

Editor Peter Hollinshead 0203 691 5883 peter.hollinshead@briefingmedia.com

Production Editor Gillian Green 01772 799 417 gillian.green@briefingmedia.com

Head of Commercial Solutions Mike Hartley 01772 799 532 mike.hartley@briefingmedia.com

It is, says Dairy Crest, a ‘transformational moment which will help create a more sustainable UK dairy sector’.

Well, we jolly well hope so given our present precarious state.

Muller will now take on Dairy Crest’s 1.1 billion litres to create a business of over 3.3 billion litres and around 2000 farmers which should give it a fair bit of clout.

Unfortunately, while it may bring some much needed economies, it won’t bring an end to the supermarket price war and the wholesale devaluation of our milk.

The industry needs more money coming in at the top to filter down to the bottom to generate optimism and the investment that goes with it.

Only then will we see heads raised and a start to seek out those global opportunities!

Account Manager Mark Jackson 01322 449 624, mark.jackson@briefingmedia.com

Classified Advertisements Ben Lea, Susan Rains, Stuart Boydell 01772 799 454 Advertising Production Justine Sumner 01772 799 437 Fax: 01772 796 747 justine.sumner@briefingmedia.com

Circulation and subscriptions 01635 879 320 subs@dairy-farmer.co.uk

Subscription rates: UK £65 a year Europe: £85 World: £95 www.subscription.co.uk/df/0031 ISSN 1475-6994

© Briefing Media Ltd 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The contents of Dairy Farmer are subject to reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems.

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Origination by Farmers Guardian, Briefing Media Ltd, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Preston, Lancashire PR2 9NZ. Printed by Headley Brothers, Invicta Press, Queen’s Road, Ashford, Kent TN24 8HH. No responsibility can be accepted by Dairy Farmer for the opinions expressed by contributors.

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

1

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THIS MONTH

CONTENTS november Volume 62 Issue 11

Low input

On Farm

How one flying herd in Scotland has turned to buying in heifers from Ireland

10-12

Comment

4-6 8-9 14-15 78-79

Latest news Cowmen Comment Potter’s View Good Evans

Regulars 18-22 68-70 74 80

Breeding Milk Prices Workshop tips Finance

60-67

The Dairy Show

Event report

From the Great Dairy Debate to new products and advice, we report from the Bath and West Showground

2

DAIRY FARMER

NOVEMBER 2015

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THIS MONTH

Animal health

34-58

Special feature

Latest advice and features looking at issues such as acidosis, new options for maize, buildings and mycotoxins

Dairy marketplace

Cow bells Good Evans

Roger’s Alpine cow bell causes all sorts of problems with the locals

New products

72-73

We showcase a selection of the latest products in the dairy arena

78-79

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

3

***DF Nov p4 5 6 News_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:24 Page 1

NEWS

Bail-out money goes on volume

JAll of the devolved Governments have opted to pay out the EU’s support package across all farmers according to milk yield. This means those on the highest aligned prices also receive support money.

All opted to pay the UK’s £26.2million package in line with England, as it will be easier and quicker for the Rural Payments Agency to administer. The money is expected to reach farmers’ bank accounts in December.

In England, dairy farmers will get an average of £1800, Northern Ireland farmers get £2000 and Scottish farmers £2500 because they, on average, have larger farms.

Camera scoring

JDeLaval has just announced it is to launch the world’s first automated body condition scoring system for cows.

The technology is based on a 3D camera fixed at the exit to the parlour and once the cow has passed under the camera it selects the best image from the video sequence which is used to calculate body score.

This is then fed back to a computer where changes are shown and this allows for individaul or group ration adjustment. Initial cost is put at £5/cow.

4

DAIRY FARMER

Global output looks to be slowing down

A

necdotal evidence and actual data on global milk production from organisations such as IFCN is pointing to a marked fall in global milk volumes and an increase in prices.

The IFCN global price, for example, has increased from a low of $23.2/100kg of energy corrected milk (4% fat, 3.3% protein) to $27.2 in September, and it has increased further for October, possibly to cross

the $30 threshold.

Prices have increased largely on the back of rising GDT prices which have risen for four consecutive auctions. However, hopes were dashed to some extent by this week’s auction dropping 3.1% to an average price of $2735. Powders fell 4.5% on average, with butter the biggest loser being 11.1% down.

In Europe there is also good seasonal demand for butter, and that, plus rising WMP prices, are resulting in a tightening of the

JIceland has become the first of the discounters to increase the price of its main four-pint line from 79p to £1.

However, it has also dropped the price of other lines, with the price of a pint being halved to 25p, two pints falling from 75p to 50p and six pints from £1.85 to £1.50. Overall, though, despite this re-jigging of the smaller packs, Iceland will be injecting more money into the supply chain.

Farmers For Action said: “What Iceland has done is set the challenge for all other retailers to raise the price of four pints of milk to at least £1.

“If they really want to show they are concerned about the British dairy farming industry they should get it up to a price which allows dairy farming to become profitable again.”

market and rapidly increasing prices. SMP is also being pulled up, and is now over €100 above the intervention threshold.

Cheese price And there are some signs the cheese price may be moving from its very low base. The Irish have increased their prices by as much as £250 into November. However the actual MCVE (Milk for Cheese Value Equivalents) still translates into a sub 22ppl milk price.

Iceland sets four-pint price Need to invest,

NOVEMBER 2015

Iceland has set the challenge for all other retailers to raise the price of four pints of milk to at least £1

“

Farmers For Action

says Dairy UK

JOn the domestic scene, Dr David Dobbin, chairman of Dairy UK and host of the European Dairy Association conference, emphasised the need to continually invest in growing the market through promotion and education.

“The fundamental cause of the adverse dairy markets of the last year was overproduction, with the growth in global milk production overtaking demand.

“We need to build our competitiveness focusing on improving on product and process innovation and supply chain integrity,” he said.

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Prestigious award for Devon vet

JDevon vet Andrew Biggs has been awarded BVA's most prestigious scientific award for his service to the veterinary profession and, in particular, his national and international contribution to clinical practice in cattle health and welfare.

Merit The Dalrymple-Champneys Cup and Medal is presented each year to a member of BVA to mark and recognise work of outstanding merit which it is considered will encourage the advancement of veterinary science.

Mr Biggs developed his internationally-recognised expertise in mastitis, one of the most costly diseases affecting dairy cows, in the Devon mixed practice he joined after graduating from the University of Liverpool in 1981.

NEWS

Takeover deal gets approval

T

he dairy consolidation deal of the decade – Muller Wiseman’s £80 million takeover of Dairy Crest’s liquid milk business – has finally been given the goahead by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The deal covers liquid milk, packaged cream, flavoured milk and bulk commodity ingredients, and includes Dairy Crest’s dairy facilities at Severnside, Chadwell Heath, Foston and Hanworth together with around 70 depots. The deal is expected to complete after Christmas.

The decision follows agreement by the CMA that Muller will toll process a nominated volume of fresh liquid

milk for processor Medina Dairy at the Severnside facility to ensure continuing competition for retailers in the South West, Wales, the South and the Midlands.

Transformational Mark Allen, chief executive of Dairy Crest, said the deal was a ‘transformational moment’ for Dairy Crest and the wider dairy industry.

“The deal will help to create a more sustainable UK dairy sector. It will deliver economies of scale and cost efficiencies that will underpin investment in the sector and help the UK to compete more successfully in global markets.”

The Dairy Crest share price shot to the highest it has been since 2007, at 622p.

Sainsbury’s to provide winter support payment

JFarmers supplying milk for Sainsbury’s own label cheese will be given a winter support payment.

In a letter to farmers from Barber’s Cheesemakers, Sainsbury’s own label supplier, the retailer said it would forego any milk price reductions up to and including 2015.

It has asked selected own label cheese suppliers to convert and distribute the equivalent value of the cost savings they would receive from lower cheese costs into a pence per litre support payment to be distributed to producers.

Dairy winners

JWinner of this year’s British Farming Awards Dairy Innovator of the Year award was Mark Verity, of JS, KA and MW Verity, Lancashire. Adrian Smith, of WL Smith and Son, Cheshire, took silver.

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

5

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NEWS

Latest on organic raw materials

JThe supply of organic raw materials this autumn and winter will not be as bad as was feared earlier in the year after Ukraine lost its organic certification status as a result of pesticide contamination.

Although the UK organic arable cereal acreage was down at around 42,000 hectares, the harvest was generally good this year. But with demand at an estimated 220,000 tonnes, the UK still has a strong reliance on imported raw materials.

Optimistic Peter Griffiths at Hi Peak, a dedicated UK organic specialist compounder, said: “The chances of re-certification have improved. I’m optimistic I can get what our customers need.”

The current organic price is around £200/t for domestic wheat, £215 for imported. Barley is currently plentiful, and is priced around £190/t, with maize grain trading around the £215 mark.

Soya from China is at its lowest price for some time, at £460/t but mid protein replacements like peas and beans are currently hard to source.

6

DAIRY FARMER

Demand set to continue to grow

D

espite the global dairy market being hit by a combination of over supply and a lack of demand from China, experts are sticking to their prediction that, overall, demand will continue to grow by 2% each year.

That is according to Kevin Bellamy, senior analyst at Rabobank, who re-stated the assertion at the recent European Dairy

Association (EDA) Annual Congress in Edinburgh.

Over buying The lack of demand right now was being influenced by over-buying, high stocks, political trade bans and also the oil price, as this affected the buying power of oil dependant economies.

Nevertheless ‘demand for dairy will expand, particularly driven by emerging markets, and

this will result in more target destinations for companies,’ he said.

On production, Mr Bellamy predicted there could soon be 1bn litres less on the world market due to changes in the New Zealand and US dairy industries. The New Zealanders, for example, were cutting back significantly and he predicted volumes will be down between 7%-10% compared to last year.

JEarly uptake of the new Morrisons Milk For Farmers brand – which pays farmers an extra 23p per four pints – is reported to have been positive, with stores selling out and consumers seemingly willing to put their hands in their pockets to help farmers.

However the somewhat unusual idea was perhaps unsurprisingly met with a degree of scepticism within the industry with two farmers going on local television to denounce the idea.

These farmers were not, however, Arla farmers who are set to benefit if the scheme takes off, but two

Tesco farmers supplying Muller Wiseman Dairies.

Roddo Catto from Scotland, and Stuart Heath from Cheshire, both critic-

ised the scheme saying Morrisons had ducked out of its moral obligation to set prices that are sustainable for its suppliers.

Positive first uptake of Milk For Farmers

NOVEMBER 2015

Semex Dairy Conference 2016

JThe 2016 Semex Dairy Conference is to be held on January 10-12 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow.

Industry speakers include: Prof David Hughes, Imperial College; Andrew McInnes, Muller Wiseman; Dr David Dobbin, United Dairy Farmers; Sean Molloy, Glanbia Ingredients; Donald Moore, Global Dairy Platform; Minette Batters, NFU vice-president; John McDougall,

Semex Alliance; and Sophie Helaine, European Commission.

From a practical farming point of view, speakers include: Joep Driessen, Cow Signals Training Company; Alex Bach, IRTA; Gabor Bakos, dairy farmer from Hungary; David Hodgson, Wormanby Holsteins; and David Black, Paragon Vets, Carlisle.

■ To book, contact Helen Miller on 0800 86 88 90, or helenm@semex.co.uk

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***DF Nov p8 9 Cowmen Cameron_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:49 Page 1

COWMEN COMMENT

JOHN Cameron

John Cameron is farm manager of Wood Park Farm on the Wirral, part of the University of Liverpool Vet School, and is currently involved with animal husbandry trials in association with Tesco.

Pippa stood on one end and while we turned the cow over she walked the plank

“

8

DAIRY FARMER

O

ur vet students finished their studies at the end of July, and one way or another they were here most days doing different things which always keeps the team busy, so once they had gone we were able to relax a bit more.

We harvested 50 acres of winter barley in the first week of August and had it crimped and agbagged. Then we turned to harvesting 100 acres of alkalage whole crop, followed by 70 acres of third cut silage, and then went onto the last 20 acres of wheat which we crimped and bagged.

After that it was muck on 30 acres of stubble ready to drill some grass, and suddenly it’s October and the students are back and we are buzzing again. At least we only have 30 acres of maize to harvest and a few acres of wheat to drill.

For a good while now we have been achieving 80% submission rates, although conception rate rarely rises above the 40% figure. The effects of this have been quite dramatic this summer and with 20 cows calving per month our average days in milk has fallen to 170 days. With milk yield of 40kg per cow, each figure on its own sounds ok but not too special, but the net effect is around 600 litres more in the tank with the same number of cows.

NOVEMBER 2015

We still have plenty of cows showing good signs of heat so obviously something must be going right. Intakes are good at around 26.5kg/cow on the highs, and the cows are holding body condition better than usual so energy levels seem fine.

You may remember we fitted rubber matting in part of the collecting yard, parlour and exit area, and we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in white line lameness since then. I’m sure the cows are benefiting and giving us the payback, and with my long wish list of things to improve, fitting matting where the cows stand and eat is near the top.

Muck pit We are having a new muck pit built for the youngstock buildings to replace a glorified pit which started life as a piece of dug out ground for parking an old rotaspreader on many years ago. The retaining wall we scraped the muck over was in danger of collapsing so something had to be done.

The bulling heifers are outside making it difficult to serve them on natural heats and they seem to want to chase around the field rather than to come into a crush, so we are having to synchronise them.

But it always surprises me the number of compromises that have to be

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COWMEN COMMENT

On farm this month: Students have returned back to their farm studies (above), and construction of the new muck pit for the heifer housing gets underway (right).

Farm facts rFarm size: 200 acres (80ha) plus 100 acres (40ha) rented rHerd size: Closed herd of 200 cows, all replacements bred and reared on farm rYield: 11,000 litres/cow sold per year.

made when building work is taking place among the normal working environment. Our well organised system of moving weaned calves to make space for new ones around the sheds has come unstuck as there’s no where to put them and it is getting a bit overcrowded.

Hopefully the pit will soon be finished and we can get back to some semblance of normality.

Torsion I thought Stella would calve on Saturday night as she looked like she was just finding the right spot to settle down and get on with the job. Sunday morning and no calf at 5.30am, and that didn’t seem just right. Experience suggested a fit, relatively old, girl not calving on time

probably means a torsion, and so it proved. We get about four per year and have had some bad experiences so we weren’t hopeful. Our young vet Pippa came out and organised a few of us and a scaffolding plank.

Once Stella was cast with ropes the plank was placed on her abdomen.

Pippa stood on one end and while we turned the cow over she walked the plank, and hey presto the torsion was undone and 20 minutes later we had a lovely heifer calf.

Stella had a bottle of calcium, a shot of pain relief and cleansed later that afternoon. I was impressed with the simplicity of the procedure and although Pippa assures me it’s an acknowledged way of doing it, I hadn’t seen it before.

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

9

***DF Nov p10 11 12 On Farm _Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:26 Page 1

ON FARM

A flying herd managed on a grass-based, block-calving system is proving the right mix for a Dumfries and Galloway farm. Jennifer MacKenzie reports.

Flying herd turns to buying Irish heifers

R

ichard and Ailsa Caygill have been farming the 250 acres of grassland at Marks Farm, near Kirkcudbright, for 10 years.

They have opted for a low-input system and a Friesian-type flying herd to make the most of their ground and existing 12:12 milking parlour. At one time they had considered investing in robots to replace the parlour, but now they are happy they chose not to.

All cows are crossed with a beef bull to provide heifers and steers for sale as strong stores in the autumn, and with no replacements they have sought down-calving heifers from overseas. The value of Friesian and beef calf sales, Richard claims, is worth 4p a litre.

Over the last three years, coinciding with the move to spring calving, in-calf Friesian heifers have been bought as herd replacements from Ireland and herd numbers have been increased to 190 cows.

The herd has a 20% replace-

10

DAIRY FARMER

Richard and Ailsa Caygill farm 250 acres near Kirkcudbright and have increased herd numbers to 190.

ment rate with cows expected to produce for four to five lactations.

Grassland While no investments have been made in buildings, grassland has been improved and the herd, which averages 7032 litres at 4.29% butterfat and 3.52% protein, produces up to 4800 litres off forage with the remainder off 1.3t of concentrate.

“We couldn’t breed the heifers ourselves for the price we are paying for them delivered and guaranteed in-calf,” says

NOVEMBER 2015

Richard, who runs the farm with help from two part-time staff.

“Also, if we bred our own replacements we would have to carry another 45 heifers through to two-years old. The milk provides the main income but the sale of calves in autumn helps with cash flow when the milk yield is falling.”

Richard and Ailsa and their independent adviser Paul Henderson, of David Allen Agribusiness (along with two other dairy farmers in the area) have gone to Ireland for the last

three years to select heifer replacements in October or November.

Heifers are bought in-calf to a Friesian type blackand-white bull, and last year cost £1150 a head delivered and disease tested. Once back in Scotland, any which are PD’d as not in-calf have money refunded. They are vaccinated for BVD, IBR and salmonella, and premovement TB tested.

“We’re looking for 40-50 heifer replacements a year which we buy through the livestock sourcing agency Grasstec, based in Mallow,

***DF Nov p10 11 12 On Farm _Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:27 Page 2

ON FARM

Last year the beef-cross heifer calves averaged ÂŁ580.

Co Cork. Until three years ago we were buying replacements from Holland,� says Richard.

The bought-in heifers will be two years old at calving and they join the rest of the herd which calves over a tight period from the

beginning of February to the middle of April.

Including the bought-in heifers, this year 148 of the 155 females which had been inseminated were in calf.

For 2016, the aim is to tighten the calving period to 11 weeks. The goal is to

Black-and-white bull calves are kept entire.

have 190 cows in milk, with sales for the Wiseman Cooperative contract which is paying above the cost of production.

Block calving Ailsa works part-time as a veterinary nurse at Gallo-

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***DF Nov p10 11 12 On Farm _Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:28 Page 3

ON-FARM lot easier, particularly in managing the newborn calves in a tight batch and ensuring they get the best start. She is allowed a month off work from the end of January to look after the calves.

Calves She manages the newborn calves which are not allowed to suckle their dams and she ensures each receives a full four litres of good quality colostrum after birth. The colostrum is pooled from healthy cows and frozen in four-litre bags and tested for density with a colostrometer.

“As soon as they have had their first feed their ability to absorb antibodies decreases,“ says Ailsa.

“That half-hour spent tubing the calves with colostrum saves a lot of time and money over the next eight months. If they do have any set-backs they are quick to recover,” she says.

Calves are initially in pens of two and are fed via a milk bar and introduced to a de-coccidiosis cake.

They are also dosed to prevent cryptosporidium and Ailsa pays particular attention when dressing navels with iodine. She follows Solway Vets’ CalfStart rearing programme.

This year, 186 cows produced 179 live calves.

Since 2012, all calves are

12

DAIRY FARMER

Over the last three years, in-calf Friesian heifers have been bought as herd replacements from Ireland.

tested for BVD which is a requirement in Scotland, and are tagged. All cows are BVD tested before they are inseminated.

All calves are sold at six to eight months old in the autumn, either as stores for beef or as suckler herd replacements. The blackand-white males are kept entire. In 2014, the beef cross heifer calves averaged £580, with the Herefords selling to the top price of £700.

The black-and-white bull calves have been fed 4kg a day of concentrate at a cost of 80p a day, but this year bull calves have been fed at double that rate to see what improvement it makes.

A Limousin has been used alongside the Hereford to produce beef calves, but the Caygills will probably use all Hereford next season. They find the Herefords are easy to calve and manage and thrive well, and the semen from a

NOVEMBER 2015

pedigree sire costs only £3.50 a straw.

Richard carries out AI for four weeks and then the cows are run with the bull for seven weeks – although this has been tightened up for next year’s calving.

Ground The farm is dry, most of which has a thin soil cover over rock which allows cows to be kept out until the beginning of December and turned out after calving in mid-February and March the following year.

Ground is grazed on a 18-30 day cycle, with the fence moved every two days to rotate grazing.

Better ground is divided into two-acre paddocks which can also be adapted.

Cows are fed an average six tonnes of silage with concentrate to yield (up to 10kg) in the parlour for the high yielders giving up to 50 litres of milk a day. Dry cows are fed silage

If they do have any setbacks they are quick to recover Ailsa Caygill

“

and dry cow minerals.

In early September, production had dropped back to an average 21 litres a day from 31 litres during the last week in May. Herd health is good. The Caygills are on a fixed price monthly contract with Galloway Vets which includes routine visits, de-horning and vaccination.

There have not been any caesarians and there has not been a case of milk fever in the last two years.

“We believe because the cows are not under any pressure and they are out at grass doing what these cows were intended to do, that it helps with health,” says Ailsa.

Semex WP_WP 15/09/2015 12:48 Page 1

***DF Nov p14 15 Potter_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:39 Page 1

POTTER’S VIEW

IANPotter

This month, Ian Potter looks at how AHDB spends its levy income, whether it should be recruiting extension officers when others in the dairy sector are shedding staff, and questions whether it ought to be auditing the retailer pledged money.

F Many retailers stepped up to the plate but some have still done nothing

“

14

DAIRY FARMER

ollowing my last article on AHDB and a subsequent flurry of interesting emails in response, I was encouraged to look into the background behind AHDB’s free consultancy for farmers who have a cash flow or liquidity problem.

In order to qualify for a share of the £300,000 pot, farmers had to either be unable to pay invoices, about to breach their borrowing limit, or have no idea of their current financial position. Of the £300,000, however, only £120,800 was utilised, and by just 151 farmers, all of whom used the maximum £800+VAT available. In total, 27 consultancy firms were engaged, with one accounting for 18% of the jobs (27 forms).

Few farmers, I hazard to guess, actually knew about the fund. However it was publicised on the AHDB website (not that anyone would find it there unless they knew about it) and in the First Milk newsletter. Questions have been asked whether this is the role of AHDB and a good use of levy money; whether the cash injection helps professional farmers or was just social help for inefficient ones; and whether the money will actually change how they operate and/or help create the right conditions for them to prosper, or just help them limp on for another month or two.

Yes, farmers’ cash flow is the big

NOVEMBER 2015

problem, especially for those on a very poor milk price or with high costs. Most farmers will be eager to receive an early, vital, December Single Payment. It’s staggering that last year 42% of dairy farmers’ net profit came from the EU subsidy, and this year the percentage is sure to be well over 50%.

Capitalised Currently the vast majority of EU dairy farmers cannot survive without that money, but economists like Sean Rickard regularly highlight that part of these payments ends up capitalised into land values and rents. A few who are aggressively competitive are quietly suggesting a dramatic reduction in EU payments would shake up the industry and allow the competitive farmers to grow quickly. Those same farmers also hope the recovery is slow for the same reasons. These farmers are unlikely to back AHDB’s support fund.

The emails (from some very high ranking people too) also suggested I probe further into recent AHDB appointments, and the process adopted, and I certainly intend doing so.

AHDB Dairy has recently recruited six new members to their extension officer team. This is also on farmers’ radars because they are taking on more staff at a time when the industry is seeing farmer

***DF Nov p14 15 Potter_Layout 1 23/10/2015 13:28 Page 2

POTTER’S VIEW

‘They should call in Christine Tacon’

Ian Potter

rIan is a specialist entitlement broker and dairy industry commentator.

Comments please to ianpotter@ipaquotas.co.uk

numbers reduce and processors cutting jobs, eg Fonterra cutting 750, Muller 486, First Milk more than 70, and Arla 100. The board’s income has increased to £7 million and along with that its staffing. Is AHDB Dairy as lean and mean as the rest of the industry? Again, one for it to defend.

Now to the supplementary payments from retailers to processors, which are slowly filtering through. Many retailers stepped up to the plate but some have still done nothing, especially on cheese where some still buy own label from all over the world. The question I have is whether the promised money is all real and new.

Perhaps what’s needed is for AHDB economists to not only list the retailers who have pledged support but for them to audit each pledge. In the event they are unable to accurately determine what retailers have paid in full, and processors have passed on to farmers, they should call in Grocery Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon to flex her muscles.

If no such analysis is done, we will

be seen as a lazy industry, which isn’t really bothered whether the money was handed over in full by retailers, or where it went. Public commitments were made which attracted positive PR but the money needs following and checking. For sure, FFA don’t have the resources to do this next stage.

Dairy aid package Since I last wrote, the Commission’s socalled dairy aid package means €420m will be paid direct to dairy farmers out of a €500m allocation. But this is only 50% of the Commission’s super levy income from 2014/15. So it’s not even new money.

Out of this some £26m is for the UK and while it’s still more money than other farmers in other sectors received, it amounts to diddlysquat on a per farm basis. Perhaps it should have been better targeted towards marketing and milk promotion, since it is clear we desperately need it to build demand, and we’re not going to get it from anywhere else!

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By Alistair Driver INDUSTRY leaders have called for significant improvements to England’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) in response to concerns over farmer ‘disillusionment’ with the new scheme.

As the application window for the first CSS agreements, due to start in January 2016, closed on Wednesday (September 30), there were fears uptake would be well down on expectations.

While farmers appear to have been lukewarm towards the scheme across the country, there is real anger in the uplands where farmers appear to have been denied a credible successor to the vital Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) scheme.

The transition to the CSS higher tier for farmers coming out of Higher Level Stewardship agreements appears to be relatively straightforward.

The concern is about the 11,000 or so farmers coming out of UELS agreements who could potentially take up new CSS midtier agreements.

Defra and Natural England had allocated £85 million to CSS in 2016 and were thought to have been targeting about 4,000 new mid-tier agreements this year.

While applications were arriving all the time and the final number will be higher, by Monday it

3

Dairy farms’ arms’ EU cash aid ha d BPS exchange change g rate sett

rScheme uptake

MACHINERY

21

Fendt extends ange its kit range LIVESTOCK

28

Plantain n boosts t forage dens density t ty SALES

40

Bryncir store cattle to o £1,450 There is real anger towards the CSS in the uplands where farmers appear to have been denied a credible successor to the Uplands ELS scheme.

IN YOUR FIELD ELD was understood only about 1,000 applications had been submitted.

Put off Potential applicants appear to have been put off by a lack of suitable options, particularly in the hills, some burdensome requirements, excessive bureaucracy and confusion up to the last minute over scheme rules.

NFU vice-president Guy Smith said the NFU would wait until final numbers were known before commenting fully.

He said: “The NFU remains committed to having as many

farmers as possible in active agrienvironment work.

“But, while it is early days, we are concerned a lot of people seem to be disillusioned with the new agri-environment structure and it is not getting enough interest.”

He said the NFU would seek changes to the scheme over the next 12 months if it was ‘just not attracting farmers’ and members want a ‘significantly different design’.

CLA director of external affairs Shane Brennan said it appeared uptake of the new scheme would

be ‘down by an order of magnitude’.

He blamed the ‘incredibly bureaucratic’ nature of the scheme and said the biggest issue was the potential impact on environmental management around the country.

“Our focus, if the numbers are low, will be how we can turn this around to ensure we have got a high level of participation going forward,” he said.

NFU uplands spokesman Robin Milton said there would be minimal uptake in the hills, with enormous financial implications

for farmers and an inevitable shift in how land was managed.

He said: “There is real disappointment among farmers in the uplands. There is effectively no package for upland farming. They are going to reduce an income which is already below the minimum wage and tell the most disadvantaged areas ‘sorry, the environment is your responsibility’”.

Natural England said it would not comment until the final figures were in.

MORE ON THIS STORY See page 2.

LIVING FOR LONGER INSIGHT INTO LIFE EXPECTANCY p13

56

RACHEL LEWISWISOWYS DAVIES, POWYS

“A fair amount mount of brain power has also been expended d on how to make our assets work ork better forr us”

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DAIRY FARMER

15

***DF Nov p16 17 Bovela signed off_Layout 1 23/10/2015 12:52 Page 1

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Getting to the root of a fertility problem on James Montgomery’s Somerset farm has been ongoing since summer 2014. But, he says, some significant rewards from the endeavour are beginning to be reaped.

dmitting the

had been launched on the market

programme we have had just one

problem has

only days before it was used on

which has returned to service.”

not been

the farm.

straightforward and several

“I had three key reasons for choosing this vaccine over those

lines of enquiry had to be put in

which had been previously

place, the vet for the farm’s two

available,” says Mr Kerby. “Firstly,

herds – one Jersey and the

the primary course of Bovela is just

other Friesian – has become

a single injection of the modified

increasingly confident Bovine

live double deleted vaccine virus

Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is the main

which allowed us to get the job

culprit.

done much more quickly, easily

“There could be so many

and effectively.

In the seven months since the vaccination programme we have had just one which has returned to service MIKE KERBY

Result This result has been almost unexpectedly good, according to Mr Kerby. He says: “It looks as though the vaccine, which is mostly intended to give protection before the pregnancy is established, is actually giving some degree of protection, even

part way through their pregnancies

when given in mid-pregnancy.”

“Secondly, the vaccine covers

at the time of the vaccination, so

reabsorptions we saw in the

both type 1 and type 2 BVD, which

their calves could have already

reabsorption problem which

Friesian herd, and the answers

means both sources of infection

been infected before their mothers

appears to be under control in the

from various lines of enquiry are

are covered for the future.

gained their protection. However,

Friesian herd, the farm’s herd of

reasons for the spate of

“And the third advantage is that

Meanwhile, alongside the

all maiden heifers were, and now

Jerseys has so far remained

Mike Kerby, from the Delaware

a vaccinated cow is protected for

continue to be, vaccinated before

remarkably unscathed.

Veterinary Group in Castle Cary,

a full 12 months, both in her own

service as a matter of routine.

which led the investigations.

right, and against establishing a

not always clear cut,” reflects

Persistently Infected (PI) calf.”

Testing

This effectively means if a cow

Today, the vet and farmer can reflect on the success of the policy

becomes pregnant at any point in

change in the number of cows

animals showed them to be

the 12 months following

which have reabsorbed their

positive for antibodies to BVD,

vaccination, even if challenged

pregnancies.

which clearly implicated the

with BVD, she will not produce a PI

virus in the fertility problems.

calf – the type which will have the

to the vaccination programme we

A vaccination programme

virus for all of its life and shed it in

had seven cows in the Friesian

“In the seven months leading up

against BVD was undertaken

quantity, spreading the disease

herd which had PD’d positive and

last March, when all adult cows

throughout the herd.

then returned to service at

The team on the Montgomerys’

the Jerseys as the

to date, seen most markedly in the

However, testing the affected

in the Friesian herd – either

“I have always been amazed we have avoided the same problem in

between 100 and 220 days,” says

in-calf or in-milk – were injected

farm expected any progress to be

Mr Kerby. “But in the seven

with Bovela, a vaccine which

slow, as many of the cows were

months since the vaccination MIKE KERBY

16

DAIRY FARMER

NOVEMBER 2015

***DF Nov p16 17 Bovela signed off_Layout 1 23/10/2015 12:52 Page 2

SPONSORED EDITORIAL

A word from the sponsor JAMES MONTGOMERY

youngstock from both herds

vulnerable to other disease.

are reared together, so you would

As investigations into the

ALLAN Henderson, cattle

producing massive amounts of

business manager at

virus and infecting all cattle

Boehringer Ingelheim, says:

with which it has contact.

have expected antibodies to the

Jerseys continue, Mr Montgomery

“BVD is one of the most

virus to be found in the bloods

can at least feel confident the

common viral diseases

vaccine in the UK which has

from both breeds,” says Mr Kerby.

Friesian herd is now fully

affecting cattle throughout

been proven to protect cattle

protected, and he will continue the

Europe, despite vaccines being

from BVD type 1 and 2,” adds

vaccination plan with an annual

available for more than 50

Mr Henderson.

booster.

years.

Reabsorptions His expectation may recently have become a reality as he has been

He says: “The Friesians are

“Bovela is the first and only

“Bovela is a unique one-shot primary course

“It can cause early

confronted which a spate of nine

certainly milking really well.

embryonic death and irregular

vaccine which can be used in

reabsorptions in the 160-head

However, because the calving

returns. Later in pregnancy, it

breeding females, and in

Jersey herd in the space of the last

pattern has been messed up a bit

can cause foetal

calves from three months of

three months – mirroring the

and we had too few calving last

mummification and abortion.

age. Control of BVD depends

spring – possibly due to the BVD –

Work has shown it may also

on understanding farm BVD

we are still short of milk.

contribute to cows either

status, identification and

failing or taking longer to

removal of PIs, biosecurity and

conceive.

ongoing monitoring, as well as

problem seen in the Friesians.

As with the Friesian herd he says he won’t jump to conclusions;

“We are now putting as many

he’ll keep an open mind and will

heifers to the bull as we possibly

be taking a bulk milk sample for

can and are hopeful of good

testing in the next few days and

conception rates and will try to

calves at any time during

sampling bloods from individual

keep as close to a 365-day calving

pregnancy with varying

on how to best tackle BVD in

animals.

interval as we possibly can,” he

degrees of severity. The most

your herd is the best starting

says. “This way, we hope to keep

sinister presentation is the

point,” says Mr Henderson.

worst outcome as the virus has

our cheese vat full to the brim

persistently infected [PI] calf

the highest cost to the farmer

every day of the year, but need to

which looks healthy, but is

of all infectious diseases,” says

regain control of our herd’s fertility

Mr Kerby, who says its

in order to make this

immunosuppressive effects leave

happen.”

“BVD would be by far the

livestock – particularly youngstock –

“BVD can affect unborn

vaccination.

“Seeking veterinary advice

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NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

17

***DF Nov p18 20 Breeding_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:05 Page 1

BREEDING A recent study by Brian Van Doormaal and Lynsay Beavers, of Canadian Dairy Network (CDN), has raised the issue of age at first calving. Bruce Jobson finds out more.

Canada puts cost on age of calving

T

he cost of rearing heifers is not inconsiderable especially as dairy farmers ‘front-load’ their businesses with a two-year lead-in before a penny is earned to cover feed, labour, insemination and vet costs.

But one way to reduce costs and receive a faster return on investment is to consider calving down heifers at an earlier age.

So this prompted CDN to analyse the age at first calving records from 2006-2014, and over that time the average age of Holsteins decreased by 1.4 months to the current average of 25.8 months. This is the same age for Jersey heifers, a breed which reaches maturity one Current average age at first calving Most profitable age at first calving Profit per cow gained Converted to UK currency

18

DAIRY FARMER

to two months earlier than the other breeds represented in the study. However, age at first calving for Ayrshire and Brown Swiss averaged 27.2 and 26.7 months respectively.

Profit Using Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) milk recording data, CDN calculated the profit to six years of age for a subset of 690,000 Holsteins, 17,000 Jerseys, 17,500 Ayrshires and 4000 Brown Swiss born from 2005-2008.

The profit values were calculated using rearing costs, cow income and cow expenses. A cut-off of six years of age was used as a dateline for each cow’s ability to survive a multitude of cycles including reproduction,

Holstein 26 months 22 $880 £450

NOVEMBER 2015

Ayrshire 27 months 23 $870 £448

FDL Premier Belle VG86 freshened at 21 months, was classified at 24 months and is projected to 6609kg at 5.7% fat and 4.1% protein.

health, functional conformation and production – an imperative aspect when looking at lifetime profitability.

While Holstein cows in Canada currently average 25.8 months at first calving, the data suggests 22 months of age is the ideal time for Holstein heifers to freshen in order to maximise their future lifetime profitability.

Interestingly, calving down Holstein heifers before 22 months contributes to decreased total lifetime profit.

The most profitable age at first calving differs between breeds, and while the most profitable age for Holsteins and Jerseys is 22 months, for

Jersey 26 months 22 $900 £460

Brown Swiss 27 months 23 $1400 £720

Ayrshires and Brown Swiss it is 23 months. (See table, below). Based on Canadian figures, the amount of lifetime profit lost due to calving a typical Holstein heifer at 26 months compared to 22 months is $880 (about £450).

On that basis, if a farmer calved 30 replacement heifers per year, the increased profit to six years would amount to $26,400 (£13,600). While all breeds would benefit from reducing age at first calving, the Brown Swiss would benefit most by a reduction from 27 months to 23 months. According to CDN, this could lead to an average profit gain of nearly $1400 (£720).

The main benefit of reducing age at first calving is reduced feed and rearing costs as well as reducing the amount of time a heifer takes to begin paying X

WP_WP 20/10/2015 08:38 Page 1

COGENT - TRIED, TESTED, TRUSTED. Freephone: 0800 783 7258 | www.cogentuk.com Cogent Breeding Ltd, Heywood House, Chowley Oak Lane, Chester, Cheshire, CH3 9GA Cogent breeding abide by the DairyCo and Holstein UK established code of advertising. *Source: HUK 08/15

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***DF Nov p18 20 Breeding_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:05 Page 2

BREEDING back a return on investment.

The disadvantages include a potential reduction in first lactation milk yield, but surprisingly the data indicates production per year of herd life is typically increased by lowering age at first calving.

While first lactation may be influenced by younger calving ages, future lactations, longevity and health are not influenced as long as

first lactation heifers freshen at an adequate weight.

However, it is worth mentioning each farm (including UK) is different and circumstances will vary including management, environment and topography. Furthermore, costs are subjective.

Using simple UK arithmetic, if we use an example of a heifer freshening within a herd two months earlier,

savings and return on investment can be considerable.

could be reduced and, using a figure of £1/day or £7/week, these costs would reduce by by £60 per heifer or £1800 per annum on 30 replacement animals.

Clearly, as milk price challenges continue for the foreseeable future, reducing age at first calving can offer earlier cash flow, reduce costs and lead to long term profitability.

Earlier income A heifer yielding 25 litres per day – and let’s use a figure of 25ppl – will earn £6.25p per day over 60 days and provide an earlier return of £375, or £11,250 on 30 heifers.

Likewise, rearing costs

JHeading the proof lists in the Netherlands as well as Scandinavia is leading genomic sire VH Bernell from Viking Genetics.

With a PLI of £549 and +531kg milk, domestic demand has been high, but now stocks are being released for the wider export market and UK breeders can now access this sire.

Bernell stands out across the health and management traits, and these are

coupled with a Fertility Index of +10 and a SCC rating of –23.

The result is a Life Span rating of +0.6 which has generated high expectations of Bernell daughters.

On the locomotion front, Bernell has plenty of pedigree behind him. He is a son of Bube, renowned for excellent feet and legs, and his maternal grandsire is VH Salomon, trait leader in the Viking Genetics Hoof Health Index.

VH Bernell, which tops the proof lists in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, is now available to UK breeders.

JProducers using specially chosen bulls to boost the health status of their replacement heifers could find they have got an even better deal than they anticipated in the first place.

Recent research has shown the heritability of ‘immune response’ is now calculated to be 20% higher than first thought, and

puts it alongside the heritability for production and conformation traits.

List topper VH Bernell now available to UK breeders

Enhanced heritability figure boost for health status

20

DAIRY FARMER

Boost According to breeding company Semex, that will provide a ‘significant boost to the industry’s efforts to improve animal health, welfare and efficiency’.

To date, the company has

NOVEMBER 2015

promoted its Immunity+ sires on the basis of a 25% heritability figure, but the new figures give users a welcome retrospective bonus.

This is based on the two component elements of antibody mediated immune response, which was put at 29%, and cell mediated immune

response at 19%, being revalued at 44% and 22% respectively, giving an average health immune response of 30%.

With first crop Immunity+ daughters now being bred to Immunity+ bulls, the enhanced heritability figures will mean health status should be compounded accordingly.

Semex WP_WP 20/10/2015 08:22 Page 1

A BETTER, MORE NATURAL WAY TO FIGHT DISEASE.

“We are now putting the first of the Immunity+ calvers back to get our second generation. No one wants to breed a cow that is going to cause problems, and that, to me, sums up the logic of Immunity+” JOHN METCALF CROSSFELL HOUSE FARM, CUMBRIA

0800 86 88 90 | www.semex.co.uk

***DF Nov p22 Breeding _Layout 1 22/10/2015 11:04 Page 1

BREEDING

Check list for genetic defect

JIn light of the recently identified genetic defect in Holstein cattle, Genus ABS claims it has taken steps which will combat its proliferation in the UK population.

The defect, which is believed to have existed in the Holstein population for many years, was recently discovered by German researchers and it is thought up to 6% of Holsteins may be carriers, or suspected carriers, of the defect.

The genetic defect, known as Haplotype for Cholesteraol Deficiency (HCD), can be inherited from both parent and when reinforced from both sides produces a homozygous calf which, although born alive, lacks the ability to digest cholesterol and usually dies from three weeks to six months of age.

Any carrier sire will produce 50% normal and 50% affected calves but the problem only arises when mated to a carrier female. To control this doubling up, Genus ABS says its Genetic Management System will ‘counter select’ bulls carrying the gene for possible carrying female bloodlines and the company believes this is the only genetic selection tool to protect against possible haplotype matings.

22

DAIRY FARMER

Cogent staff resign in breakaway move

A

sea-change within the UK cattle breeding industry is set to take place following the resignation last month of several field staff from Cogent Breeding.

In mid-October, at least seven former Worldwide Sires UK staff terminated their employment with Cogent Breeding in a move which is set to have repercussions for the distributorship of AI products from California-based Worldwide Sires Incorporated.

Although details behind the move remain scant, letters have gone out to clients outlining the staff change

they will be experiencing shortly. The breakaway move is expected to create a separate distributorship when the current five-year agreement between Cogent and WWS expires at the end of January 2016.

Implications At the time of going to print, a clarification of the full implications of this development was unavailable, but sources close to WWS Inc confirmed the existing WWS distributorship with Cogent will not be renewed and WWS and Cogent will no longer be working together exclusively at the time the contract ends.

Cogent’s UK general

manager James Hallett said: “Cogent Breeding remains the exclusive UK distributor of Worldwide Sires Inc product and services. We have reached an agreement for our trading arrangements in the future. Cogent Breeding will continue to work with Worldwide Sires Inc in good faith.

“We would like to reassure customers of our full support and that the supply of both the service and products will continue as they would expect from us.

“We will continue to develop our business positively for our customers’ benefit bringing best practice, science and technology to the marketplace.”

Premium available for Angus beef calves

JDairy farmers can expect to receive a premium for quality Angus beef calves through BeefConnect, a scheme launched 12 months ago by Genus ABS and ABP Food Group.

The initiative is designed to deliver efficiencies in the supply chain as well as higher quality beef by using Genus ABS AberdeenAngus beef sires on lowerend dairy cows.

The resulting beef cross calves are reared on-farm

NOVEMBER 2015

Bull Oakchurch Duster is one sire in the scheme.

and are subsequently collected by ABP at between 10-35 days old, before being moved to a dedicated ABP rearing unit.

Over a six-month period, Genus ABS and ABP Food

Group have reviewed data which they say demonstrates the initiative is providing a fair price to farmers and is subsequently contributing to improving onfarm profitability.

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***DF Nov p24 25 26 Youngstock Walwin_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:12 Page 1

YOUNGSTOCK

Consistency is the crux to making the most of a calf contract which rewards for kilos gained during the rearing period. Aly Balsom reports from a unit in Somerset.

Protocols essential to hitting rearing targets

T

o achieve the best possible performance, Somerset calf rearer Tim Walwin believes his calves have got to be afforded the best conditions possible, given a consistent diet and protected against attack from all the common calf ailments.

While high standards are important whatever the size of rearing system, the fact Mr Walwin manages 10 units, rearing a total of 9000 calves a year, means consistent management is a must. With his contract rewarding him for kilos gained in the rearing period, protocols are essential to producing healthy, well grown calves.

Calves are kept in the same groups all the way through the rearing system at Chancellors Farm, Wanstrow.

All the 10 farms rear dairy cross calves for Buitelaar as part of its dedicated chain of rearers and finishers. (See panel). Calves arrive onfarm at about three weeks of age and leave the unit at about 15 weeks to go to the pool of finishers.

Mr Walwin’s own unit at

Chancellors Farm, Wanstrow, rears 2400 animals a year, with about 2000 head reared for Buitelaar and the rest reared as part of additional arrangements.

He says: “We started working with Buitelaar nine years ago and since then our relationship has

evolved. We’re now a collection centre and take about 600-700 calves a month which are then distributed out to eight rearers in the South West, plus ourselves.”

On arrival at the collection centre, bulls and heifer calves are weighed,

T new name in Hoof Hygiene The

***DF Nov p24 25 26 Youngstock Walwin_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:13 Page 2

YOUNGSTOCK

The calves achieve concentrate intakes of 2.5kg a head at weaning.

graded and separated according to breed. They will then be dispatched to their rearing unit within three hours of arrival.

Managed Calves entering Chancellors Farm’s rearing system will be managed in pens of six12 and will stay in the same group and pen until they leave the unit.

“Keeping calves in consistent batches means there is not the stress of mixing calves. All the operations are done with the view to creating as little stress for the calf as possible,” says Mr Walwin.

On day one of the rearing

system, calves will be vaccinated for pneumonia and treated with a broad spectrum fly and lice control pour-on. This fly treatment will be repeated every four weeks and calves will also receive a second pneumonia vaccine prior to weaning. Calves are also treated for coccidiosis 14 days after arrival.

“If they have got lice, it definitely impacts on performance. Vaccinating for pneumonia also helps promote the general health of the calf and, as well as not having problems here, the next customer receives a healthy calf that will grow,” he says. The unit’s mortality

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Calves are housed on straw beds with access to an ad-lib 17% protein nut.

rate sits at 1.2% for the time calves are on farm.

Calves are housed on straw beds with access to straw racks, fresh water and an ad-lib 17% protein nut.

Sheds include an air tube ventilation system to promote air quality and an even air distribution.

For the first two days onfarm, calves will be teat fed

The Buitelaar system

rThe Buitelaar system has been set up with the aim of providing a sustainable, fully-integrated supply chain to provide an outlet for dairy bred beef calves.

The company rears

WIN

four to six litres a day of milk across two feeds. On the third day they will then be trough fed milk, with any poor drinkers split off and teat fed until they are strong enough.

Mr Walwin says trough feeding has revolutionised the calf feeding system. “We changed from teat to trough feeding about six years ago 45,000 dairy cross calves a year in the UK using a network of dedicated rearers and finishers. Finished animals are sold into a number of outlets, including leading supermarkets.

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***DF Nov p24 25 26 Youngstock Walwin_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:13 Page 3

YOUNGSTOCK

The Dutch method of trough feeding milk revolutionised the calf rearing set up.

for simplicity and ease after seeing it in Holland – it’s the Dutch way,” he explains.

“I initially thought it would be difficult to know how much calves were drinking, but provided they are in even batches, it’s not a problem and growth rates have since improved and pneumonia has decreased.”

A specific Buitelaar calf milk replacer has to be fed and is mixed at 140145g/litre at a mixing station. Concentrations will be increased by about

20g/litre in the winter to ensure calves are able to grow and keep warm. Calf jackets are also used.

Milk is fed into a 500-litre milk trolley with a long delivery pipe. The pipe can then be used to manually deliver milk to each of the pens, using a flow meter to ensure each group receives exactly the volume they need.

Consistency “Consistency is important.

Milk is always mixed at 55degC and fed at 40degC.

An overview of the system

rCalves are pure Friesian, dairy cross native or dairy cross continentals rBuitelaar buys calves from around 500 UK dairy farms rAnimals are then sent to one of three collection sites for grading and sorting rDairy farmers receive a minimum price for certain graded calves and are rewarded for quality. Price varies

26

DAIRY FARMER

from £70-£135/head rSeven rearers take calves from three weeks old and are paid a rearing fee per calf based on kilos gained. Price is set at the start of the rearing period rCalves then sold to a pool of dedicated finishers rFinishers are guaranteed a price per kilo to sell back to Buitelaar rCalf health and performance is tracked throughout the chain.

NOVEMBER 2015

Mr Walwin delivering milk to the calves via a 500-litre milk trolley.

If you feed one temperature one day and one the next, it could effect health and growth rates,” Mr Walwin says.

After four weeks on-farm, calves will be fed three litres once-a-day. Subject to concentrate intake, this will be dropped to two litres once-a-day in week five, and one-litre once-a-day around weeks six to seven.

Mr Walwin believes moving to once-a-day and choosing to feed a larger size nut helps achieve high concentrate intakes of 2.5kg a head a day at weaning at nine weeks old.

“I’m trying to turn out good calves customers want, so the greater the intakes at weaning the better as there will be less stress and they won’t suffer from growth checks.”.

Calves are weighed six weeks after arrival and again two to three days before they are due to be dispatched to the finishers.

The aim at Chancellors

The greater the intakes at weaning the better as there will be less stress and they won’t suffer from growth checks Tim Walwin

“

Farm is for calves to double birth weight at weaning.

Calves generally average 1.1-1.3kg DLWG across all breeds and leave the unit at 130-155kg. Friesian bulls are kept entire, but continental crosses are castrated two weeks after weaning.

“Friesian liveweight gains can be just as good as the cross-breds. It is all down to the quality of the feed and intake – if they’re healthy, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t thrive,” says Mr Walwin.

***DF Nov p27 Letters Maize_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:17 Page 1

LETTERS

Refocus on best practice for soils

From: Liz Bowles, head of farming, Soil Association. was pleased to see the article by Giles Simpson of Pearce Seeds in last month’s Dairy Farmer, where he advocates the greater adoption of early maturing maize varieties as well as drilling cover crops after maize to ensure land is not left bare over winter.

This chimes well with our soils campaign highlighting negative impacts on soil health, such as not following these two practices.

The Soil Association is also concerned about the huge explosion in the amount of maize being grown in the UK, of which 17% (29,000 hectares) is grown as a biofuel, and we are calling for a complete removal of all subsidies available for anaerobic digesters fuelled in whole, or partly, by maize.

I

to maintain and improve soil health and, as Mr Simpson puts it, ‘be good custodians of their land’.

Refocusing on best practice is key, making sure longer rotations are maintained and using suitable wheat varieties or ryegrass as winter cover after maize is harvested. Early maturing varieties of maize can help too. Research published in 2014 found 75% of late harvested maize sites showed high

or severe levels of soil degradation.

Maize should certainly not be grown in the same field year on year.

We need clearer policy measures for maize production, but until the Government recognises this, it is up to farmers to make decisions based on the productivity of their own land. If you need advice on best practice, our producer support team is available on the phone.

The natural choice for healthy growth and performance

V

is i (U t u p so A lan n St g r d a 18 iSc Ha nd o l N t l 2 o on ) a 19 v t

Demand Maize is considered to be one of the most damaging crops to UK soils and, with the increasing demand from AD plants, its acreage trebled in the decade between 1990-2000.

Underlining the importance of seed variation, and understanding the wider impact of growing certain crops, is essential for farmers in order

Quality milk replacers and scientific knowledge for a healthy start The first eight to ten weeks of a calf’s life provide a huge opportunity to boost lifetime performance. Combined with the LifeStart™ programme, Milkivit helps to rear calves that grow into healthy and productive cows. To learn more visit lifestartscience.com For the full range of Milkivit milk replacers ask your feed supplier or calf specialist.

Maize is considered to be one of the most damaging crops to UK soils, says Liz Bowles.

trouwnutrition.co.uk

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

27

***DF Nov p28 29 30 Lochhead_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:19 Page 1

INTERVIEW

In an exclusive interview for Dairy Farmer, Bruce Jobson tackles Richard Lochhead MSP, Scottish Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment, on the country’s first 12 months since the referendum.

Scotland setting out to establish own branding

M

inister, the Scottish Dairy Growth

Board recently established a national dairy brand to support the Scottish dairy industry – how has this been received?

The Scottish dairy brand marque was unveiled at the Royal Highland Show in June, and although it’s early days it has already had a lot of positive support from within the sector.

A number of dairy companies – both small and large – have endorsed the initiative and I fully expect more to get involved in the months ahead.

Further promotional activities are planned to launch the brand onto international markets, and this includes the official launch which took place in October at the Anuga Food Trade Show in Cologne.

I’m confident that having a strong, easily identifiable, logo on our excellent

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DAIRY FARMER

Scottish dairy produce will help the sector grow and add value.

How important a role does the Scottish dairy industry – including cheese, yoghurts and specialist foods – play in the Scottish economy both domestically and internationally?

Scotland’s dairy sector is vital to Scotland’s farming and food industry, and the wider rural economy. We have about 1000 dairy farms, with 2000 processing employees, which generate well over £400 million of output – that’s 15% of our total farming productivity.

This sector’s future is of real importance to Scotland. About 40% of Scottish domestic supply of dairy products is consumed in Scotland, with the remaining 60% exported, mainly to the rest of the UK. That is why the Scottish

NOVEMBER 2015

dairy brand is key – I want to see more Scottish dairy produce making it onto the international market.

What measures – if any – can be put in place to support dairy farmers in the current price melt down?

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the pressures currently faced by dairy producers – on account mainly of global

markets and wider economic influences.

To help mitigate these, we’ve been proactive on a number of fronts. In March, we launched the Dairy Action Plan to take forward the recommendations set out in the earlier industry-led Scottish Dairy Review – ‘Ambition 2025.’

Our Dairy Growth Board – ably led by Paul Grant (chairman of Mackay’s jam) – is making good progress on a

***DF Nov p28 29 30 Lochhead_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:20 Page 2

INTERVIEW number of initiatives to promote the industry and increase its reach in key UK and international markets. The Scottish Dairy Brand is but one strand of its work – along with the creation of the Scottish Dairy Hub as a free, farmer-focused, information service, working to benefit the Scottish dairy industry.

We’ve supported First Milk with the upgrading of Campbeltown Creamery and provided assistance to the co-op to help with haulage costs of milk from farmers on Bute.

We are also active on the political stage – through my recent participation in a meeting with the other UK Farming Ministers and industry leaders where we agreed to work together on a list of commitments that supermarkets and the food service sector will be asked to sign up to and to support farmers.

These are likely to include seeking firm commitments on issues such as branding, contracts and sourcing – initially for milk but with a view to extending it to other products including lamb – helping to ensure farmers get a fair price for their produce.

The controversial Land Reform Bill is scheduled to be introduced in 2016.

Section Five includes ‘the right to buy land’. What is

the Scottish Government’s position and reasons for the introduction of the Bill?

Land reform is a vital part of this Government’s aspirations for a fairer, more equal and socially just Scotland.

The Bill’s provisions aim to ensure an effective system of land governance and on-going commitment to land reform in Scotland, enhance sustainable development in relation to land, improve the transparency and accountability of land ownership, and modernise and improve existing aspects of land ownership and rights over land.

Minister, it’s said 50% of land in Scotland is reportedly owned by 100 people. Will the Land Reform Bill pave the way for far reaching changes to the way land is owned within Scotland?

The Land Reform Review Group noted it had been estimated around 432 individuals own half of the privately-owned rural land in Scotland.

The Land Reform Bill proposes the establishment of a Scottish Land Commission and a new duty for Scottish Ministers to publish and review a Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement, setting out the Scottish Government’s objectives on land reform.

I want to see more Scottish dairy produce making it onto the international market Richard Lochhead

“

These proposals will be key to ensuring land reform is an on-going process and Scotland’s land benefits the many, not the few.

Section six includes the proposal to remove business rate exemption for sporting estates. Will this proposal have a detrimental impact within rural Scottish communities?

This proposal is about fairness, subjecting shooting and deerstalking to a rates bill in the same way as other non-domestic ratepayers.

We recognise all taxes have an impact, but so do tax breaks such as this one.

Scotland already has the most competitive business tax environment in the UK, and shooting and deerstalking will be eligible for rates relief in the same way as other businesses – with many small shootings likely to receive 100% rates relief

under our Small Business Bonus Scheme.

The revenue will support the Scottish Land Fund, which will help communities throughout Scotland to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land.

The Scottish National Party secured an historic election victory in May 2015 – winning every Westminster Parliamentary seat except three. Why? And can you explain the increased support from agricultural and ruralbased constituencies?

The SNP has made supporting Scotland’s rural communities and economy a priority in government. In the past, farmers saw rural interests repeatedly traded off against other UK priorities, for example, when Westminster negotiated Scotland to the bottom of the CAP funding table meaning we lost out on substantial direct farm payments which would make a real difference to farmers across the country.

The Scottish Government, in contrast, supported the agricultural sector by negotiating a new CAP for Scotland and secured a Scottish clause tackling ‘slipper’ farming; is working to protect and promote new entrants; secured improved

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

29

***DF Nov p28 29 30 Lochhead_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:20 Page 3

INTERVIEW greening measures; and brokered a transition year.

Our record of action and accessibility, as a government, has seen support grow in rural areas, but we certainly do not take that support for granted.

That nicely leads us on to the Scottish Parliamentary Elections in 2016. The SNP seems likely to secure another majority at the polls – will the expected mandate provide greater security to Scottish agriculture and the dairy industry?

As I said before, we certainly don’t take people’s support, or the possible outcome of the next elections, for granted.

Absolutely, we will be campaigning for the strongest rural mandate possible and we are currently talking with farmers and farming

30

DAIRY FARMER

We are now seeing a rise in the popularity of Scottish produce in emerging markets Richard Lochhead

“

organisations, such as the NFU, as part of our manifesto development process.

The CAP budget is now fixed until 2020.

Presuming the UK and/or Scotland remain in the EU – can the Scottish Government secure a fairer share of a future CAP budget?

It will be for the UK Government to negotiate the share of

NOVEMBER 2015

EU funding received by Scotland, as was the case for the current funding period.

The Scottish Government will argue for a fairer settlement than the UK Government managed to secure this time round, where 16 member states successfully negotiated an increase in their Rural Development share, and where the full uplift to the UK direct payment budget, as a result of Scotland’s low allocation, was not passed on to Scottish farmers.

Will Scotland miss out by not allowing GM crops?

No, in fact, there are obvious commercial benefits to Scotland from remaining clearly recognised as a ‘GM-free’ nation.

Indeed, protecting the clean, green status of our multi-billion pound food and drink sector was our primary consideration when we opted to maintain a precautionary approach to GM. The latest official figures show food and drink generated a record £14.3bn for our economy, and recent surveys show the value people and producers attach to the heritage and provenance of Scottish produce.

I am certain Scotland, like Europe’s biggest country Germany, has made the right decision.

Finally, Minister, Scotland has launched a new Food and Drink export plan. Although early days, has the initiative achieved targeted success within the global markets?

I actually launched the export plan in 2014, so in that short time we’ve been able to see in 2014 food exports alone grew by 3.5% on 2013. This was driven primarily by an increase in fish and seafood, which was up £38m.

This means Scottish food exports have surpassed the £1.1bn mark, with total food and drink exports valued at £5.1bn in 2014. We are now seeing a rise in the popularity of Scottish produce in emerging markets. In China, for example, we’ve witnessed a massive increase of 82% in food exports, with the overall value now up to £46 million – evidence the Chinese appreciate great Scottish seafood and meat.

In line with the export plan we have been putting specialists in our ‘top prospect’ export markets.

The top international destination for Scottish food and drink produce remains the USA, with exports worth £800m, followed by France, with exports of £734m in 2014.

For the first time Spain has entered the top three export destinations for Scottish food and drink, with exports valued at £247m.

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***DF Nov p32 Omsco Conf_Layout 1 20/10/2015 11:23 Page 1

CONFERENCE

Positive dairying was the theme of the Organic Milk Suppliers Co-operative (OMSCo) conference in Birmingham where farmers were challenged to take charge of their own business futures. Ben Briggs reports.

Producers being left to carry too much of risk

D

airy farmers are shouldering too much of the risk within the supply chain and it needs urgently rebalancing, a top economist told delegates.

But others at the event said the cynical approach of some parts of the supply chain, particularly retailers, meant this would be an uphill battle to achieve.

Sean Rickard, a former NFU chief economist and Government adviser, said the future for the entire dairy sector lay in targeting global opportunities with relevant products and, for some, it meant achieving economies of scale on their farms.

Mr Rickard said: “Most farmers will continue to supply independent processors or co-operatives, but what we need is more supply chain integration to make the most of the opportunities out there.

“There is a shocking level of mistrust in agriculture and it needs changing.

There needs to be more sup-

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DAIRY FARMER

ply chain integration so you do not shoulder all the risk,” he said.

Mr Rickard argued by building a more cohesive industry, one which had ‘aligned objectives’, the industry could move forward when it came to accessing global opportunities.

Transparency NFU dairy board chief Rob Harrison said it was key farmers understood all the factors which led to the price they were being paid.

“It is about transparency”, he said, adding this was key to building trust.

But Ian Potter, chairing a lively discussion panel later in the morning, said ‘some retailers do not even know how to spell trust’, let alone adhere to it, which meant farmers were going to be unfairly exposed when prices crashed.

But Mr Rickard argued that producers needed to get used to volatility. “You will just have to get used to short-term shocks in global prices, much like the oil industry,” he said.

“We have to be efficient

NOVEMBER 2015

What we need is more supply chain integration to make the most of the opportunities Sean Rickard

“ and clued up to global opportunities, and if you are not good enough you should not be in business.

“There is going to be fewer and larger farms in future and the market will dictate how many there will be. It is about larger farms unless you have a distinct product offering.”

South West MP Neil Parish challenged Mr Rickard on his ‘bigger is better’ belief, claiming there was still a role for smaller family farms who had a tight grip on costs.

Damage done to Volkswagen by its diesel engine emissions scandal should serve as a warning to brands, including organic

dairying, about retaining the integrity of your products.

OMSCo’s Lyndon Edwards said the trust people placed in British organic dairy products was a key asset which needed maintaining.

He said a recent study which suggested organic milk had less iodine in it than conventional milk and could therefore affect children’s IQs was an example of threats to the brand.

“Organic dairying and the union jack are trusted throughout the world and the change in Volkswagen’s image in just a week shows we need to keep ahead of emerging threats, such as the iodine issue,” he said.

***DF Nov p33 Letters AHDB_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:44 Page 1

LETTERS

Understanding the bigger picture

From: Jane King, chief executive, AHDB. here are few who welcome scrutiny more than I, as I recognise constructive criticism is often a stimulant to achieve change.

However, I’m less enthusiastic about unjustified personal comment which acts as an unnecessary diversion and does little to move debate forward about AHDB’s role.

Ian Potter’s comments in October’s Dairy Farmer fail to recognise important facts and developments. Many will be aware a broad review is underway and sector boards (many of whom are farmers themselves) are fully involved in the steps we are taking. We are grateful for their support in influencing the future plans of the organisation with immediate and longer term objectives. Suggestions, recommendations and general observations by the wider levy paying community are also encouraged and will all be collated in the December and early January annual consultation. The resulting priorities and business plan will be implemented in the new financial year.

Mr Potter’s dismissive tone about two aspects in particular of AHDB’s work, concerns me. Firstly, our market analysts provide accurate market information to inform levy payers and industry which I’m confident is robust and auditable. The information presented on the impact of the supermarket price war is correctly dispassionate in nature and records what has happened without straying into speculative comment.

Further, it is disappointing Mr Potter drew inaccurate conclusions about Cheddar wholesale prices, based on

T

false comparisons. We are dealing with spot prices, excluding contract sales, hence our calculations are not comparable in the way he has interpreted them.

Secondly, I make no apology for the recent appointments we have made to strengthen the AHDB team. The sarcasm has created a misguided impression as the roles have levy payer interests at the centre. The competitive

and robust recruitment procedure has attracted talented individuals who are determined to help drive AHDB forward.

We will be judged on our performance in the fullness of time, and it is my strongly held belief we all have a role to play in ensuring understanding of the bigger picture, and in these challenging times unity is required rather than sniping in the margins.

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

33

***DF Nov p34 AH Vet Meds_Layout 1 20/10/2015 17:36 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH

Veterinary medicines are just one part of a much wider approach which should be adopted in keeping animals healthy. Gloucestershire vet Chris Watson explains his case.

Advice on making best use of medicines on farm

W

hen times are hard you look at all your business costs in detail, and our Farm Animal team routinely reviews veterinary spending with clients – especially spending on medicines.

In nearly all cases the core issue is not simply what drugs cost but, much more importantly, to make sure you get good value out of what you do spend.

Over all our large animal clients, around 60% of the total veterinary spend with the practice is on medicines in one form or another.

Dairy herds spend even more, as you would expect, with, on average, about 65% of their total health budget.

Unit cost Medicines not only have a high unit cost to purchase but also have hidden costs in administration, wastage and loss over withdrawal periods. The heart of the issue is the need to consider whether the medicine used is producing a measurable benefit for the animal not only in terms of its health

34

DAIRY FARMER

Chris Watson: are you getting best value out of your medicine spend?

and welfare but also in terms of the economics of production.

We regularly look at the dairy herd’s annual veterinary medicine spend and the first task is to break it down into distinct treatment areas by the type of drug used. Many drugs are only used in clearly defined situations such as drying off or vaccination.

That leaves the big unknown. What is the medicine use in sick animals? By difference we can find that the bulk of ‘the rest' will, on the whole, be related to general disease use on the farm.

The truth is that the biggest proportion – over a third – of all medicines is used on sick animals which cannot be good news, best practice, or even economic sense.

The simple message for clients is to review medicine

NOVEMBER 2015

Timing of treatment can make a huge difference in the choice of drug, the quantity, and the success rate Chris Watson

“

use and ask are they being used efficiently and effectively and what can be done to get better results with less expense.

The first step is to draw up an effective protocol for each farm disease situation and this can be expanded into a farm code of practice.

Start by defining the disease with a simple list of signs and symptoms and how to grade the disease. So

often, timing of treatment can make a huge difference in the choice of drug, the quantity, and the success rate.

Set out which drugs are to be used and how. Do not leave it to personal choice because if we are not getting results we can go back and at least you know where you are starting from.

Training Train staff so they know what to look out for in spotting problems, and to use the correct drug dose and route of administration.

With fertility control and dry cow therapy monitor response to make sure they are producing results.

With vaccines assess the relevant herd disease status and then the risk factors present. You must know what diseases you have and the risks of getting them before deciding on preventative vaccination.

Finally, all veterinary practices will give advice on the drugs they supply but ask for a review and make sure you are using the right drug, on the right animal, at the right time and for the right reason.

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***DF Nov p36 37 AH Shredlage _Layout 1 23/10/2015 09:51 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH A new approach to chopping maize which has been well tested in the States is about to hit the UK shores, and is claimed to improve rumen function and boost milk yields.

Laura Bowyer reports from Germany.

Rumen boosting Shredlage set to hit UK shores soon

S

hredlage first came to people’s attention when it was noticed that the shredded maize from an ill-adjusted harvester had some startling ability to boost milk yields.

Such happenstance and humble beginnings set minds whirring and spurred world renowned machinery innovator Claas into embracing the idea, and resulted in their installing a specially developed corn cracker in their foragers to mimic this processing effect.

The cracker, which is designed to increase the effective neutral detergent fibre (NDF) of maize, produces this longer type of ‘shredded’ material which has been appropiately dubbed Shredlage.

With 600 Shredlage units sold in the US and another 15 across the world, the plan is now to offer this cracker on machines destined for the UK market.

At a press briefing in the Lower Saxony region of Germany, Roger Olson, technical director and co-founder at Shredlage, explained the concept. He

36

DAIRY FARMER

said: “Small pieces of silage do not let the rumen function properly and we have therefore designed the corn cracker to cut at 26-30mm, producing what the company calls Shredlage.

Digestibility “By lengthening the maize fragments, the NDF level is increased, encouraging rumen function. Fibre digestibility is improved and the nutritional value of the silage increases. If the pieces were any longer, the rumen wouldn’t work correctly.”

Mr Olson invented the corn cracker after seeing the

The long maize fibres are responsible for getting the most from the cow Roger Olson

“ long fibres being produced by a neighbour’s worn-out forager. After developing the product and starting the family company with his son and father, he teamed up with Claas to produce and market the cracker.

The revolutionary

cracker is designed to split and tear the maize stalk and crush the kernel rather than simply chop it into prescribed lengths. This enhances its nutritional value and makes the crop easier to compact when rolled and boosts silage density.

Shredlage facts What should Shredlage be like?

■ The crop should be cut at a starch development at the half milk line – the bottom half of kernels are white and the top half are yellow ■ A dry matter between 32% and 34% ■ Fibre length between 26 and 30mm.

Making Shredlage ■ The roll gap should be able to be kept to 1mm ■ As the dry matter of the standing maize crop increases, the length of

NOVEMBER 2015

cut will have to be shortened and the roll gap brought down.

What is NDF? ■ NDF is the physical properties of fibre which encourages chewing and establishes the floating rumen mat ■ More NDF can result in less cases of displaced abomasums (DAs), haemorrhagic gut and scouring ■ The higher the NDF the more the fibre is digested ■ A diet with a high NDF content, such as

Shredlage, buffers the rumen, encouraging rumination and the forming of the rumen mat, decreasing the risk of sub-acute ruminal acidosis ■ The bacteria in the mat at the top of the rumen catches protein and kernels. In the base of the rumen the pH drops and the protein ferments ■ The lower gut is very sensitive. If kernels settle here, they can really damage the gut causing a haemorrhagic bowel.

***DF Nov p36 37 AH Shredlage _Layout 1 23/10/2015 12:15 Page 2

ANIMAL HEALTH To test the theory, trials were conducted at the University of Wisconsin where some of the long fibres in Shredlage were replaced with alfalfa hay, and milk yields dropped.

“Milk yields were less when fed the maize and alfalfa mixture than when fed conventional silage. It is clear the long maize fibres are responsible for getting the most from the cow,” explained Mr Olson.

“A longer length of maize cut decreases the need to introduce other sources of fibre into the diet such as hay and straw, but going much longer will make the silage easily sortable.

“Dry matter intake was higher in this cut of silage than the conventional type or the maize and hay mix.”

Milk yields He said: “I believe feeding our cut of maize to your cows can increase milk yields by 5-8lbs (2.3-3.6 litres). This is based on a diet of 65% maize, 5% straw and 30% alfalfa hay.

“The more maize you put in the diet the more productive cows should be. Straw is a good source of fibre, but it has no digestibility.

“Typically our corn cracker cuts maize at 2630mm, with kernels cracked into multiple fractions. Not

The corn cracker has been designed to ‘shred’ the 26-30mm lengths.

much of the maize is left three dimensional. The two rollers run at a 50% differential speed, while many competitors use the same speed.

“I have got farmers back in the US who are now feeding nothing but this maize silage, which is great

because it is low cost and only takes one cut.

“However, I don’t think the UK climate is right to grow the quality of maize to fulfil all the cow’s requirements, but there are cost savings to be made through less concentrates,” he said.

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

37

***DF Nov p38 40 AH Homer_Layout 1 21/10/2015 14:16 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH While farmers are regularly given professional advice on calf rearing, they can often learn the most practical lessons from others actually doing the job. Louise Hartley reports.

Calf health crucial to achieve target weight

B

eing responsible for calves from more than 500 cows means calf rearing is a full on job for Anne Homer.

Twenty-three-year-old Miss Homer works on the family farm at Marlborough, Wiltshire, along with her parents David and Jane and brothers Chris and Geoff.

The holding comprises two neighbouring units – one for the 300-head spring calvers and one for the 220 autumn calvers. The autumn herd averages 8500kg per lactation and the spring calving target is at 6000kg.

With both herds calving in 12 week blocks, the responsibility on Miss Homer is a big one, but one she relishes.

Miss Homer joined the family business when it was transitioning from a high input TMR-based system to a low input grazing enterprise incorporating Kiwi Friesian genetics.

Believing attention to detail is key, she says you do not need fancy technology to rear consistently healthy well-grown calves.

Both units are part of the Waitrose dairy farmer calf

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DAIRY FARMER

Anne Homer with her father David, on farm at Marlborough, Wiltshire.

scheme called Cattle Connect. Beef and dairy bulls are sent to Dovecote Park, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, and reared for veal or sent to dedicated finishing units.

Scheme Calves entering the scheme must be at least 14 days old, weigh over 50kg and be BVD negative. A pricing grid which includes breed, weight and grade determines the price paid to farmers.

Miss Homer says being part of the scheme gives her an incentive to get calves off to a good start.

“To secure the best price I need to make sure calves gain weight quickly to hit the 50kg specification and leave the farm as fit as possi-

NOVEMBER 2015

ble to get the best grade.”

She also believes the scheme makes selling simple and provides continuity in terms of price. For the last set of calves sent away the farm was paid an average of £80-90 for dairy bulls, £150 for a Hereford bull and £120 for Hereford heifers.

“All prices are sent to us via email as well as individual grades. This means we can identify which calves did and did not make the top grade and think about what might have influenced this,” adds Miss Homer.

At present the team is three-quarters of the way through calving the autumn block. Three weeks prior to calving dry cows move into the transition group and graze on standing hay,

effectively long mature fibrous grass. Once calved, dam and calf are brought inside within 10-12 hours and split up. Johne's cows calve in a completely different area and calves are removed immediately after calving.

Calves receive the dam’s colostrum for the first three feeds and, where possible, stay on colostrum for as long as possible.

“With 10-12 calves sometimes born per day, ensuring all calves get their dam’s colostrum can be complicated but I try as hard as possible,” says Miss Homer, who also freezes any high quality excess colostrum.

Heifers are kept in groups of 10 in two igloos and a shed which houses four groups, while beef and bull calves are housed in groups of five in hutches. Calves remain in the same group until weaning at about eight weeks old.

When it comes to milk feeding, the Homers have thought carefully about their choice of milk powder after a drop in performance prompted them to investigate.

“Although the calves looked healthy they were

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Veronesi F. F. et al., Parasitol Res 2013 Jun;112(6):2137-42. 2Scala A. et al., Small Ruminant Resear ch 120 (2014) 242–246 3 Jonsson N et al., Parasitol Res (2011) 109: p113-p128 4 Gjerde B. and Helle lle O. Veterinary Veterinary Parasitology, 38 (1991) 97-10 ® Baycox x 50 mg/ml oral suspension for Piglets, Calves and Lambs contains 50mg/ml toltrazuril. ® Registered Trademark of Bayer AG. Advice should be sought from the medicine prescriber. Please refer to appropriate data sheet at www.noahcompendium.co.uk. Further information is available from the SPC or on request. Bayer plc, Animal Health Division, Bayer House, Strawberry Hill, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 1JA. Tel: Tel: 0 01635 563000. POM-V BXUM02 2015/10039 1

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***DF Nov p38 40 AH Homer_Layout 1 21/10/2015 14:17 Page 2

ANIMAL HEALTH

The team is three-quarters of the way through calving the autumn block.

not thriving as well as they should have been and some seemed slightly bloated,” says Miss Homer.

“No management procedures had changed and we did not have any diseases so decided to look in to the milk powder – we had recently opened up a new pallet and I had noticed a change in its smell.”

Specification On inspecting the powder’s specification, Miss Homer discovered it had changed slightly – even though she had not been told by the feed company.

After seeking nutritional advice, researching on the internet and discussing it carefully with her vets, she opted for a powder with a minimum of 23% protein and a maximum of 7% ash.

“The powder we switched to actually turned out to be cheaper than our previous one, but had a better specification for us. On changing we noticed a big difference in calf health and growth and the calves seemed to

40

DAIRY FARMER

have more energy.

“Calves are so sensitive when it comes to feeding and it is clear our calves were reacting to a change in powder which, at first, we did not notice.

“I think farmers should definitely check the labelling on milk powder bags more regularly as the specification does change,” she says.

“A change in milk powder for us resulted in better calf performance and a cost saving. It could be the same for many other farmers.”

Milk feeding consists of two, 2.5-litre feeds per day, with 125g of power per litre.

Powder is weighed carefully and water temperature at mixing and feeding is also controlled.

“I mix at about 42degC and feed at 39degC. Powders are sensitive and mixing temperature is very important, especially as the new powder is slightly higher in fat and therefore needs a lower mixing temperature,” she says.

Milk is mixed in a 110-litre wheelie mixer. Miss Homer

NOVEMBER 2015

Calves move on to once-a-day feeding at six weeks prior to weaning.

Calves are so sensitive when it comes to feeding and it is clear our calves were reacting to a change in powder Anne Homer

“

prefers to use teats rather than buckets to feed.

“I think bucket feeding can make calves lazy drinkers and encourages splashing and cross-suckling, whereas teats encourage them to learn quickly and be competitive.”

Bulls get a minimum of eight litres of milk per day plus any colostrum which is not needed or not good enough for freezing, helping get them to hit the required weight and conformation.

“Some people think bulls are low value by-products and so do not give them much milk – but why not get them fit and off the farm

as soon as possible?”

Calves have access to pellets, water and straw from birth and move on to oncea-day feeding at six weeks in the run up to weaning.

Homemade straw racks, modified from old barrels, have proved very effective, says Mr Homer.

“They cost nothing, are easy to make and calves seem to eat more because they can pull straw out more easily than with standard racks.”

Disinfectant foot dip tubs are dotted around the pens and everyone who works with the calves has to dip their boots when moving from group to group.

“We introduced foot dips after an outbreak of cryptosporidium during spring calving, and now use them on both farms to prevent and control coccy and crypto,” he adds.

Housing and feeding equipment moved between farms is steam cleaned, disinfected and rested, and also cleaned and sanitised between each group.

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***DF Nov p42 Trouw_Layout 1 20/10/2015 17:34 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH

With the likelihood of increased use of home-grown cereals in dairy diets this winter, Dr Liz Homer, ruminant specialist with Trouw Nutrition GB, says it will be important to make sure they do not disrupt rumen function.

Cereal testing could help avoid acidosis this winter

M

any of this year’s grass silages are high in sugars and have more rumen fermentable fibre, which together result in a high rumen acid loading.

In addition, some wet, acidic first cuts have lower intake potentials and a high acid load which will also challenge the rumen.

Ruminant specialist, Dr Liz Homer, says: “Cereals are another source of rapidly fermentable carbohydrate and when fed along side this year’s silage could result in a higher incidence of acidosis.

“Most farmers will not have cereals analysed, but without this information it will not be possible to formulate diets precisely to help manage rumen health and consequently increase productivity,” she explains.

Dr Homer says the com-

pany’s CerealWatch service has been monitoring cereal quality for several years, focusing on starch and protein content. The scheme is available to feed companies and farmers, and it also confirms bushel weight is actually an unreliable predictor of energy content when used alone.

“The table compares the average wheat with high starch and low starch samples, and the consequences for feeding are significant.

The low starch wheat is 1MJ less than the average, while the high starch samples are 1MJ more than average.

Acid loading “Looking at the carbohydrate fractions there is a significant difference in rumen fermentable carbohydrate content which translates into a substantially different acid load. While the high starch sample has more energy, it has a higher rap-

Dr Liz Homer: fine tuning diets.

idly fermentable portion which brings a greater acidosis risk,” she says.

“Without analysis, you cannot tell a high energy sample from a low energy one, yet this will have considerable practical consequences.”

Dr Homer says it is not unusual for a standard ration for a 35-litre cow to include around 4kg of wheat.

If a ration using this year’s grass silage and balanced for performance and health based on average wheat figures when it actually contained high starch wheat, the consequence would be that the rumen would be

Comparison on nutritive value of different starch content wheats DM Protein Starch ME MJ/kg Rapidly (%) (%) (%) DM fermented carbohydrate g/kg Average wheat 86.1 10.1 57.3 11.8 388 Low starch wheat 85.2 10.9 49.5 10.6 343 High starch wheat 88.3 8.4 63.0 12.7 419

42

DAIRY FARMER

NOVEMBER 2015

seriously challenged.

“The higher acid load in the high starch wheat would put cows above the acidosis threshold. Although in theory the high ME content of the wheat would support an additional 0.5 litres/cow, it is unlikely this would be seen due to compromised rumen health.

“If the analysis was known it would be possible to fine tune the diet perhaps by reducing cereal levels and encouraging higher forage intakes, feeding more high fibre energy sources, adding a buffer, or indeed a combination of all three. Alternatively it might be possible to treat the cereals to slow fermentation rate.

“Conversely, if the low starch wheat was included instead of the average, cows would be short of energy to the tune of one litre per cow per day. They just won’t milk as expected and it wouldn’t be clear why.”

Total fermented carbohydrate g/kg 587 535 631

Acid load 77.4 69.6 82.1

Fibre index g/kg

21.0 28.0 21.0

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***DF Nov p44 46 47 AH Berry_Layout 1 20/10/2015 18:19 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH

An open day at the Berry family’s farm at Barton, Preston, saw the local vet team put the spotlight on how building design and cow and calf management can interact to help improve efficiency. Jeremy Hunt reports.

Picking up pointers on Lancashire farm

T

he Berry family’s Boggart Holstein herd in Lancashire was the venue for a cow and calf health management day organised by veterinary practice Lambert, Leonard and May. The herd has recently been re-housed in a carefully designed new cubicle building and switched from three-times-a-day milking to being milked by two Lely robots.

The first topic of the day was transition cow management. Reducing a herd’s culling rate has been identified as one of the benefits of treating in-calf cows with a ketone bolus – and for a typical 200-cow herd it could mean a saving of more than £10,000, farmers heard.

Vet Tom Greenham said a bolus treatment given three weeks before calving triggered the rumen bacteria to produce optimum energy from the feed in the rumen.

It meant the rumen bacteria were working more efficiently to generate more

44

DAIRY FARMER

The new cubicle building has been carefully designed and features two new robots milking the herd’s 120 cows.

energy without increasing the cow’s intake of feed.

“In herds we sampled we found 30-40% of cows were suffering from ketosis, and it causes fertility problems as well as other knock-on health issues.

Ketosis “When comparing treated and non-treated herds we found there was a 70-75% reduction in ketosis problems but we also recorded a reduction in the cull rate by 50%.”

Farmers were told that

NOVEMBER 2015

although the £27 cost per bolus meant there was around a 25% increase in spend per cow per year, the cost was easily recovered through the benefits.

Estimated costings based on a 200-cow herd giving 8000 litres and with a cull rate of 25% showed if a third of the herd were treated with a ketone bolus it could lead to eight fewer cows being culled.

“Based on a replacement cost of £1300 per cow, that meant a saving of £10,400 compared to the bolus

cost of £1782 for 66 cows treated.”

Vet Matthew Hylands said good early lactation performance was the main goal of a successful transition period, but to achieve that there had to be zero problems around or after calving.

“That means maintaining blood calcium levels and adequate energy intakes. So it is about the make-up of the diet and the intake of that diet,” he said.

“But intakes can drop to almost zero at calving, even

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***DF Nov p44 46 47 AH Berry_Layout 1 20/10/2015 18:19 Page 2

ANIMAL HEALTH though a cow’s energy requirement to meet her milk production needs to rise at a much higher rate than the amount of feed she’s actually eating.

“This often leads to a negative energy imbalance which means the cow has to dig into her own body reserves to meet energy needs.

The fatty acid mobilisation needed to produce that energy creates suppression in the cow’s immune system and leaves her more susceptible to post-calving problems such as mastitis and retained cleansings.

“A poor transition period means she is more difficult to get back in calf and extends her calving interval, which means she has longer time as a stale cow at the end of the lactation.

“She gets fat, and fat cows have a lower dry matter intake. As a result, her negative energy imbalance is

Farm host Philip Berry in front of the new cubicle house for the Boggart Holstein herd at Preston.

more serious, her immune suppression is worse and she is more likely to go down with post-calving disease problems. It’s a vicious circle,” said Mr Hylands.

Cubicle management The second topic was cubicle management. One of the least publicised advantages of robotic milking systems was that it allowed cows the opportunity to fulfil their optimum daily lying time.

For most cows that was

around 14 hours a day.

Vet Rob Howe said: “Conventional parlour milking can mean a cow is standing up for an extra four hours a day which is taken out of her preferred time to be lying down. This puts pressure on feet and reduces time feeding and ruminating. It means for each hour less than the ideal 14 hours lying time, each cow loses around a litre of milk production per day.”

The new unit at Boggart

House Farm originally used ‘green bedding’. However, host farmer Phil Berry said: “Cows were lying too far into the cubicles and mucking on the back of the beds.

This meant the beds were getting wet, cell counts were increasing and cow health was being affected.”

So cubicles are now bedded on silica sand and cell counts have returned to an average of 150,000.

The silica sand costs £20.90 a tonne and the herd

Herd fertility JRoutine vet checks can have a massive impact on herd fertility based on the regularity of the information collected about potential problem cows, said vet Den Leonard.

“Their aim is to get as many cows in calf as possible, and while there are many ways of trying to achieve that, it is the 100day in-calf rate we feel is the most effective.

“And by visiting a farm

46

DAIRY FARMER

each week we can start to build up a much better profile of the herd’s fertility and can get into problem cows much more effectively because we are responding more quickly. Problem cows should not be left for weeks and weeks,” said Mr Leonard.

“Treatment should be based on a history of what’s been happening so we can get to the root of the issue.

“A herd can soon be into

NOVEMBER 2015

saving really big money if the number of open days are reduced. Our independent research into the actual cost of cows being open showed each day costs £5 for herds with a 385-day calving interval, but for herds with 440-day calving interval that can be £10 a day.”

Interval Mr Leonard said even taking the lower milk price into account, these figures were

never less than £3 a day.

Taking just 20 days off a cow’s calving interval could save £60.

“The benefit of a regular vet visit at the same time on the same day each week is that the whole operation and farm team is zoned in to the job.

“No treatments are missed; they are all done at the right time to the right cows, so averages are much better.”

***DF Nov p44 46 47 AH Berry_Layout 1 20/10/2015 18:24 Page 3

ANIMAL HEALTH is using 40t a month, said Mr Berry.

The guided robot system enables cows to come through to the feed passage, but the only way back to the cubicles is through the ‘select’ gate which determines whether cows are guided into the robot for milking or allowed back to the cubicles.

“Heifers are only taking two to three days to learn how to use the system. It’s a system that maximises the efficiency of the robots,” says Mr Berry.

The new unit has two robots milking the herd’s 120 cows – split into two groups.

The herd’s average in late August was 36-38 litres a

Calf Calf management management

Vet Matthew Hylands: transition.

day, even though a high percentage of the herd were in late lactation.

“Before robots we were achieving an average of around 35 litres a cow. Now the aim is to get to 40-42 litres a cow. But from the cow welfare point of view this system is 10 times better than a conventional milking system,” he said.

JVet Ian Ian Cure Cure urged urged JVet farmers to to de-horn de-horn calves calves farmers as early as possible to as early as possible to reduce trauma. trauma. reduce He explained calves He explained calves endured pain pain for for 60 60 hours hours endured after de-horning – after de-horning – this is information gleaned gleaned from from information trials which have measured trials which have measured the cortisol cortisol levels levels in in calves’ calves’ the bloodstream which bloodstream which indicates levels levels of of stress. stress. indicates “Minimising stress levels “Minimising stress levels avoids any any adverse adverse impact impact avoids it can have on the calf’s it can have on the calf’s immune system, system and immune and so so reduces the risk of reduces the risk of pneumonia or or scours scours post post pneumonia de-horning. de-horning.

“The bigger bigger the calves get get “The calves

then the the more more painful painful dedethen horning becomes becomes and and the the horning longer the pain lasts, so longer the pain lasts, so itit pays to to use use pain pain relief.” relief.” pays He adds: “Stress He added: “Stresscaused caused by de-horning de-horning can can impact impact by on calf calf growth growth rates, rates, but but on trials have have shown shown when when the the trials pain level is controlled by pain level is controlled by pain relief relief product product pain Metacam there Metacam, there is is a a weaning weight weight benefit benefit of of weaning 10-20kg, compared with 10-20kg compared with calves which which received receivedno no calves pain relief. pain relief.

“De-horning calves calves using using aa “De-horning local anaesthetic, followed local anaesthetic, followed by aa jab jab of of Metacam, Metacam can by can provide pain relief for 72 provide pain relief for 72 hours.” hours.”

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

47

***DF Nov P48 49 50 Mycotoxins_Layout 1 23/10/2015 09:48 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH

A lot is talked about mycotoxins but until their impact starts to be seen on milk production they tend to be overlooked on most dairy units. Dr Nicola Walker, from AB Vista, explains the scale of the challenge.

Mycotoxin burden can be holding back yields ontamination of both straights and forages with mycotoxins has the potential to seriously affect production this winter. Yet, on too many farms there can be reductions in cow performance, health and fertility due to mycotoxicosis that goes undiagnosed.

Dr Walker says: “According to the results of a survey carried out in 201415, some 90% of maize silage samples and twothirds of wholecrop cereal silages were contaminated with mycotoxins.

“Although none of the grass silage samples tested

C

positive for mycotoxins, a massive 71% of total mixed rations (TMR) were contaminated.

“Maize silage is particularly susceptible, with 90% of these samples testing positive for the extremely damaging deoxynivalenol [DON], and 54% for zearalenone [ZON]. Also, remember the effects of several mycotoxins can combine to produce an additive effect, even at low levels.”

Fusarium The scale of mycotoxin contamination is clearly shown below (see Fig 1 and 2). Interestingly, the only mycotoxins detected

Figure 1: Mycotoxin contamination by forage type

Source: Micron Bio-Systems

48

DAIRY FARMER

NOVEMBER 2015

Mycotoxins in feed can seriously affect milk yield, says Dr Walker.

during the survey were those produced by Fusarium moulds, which typically grow on crops pre-harvest. Crops, such as maize, are more susceptible because they are harvested at full maturity, so are exposed to the weather for longer and

moulds have a greater opportunity to both infect the crop and produce mycotoxins.

“In contrast, grass is generally harvested for silage or grazed well before it reaches maturity,” states Dr Walker. “It is worth noting

Figure 2: Mycotoxins present in maize silage

Source: Micron Bio-Systems

***DF Nov P48 49 50 Mycotoxins_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:43 Page 2

the forage samples in this survey were only taken from clean clamp faces, where high dry matter maize and cereal silages suffer more from fungal growth. “Lower dry matter grass silages are much less prone to secondary fermentation in the body of the clamp, but they are highly susceptible to the growth of moulds, such as Aspergillus, at the top surface. It means the threat from mycotoxins in grass silages is actually higher than the data in Figure 1 suggests.�

There are five main groups which affect livestock feed in the UK and can have a serious

effect on the cow and its production. (See table).

Symptoms include a reduction in milk yields, lower butterfat levels and worsening body condition, are all due to a reduction in nutrient digestion and absorption efficiency.

Immunity A decrease in antibody production can compromise immunity and lead to an increase in the number of mastitis cases, as well as higher cell counts. “Other indicators include rough coats, listless activity, variable manure consistency and the presence of mucus tags – pieces of gut wall – in the

ANIMAL HEALTH Sources of mycotoxins and the systems they affect Mycotoxin

Mould species

Ochratoxin

Aspergillus, Penicillium

Aflatoxin

Fumonisin (FUM) Trichothecenes (DON*, T2 toxin)

Aspergillus

Fusarium Fusarium

Zearalenone Fusarium (ZON) * Deoxynivalenol

manure,� Dr Walker adds. “Chronic lameness, including foot lesions which won’t heal, can also be symptomatic of mycotoxin ingestion, and the impact on fertility can be significant. “Research has shown

Affects

Source

Liver, carcinogen, Forages, cotton reproductive, meal, peanuts immune Liver, carcinogen, Wide range digestive, kidney, of feeds immune Nervous, Wide range pulmonary of feeds Reproductive, Grain, foragedigestive based feeds, maize Reproductive, Grain, wholecrop endocrine cereals Source: Micron Bio-Systems

dairy heifer conception rates fell from 87% to 62% where ZON was present in the ration, and there have been suggestions mycotoxins may be linked to reproductive problems such as cystic ovaries.�

Dr Walker’s advice is to

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***DF Nov P48 49 50 Mycotoxins_Layout 1 23/10/2015 09:49 Page 3

ANIMAL HEALTH start by making good clamp management and feed hygiene a top priority this winter, with all visibly spoiled or mouldy material discarded and feedout areas cleaned daily to remove refusals. If the ration is heating in front of the cows – a sure sign aerobic fungal growth is taking place – consider feeding less, but more often, to reduce the time available for spoilage.

Clamping “It’s also important to pay attention to the non-forage feeds in the ration. Moist feeds can easily suffer from surface fungal growth if air isn’t adequately excluded during clamping, and dry straights can be affected at any time between ripening and feeding if conditions are moist or humid.

“So keep a close eye on the condition of feeds as they arrive on-farm and make sure any dry feeds are kept free from moisture, whether from leaking roofs, yard run-off or nearby moist feeds or silages,” she says.

“Remember, visibly mouldy feed shouldn’t ever be fed to any livestock and, if in doubt, consider testing individual feeds, forages or mixed rations.”

Good rumen function is also an essential part of any mycotoxin defence strategy, with specific rumen microbes able to

50

DAIRY FARMER

Mouldy feed shouldn’t ever be fed to any livestock and, if in doubt, consider testing individual feeds Dr Nicola Walker

ingest, transform or degrade mycotoxins and render them less harmful.

According to Dr Walker, the general increase in mycotoxin symptoms seen in recent years is partly a result of the increasing levels of stress seen in high yielding cows, and particularly the rise in incidence of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA).

“SARA not only reduces the population of beneficial microbes in the rumen, which can help in the bio-deactivation process, but also makes passage of mycotoxins into the blood easier by damaging the rumen wall.

“It’s extremely important to keep cow stress levels low and avoid overloading the rumen with too much rapidly fermentable energy which could compromise rumen function.

Challenge “The challenge is that this isn’t easy to achieve at all times for every cow, which means most herds have

NOVEMBER 2015

Grass silage is prone to Aspergillus mould growth on the top surface.

periods when certain cows are more at risk from the effects of mycotoxin ingestion.

The solution is to guard against this threat as a matter of routine, and the top producing herds are often now including a high quality mycotoxin deactivator as insurance to protect production.”

Diagnose The typical 2-3 litres per cow per day yield increase seen when an effective deactivator is added to a ration containing high levels of mycotoxins also makes it a useful low-cost way to diagnose potential problems.

“A clear performance response within 3-4 weeks indicates mycotoxins are present in significant volumes,” says Dr Walker.

“Given that a 0.5 litre per cow per day improvement would currently give an easy 3:1 return on the cost of such a supplement, the return will more than pay for the

cost of treatment in most situations.

“Not all mycotoxin deactivators are the same though, so make sure you choose a product like Ultrasorb R which contains deactivators developed specifically to target the mycotoxin threat in ruminants, and which can act to ‘open up’ certain mycotoxins – such as DON – for deactivation.”

“Until recently, mycotoxin deactivators were formulated to work across all livestock species,” Dr Walker points out. “But the latest research has demonstrated clear differences in performance as pH changes.

“It means care needs to be taken when choosing which deactivator to use.

Some even contain nutrient supplements to help boost immune function during a period of challenge, and are a long way ahead of the basic clay mineral-based mycotoxin deactivators of the past,” she adds.

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***DF Nov p52 54 AH Antibiotics_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:00 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH

With concerns growing in both the public and farm sectors about the continuing efficacy of antibiotics, a group of Scottish vets is spearheading a campaign to introduce a standardised method to measure the usage on dairy farms. Jennifer MacKenzie reports.

First steps to monitor antibiotic use on farm

I

t may be a startling estimation, but it is believed just under half the total of all antibiotics used in the UK are given to farm animals.

Although farm antibiotic use – as in medicine – is prescription only, it appears there are no prescription records collected. So nobody yet knows how many antibiotics are used, in which species, or by which farm.

Jimmy More, of Galloway Vets, Kirkcudbright, one of the five practices in the Solway Vets group, has devised a method of recording antibiotic use on farms which the member practices are taking up. It also incorporates best practice for general cow health.

He says: “The use of veterinary medicinal products is not centrally recorded in the UK, although the VMD does collect, collate and publish figures on UK sales volumes of active antimicrobial ingredients in products authorised for use in animals.

“It is reasonable to assume there is a close correlation between the reported

52

DAIRY FARMER

The new antibiotic recording system also incorporates best practice for general cow health on farm.

quantities of products sold and those used in the UK in the species indicated. It is often quoted as UK total veterinary antibiotic use [tonnes of active ingredient].”

Comparable Mr More says because of the use of different active ingredients, measuring in kilograms is not directly comparable. This is due to their different antimicrobial potency, pharmacokinetics and, consequently, the dosage prescription.

“You can’t monitor what you don't measure, so I have created a software system, initially with MSD help, in

NOVEMBER 2015

the form of a spreadsheet.

“It is along the lines of the Dutch and Danish system of Animal Daily Dose (ADD),” he says.

“The ADD is the defined average maintenance dose of a specified medicine per kg of a specified animal per day, applied for its main indication. To put it simply, the number of times in a year an animal gets one day’s treatment averaged out for the whole herd.”

This unit conforms to international developments in this field and is currently in use in the human health sector.

With the ADD approach, the calculation and compari-

son of the total antibiotic use on different farms is possible, even when different active ingredients are involved. Expressing the use per animal year also enables comparisons of farms with different production and vacancy periods.

Trends Mr More says it offers an opportunity to study the relationship between antibiotic use and the occurrence and trends in antimicrobial resistance. In addition a comparison of countries could be possible, but only when based on reliable usage data per animal species.

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ANIMAL HEALTH

By addressing areas where scores are poor, particularly in farm management, improvements can be made and antibiotic use reduced.

Following initial work to measure the antibiotic usage on farm, vets would then implement a holistic approach to hygiene and management on all units.

He says this takes the form of scoring of each critical aspect of farm management in crucial areas where failings increase disease and the requirement for antibiotic use, and this can be completed by the farmer or vet. Then by addressing areas where scores are poor, improvements can be made.

Where failings were present we would create individual short, medium and long-term action points Jimmy More

“

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DAIRY FARMER

Mr More says it will allow targeting to produce the best return for input, and by its nature break down the task into small, manageable action plans rather than one vast one.

Action points “Where failings were present we would create individual short, medium and long-term action points to correct failings and improve welfare,” says Mr More.

He has rolled it out with his own dairy farming clients first and is now fine tuning it to include larger amounts of data from the group’s farms.

Mr More has adopted the same philosophy of ‘don't create problems without solutions’ as he did with his previous CalfStart, RearRight and CalveWell packages, with the solution lying in management-based answers to reducing antibiotic usage.

The use of veterinary medicines, in particular

NOVEMBER 2015

Jimmy More fears if we don’t take action restrictions will be imposed.

antimicrobial drugs (antibiotics), on farm animals is coming under heavy scrutiny due to the alarming increase in the incidence of antimicrobial resistance being reported by doctors. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria cease to be killed by established antibiotics.

Factor Although a contentious issue, it is thought in some quarters that the use of antibiotics in farm animals may be a contributing factor

in this resistance.

Governments in several European countries have since responded to this pressure by imposing strict regulations on how vets and farmers use antimicrobials on farm.

Mr More cites the case of the Netherlands where vets have been ordered to reduce antimicrobial usage on farms by 50% on 2010 levels.

He adds he is fearful if we do not make changes to our own practice, we may see similar restrictions imposed in the UK.

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***DF Nov p56 58 AH M Bovis _Layout 1 21/10/2015 14:08 Page 1

ANIMAL HEALTH

Mycoplasma bovis may be found in its own right in stock but is increasingly being seen associated with outbreaks of pneumonia. Peter Hollinshead reports.

Hidden factor that could be trigger for pneumonia

O

f all the potential pathogens that may be implicated in cases of cattle pneumonia, one in particular seems to be coming to the fore and playing an increasingly important role.

According to analysis by pharmaceutical company Zoetis, of 2500 samples submitted last year by vets, the pathogen Mycoplasma bovis (M bovis) was present in nearly half the samples and its incidence had increased by 10% from the previous year’s result.

This put the figure for M bovis at 45% positive, compared with 83% positive for Para-influenza 3 virus, 76% Bovine Respiratory Syncytial virus, 32% IBR and 25% BVD. All of the others but BVD, which showed a three point drop, remained at about the same level of implication.

According to vet Tim Potter, of the Westpoint Veterinary Group, the bacterium M bovis is increasingly being seen in this country and can lead to mastitis, chronic lameness and arthritis in adult cattle, and mani-

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DAIRY FARMER

M bovis manifests itself in calves with high temperatures, pneumonia and ear infections.

fests itself in calves with high temperatures, pneumonia and ear infection.

“I’m not sure why we are seeing an increase in M bovis – it causes a number of diseases across cattle and in the United States they are more aware of it as a mastitis pathogen.”

Impact Speaking at a press briefing he said although the disease was present in the US it was not established on the radar to the same extent in this country, but looks set to impact shortly.

But he warned it was sometimes not spotted on farms as ‘animals can carry it in their nasal cavity without showing the disease’.

NOVEMBER 2015

“One thing to be aware of is that because it can be spread through milk, there is a potential risk from feeding whole milk to calves,” he explained.

“Once on a unit it can spread very quickly especially if animals are from a number of sources – it can be spread where there are several calves feeding from the same teat.

“The management is to isolate these animals and stop the spread where possible, and you may have to treat groups of animals.

“It’s something we’re seeing a lot more of and farmers are seeing more of it too, and there’s an increasing need to detect it,” he said.

The M bovis infection

builds up in the ear canal and in severe cases there will be a large discharge of pus, and the problem can be recognised by a characteristic ear droop and in some cases a noticeable tilt of the head.

Pneumonia “M bovis can cause pneumonia in its own right, but now we are frequently seeing it alongside viruses as the cause of disease outbreaks,” he confirmed.

Dr Potter said it was difficult to treat as some antibiotics were ineffective against it and others needed time to be effective.

“Picking the disease up early is crucial because it is difficult to get the antibiotic

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***DF Nov p56 58 AH M Bovis _Layout 1 21/10/2015 14:09 Page 2

ANIMAL HEALTH

to the seat of infection, and you often have to use the one with a long period of activity or treat several times,” he said.

According to Zoetis vet Carolyn Hogan, there is a definite link between respiratory viral disease and M bovis, but she saw the relationship working the other way round in that vaccinating for respiratory problems would leave the animal less likely to contract M bovis.

“You do commonly get M bovis alongside respiratory viruses, so getting good vaccination protection in place for respiratory diseases will reduce the M bovis risk,” she said.

She said vaccinating for respiratory disease would not only reduce the risk but the severity of any M Bovis infection.

Dr Potter explained there was no one control measure

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DAIRY FARMER

Getting good vaccination protection in place for respiratory diseases will reduce the M bovis risk Carolyn Hogan

“

which would will prevent M bovis completely.

“Originally we saw M bovis on its own but now we frequently see it alongside the viral component,” he said, “although there is no one control measure that will prevent it completely.

“We’re seeing an increase in M bovis as an issue and as a disease-causing organism,” he said. “It can cause

NOVEMBER 2015

various disease symptoms and may cause pneumonia.

“Taking swabs from such calves has shown increasing evidence of M Bovis as an underlying cause in these cases.”

Prevention Ms Hogan said work done

by Zoetis had shown prevention of pneumonia in young calves could save £772 over the life of the dairy cow, resulting from losses from sub-optimal growth, later first calving, 4% less production in first lactation, 8% less in second lactation and 109 days less in the herd.( See above).

“You must be proactive and prevent disease – if you look after these calves you have potentially a massive saving and farmers should look at that very seriously in light of the low milk price,” said Ms Hogan.

Beef too will have reduced performance and she said vaccination could save from £130-327 per head by protecting the calves from respiratory disease and getting them reaching their target weights faster.

This has prompted Zoetis to launch the third leg of its SureCalf scheme, this time for store cattle.

Store rearers who have housed their stock through the winter and who vaccinate them from eight months old prior to spring sales, will be issued with a certificate saying their animals are protected for a minimum period of six months.

Once protected in this manner, it should prevent them from picking up the disease at sale and during subsequent movement, and give any potential purchaser greater confidence to buy.

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***DF Nov p60 61 DS Mottram and Champ_Layout 1 20/10/2015 13:14 Page 1

DAIRY SHOW REPORT With the maize harvest still a few weeks off, crowds flocked to the Dairy Show, Shepton Mallet, to catch up on the latest developments.

High yielding cows not more prone to acidosis

H

igh yielding dairy cows are no more likely to suffer from sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) than those with low production, according to Toby Mottram, professor of farm mechanisation at the Royal Agricultural University, who was speaking at the Dairy Show.

Instead, he says the variation in acidosis between different dairy units is far more important than variation between different levels of yield.

This deduction has been drawn from Prof Mottram’s research involving the

rumen telemetry bolus, produced by his company eCow, which is administered to the cow by mouth and continuously measures her rumen pH over a period of weeks.

Cows need order, not just nutrients Toby Mottram

New research He says his new research ‘overturns the lazy suggestion that high yielding cows all have sub-clinical acidosis’, which has previously been based on measurements made by rumenocentesis.

The bolus, by contrast, monitored pH for several months, and measured pH and temperature every 60 seconds to produce an

with Three Counties Feeds and Mole Valley Farmers, involved dairy producers who were operating a variety of farming systems across the south west of England.

Because the average (mean) pH was the same across all types of management system, Prof Mottram said: “SARA is a management feature – not a system feature.”

“

average of each value every 15 minutes. The data were collected wirelessly using a 433 MHz antenna connected to an adapted mobile phone via micro USB. The research, which was undertaken in collaboration

There were heated exchanges between speakers at the Milk Debate at the Dairy Show, where crowds gathered to hear the latest on the industry.

60

DAIRY FARMER

NOVEMBER 2015

***DF Nov p60 61 DS Mottram and Champ_Layout 1 20/10/2015 18:33 Page 2

REPORT DAIRY SHOW However, despite all having a similar average pH of around 6.2-6.4, he said two of the higher yielding systems he studied – those using robots and those feeding a TMR plus inparlour concentrates – experienced longer periods of time while the pH was lower.

Systems Under these two systems, pH dropped below 5.8 for about 5% of the time. This compared with grass silage and concentrate systems (either with or without grazing) where the percentage of time below pH 5.8 was under 3%.

®

“It turned out the poor performing herd had a low rumen pH which was attributable to an irregular feeding routine which was different every day,” he said. “Routine is a key element – cows need order, not just nutrients.”

The bolus is only given to sentinel cows. At a cost of £450 per bolus, plus £500 for a smartphone with dongle and software (often provided by a nutritionist or vet), he said meaningfully measuring pH in a 200-cow herd could involve an outlay of less than £2000, but could fix a problem costing £6000 a month or £1/cow/day.

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***DF Nov p62 DS TB test_Layout 1 20/10/2015 13:17 Page 1

DAIRY SHOW REPORT

TB test that is claimed to raise detection rate

A

new blood and milk test for bovine TB has been developed which it is hoped will help improve detection rates and could soon play a major role alongside existing tests in the UK’s fight against the disease.

The Enferplex test, which detects the presence of a number of different antibodies produced by the animal in response to a TB infection, is said to be on the verge of gaining Ministerial approval to undergo UK trials and validation.

Once this process goes ahead, it is expected to lead to full EU approval, after which the test could help play a significant role in the eradication of TB in the UK. Positive results Alastair Hayton, of Synergy Farm Vets, which is spearheading the uptake of the new test, said: “The best scenario is that we will have the science completed by early to mid2016 and then it is a question of how quickly the relevant EU and UK

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DAIRY FARMER

We think we can help farmers fully identify true infection in their herds and thereby reduce the time under restriction Alastair Hayton

“

Alastair Hayton says the new test is likely to pick up earlier infection.

administrations can move, assuming that positive results are established.”

The new test is unlike the two in current use – the skin test and interferon test – which aim to identify changes at the cell level, known as the cell mediated immune response.

“Because of its different mode of operation, the new test is likely to detect a different population of infected animals from the current tests,” he said.

“In particular, it is hoped it will have a value in detecting significantly more infected animals in chronic endemically infected herds and provide the

NOVEMBER 2015

opportunity to clear out these herds more quickly.”

Immune response He said this was because the immune response measured in the existing tests often diminishes as an animal’s infection becomes more long term and severe.

This was said to explain why the skin test was often criticised for failing when it is needed most, as an animal with lesions could be the one which fails to be picked up by the skin test because of its absence of a normal immune response.

However, tests based on antibody detection will

not be affected by this phenomenon and should, therefore, still detect these infected animals.

“We are not suggesting we can replace the skin or interferon test, but we think we can help farmers fully identify true infection in their herds and thereby reduce the time under restriction,” he explained.

The test was also said to have the scope to be used for diagnosing TB in badgers.

Its uptake is being driven by Synergy, in collaboration with MV Diagnostics in Scotland and the Enfer Group in Ireland.

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***DF Nov p64 DS Kerby & Matts_Layout 1 20/10/2015 13:26 Page 1

DAIRY SHOW REPORT

Cubicle matting comes in for thorough testing

Y

ou do not have to pay the earth to get a top performing cubicle mattress, according to new research from Kingshay, which has looked at the performance, quality and durability of about 20 different products aged up to 11 years.

Over the period of use, some of the cheapest mats or mattresses – some costing as little as £40 per cow place – appeared higher in the rankings than others costing well over £100.

The number one product on points – when evaluated for a combination of softness, surface texture, cleanliness, shape retention, grip and overall durability – retailed at £103. Another in the top five cost £59.

Ranking However, despite providing a ranking for the mats and mattresses, Kingshay insisted there was no top product.

Dairy specialist Laura Smith, who undertook much of the subjective as-

Care needed in selection for sealant

JA Somerset vet has warned the drive to cut antibiotic use for dry cow therapy is sometimes proving to be counterproductive and potentially increasing the use of antimicrobial medicines.

Mike Kerby, from the Delaware Veterinary Group in Castle Cary, said using rules of thumb and adhering to general protocols was often not appropriate and could lead to increased cases of clinical mastitis, higher cell counts and the need for even more antibiotic use.

“One concern is too many people will follow

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DAIRY FARMER

the rule that you can use a teat sealant only on all cows whose cell counts are under 200,000 cells/ml,” said Mr Kerby.

“This overlooks the fact the cow has four quarters, three of which may have very low cell counts, while one could be heavily infected.

“Even when people have done it properly they have sometimes got into trouble."

He cited the case of intermittent Staph aureus which was not always evident in milk and did not always promote a cell count response.

In order to successfully adhere to the practice of

NOVEMBER 2015

Laura Smith: no one top product.

sessment, said: “It depends entirely on which features you are looking for.

“We tried to find the ultimate which was soft, longlasting and good value, and selective dry cow therapy, he said producers must take part in individual cow cell count recording on a monthly basis and should develop their strategy in consultation with their vet.

Recording “With monthly recording, there should be some evidence over the course of a lactation if a problem exists,” he said.

While he accepted reducing antibiotic use was the way forward he said: “Every approach has to be tailored with the farm vet to suit the individual farm, based on history and bacteriology.”

although there were some that came close to that, others definitely fell short.”

Cleanliness was one feature which varied widely amongst products, with some having a porous surface and absorbing liquids tending to make them unhygienic. Others had a textured surface and were slightly more difficult to scrape but offered good grip, and the cleanest among them sometimes was harder with a more smooth and slippery surface.

Advantage She also said some farmers considered mattresses which moulded to the cow’s shape to be an advantage, although she believed the hollows this formed should be avoided as they can allow pooling of liquids and manure.

She also accepted some of the poorest performing mattresses were 10 or 11 years old, which meant their manufacturing process could well have been improved in the years since they were installed. n A copy of Kingshay’s mats and mattresses tried and tested report is available to members only. For more information, visit www.kingshay.com, or call 01458 851 555.

***DF Nov p65 DS Lameness_Layout 1 22/10/2015 13:43 Page 1

REPORT DAIRY SHOW

First aid on every farm for foot care

T

wo veterinary practices from the north and south of England have jointly formalised their approach to tackling lameness by creating the Cattle Lameness Academy (CLA).

Synergy Farm Health in the South and the Bishopton Veterinary Group in the North hope the academy

will act as a bridge between university research and those delivering foot services on the ground. They say this will be achieved by offering training for farmers and agri-business, and delivering lameness consultancy services to the wider farming industry. This will also include mobility scoring and foot trimming.

The CLA will be informed

Total iry

Be

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Da

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Over-trimming Commenting that about 70% of people who trim cows’ feet have never had formal training, Synergy director Jon Reader said a lot of current practice had no research behind it and over-trimming was a widespread problem.

“Some people still think the foot needs to be white when it is trimmed but often this means it is over-

trimmed,” he said.

Suggesting the practice of routine foot trimming should be replaced by the concept of ‘foot inspection’, he said there particularly needed to be a review of the Holstein’s claw length, back up to 9cm.

“We don’t necessarily need trained foot trimmers on every farm but we’d like to think every farm should have a foot first-aider who could sort out problems – for example, by putting on a block or giving a painkilling injection – before the professional came along,” said Mr Reader. “Now, things are often left for too long.”

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***DF Nov p66 DS Old Mill _Layout 1 20/10/2015 13:19 Page 1

DAIRY SHOW REPORT

Margin set to tumble despite drop in costs

D

airy farmers must understand all cost aspects of their business in order to see where change is needed.

According to a joint Old Mill/Farm Consultancy Group study of around 70 dairy farmers in the Wessex region, it was found there was a substantial difference between the top and bottom 25% of producers in the 2014/5 year when most producers showed a reasonably healthy profit.

Gerard Finnan, Farm Consultancy Group partner, said in 2014/15 the bottom

quartile received 2.13p/litre less for their milk and made a loss of 1.55ppl against a profit of 10.1ppl for the top quartile.

“The bottom 25% of farmers’ costs of production were also 8.05ppl higher, so unless they can dramatically reduce expenditure the outlook for 2015/16 is pretty concerning.”

JG Shepherd Animal Health has launched a mobile milk pasteuriser which doubles up as a delivery vehicle and dispenses milk to calves.

From Dairy Tech Inc, USA, the Milk Wagon comes with an electric drive or is mountable on a trailer.

With capacity options of 200 or 300 litres, the electric version will operate for up to three hours without charge.

The wagon comprises two parts – a wall-mounted water and power supply panel which delivers water for both heating and cooling the milk or colostrum, and the pasteuriser itself which connects to the panel to operate and disconnects to dispense.

The price of the 300-litre electric model is £9000 and the smaller model is £8300.

Either size of the mountable model costs £500 less.

Power and machinery Mr Finnan said producers in the bottom quartile needed to look closely at power and machinery costs, which cost them 9.51ppl compared to 6.39ppl for the top 25%. Purchased feed at

Mobile milk pasteuriser doubles as delivery vehicle

66

DAIRY FARMER

NOVEMBER 2015

9.91ppl and variable costs at 7.01ppl were both also considerably higher than the 7.65ppl and 5.42ppl for the top quartile.

Andrew Vickery, head of rural services at Old Mill, believed some producers simply had too much machinery on the farm.

He said: “There is definitely an issue here of farms being over equipped and having perhaps three tractors when one would do.”

With the report showing dairy farmers were due to lose an average of 2.75ppl in 2015/6 before accounting for non-milk income, Mr Vickery said cash flow was

becoming an issue for many producers.

The report found on average, farmgate milk prices across the sample were projected to fall by 7.01ppl to 24.83ppl in 2015/6. However, costs of production were likely to drop by 3.71ppl due to lower feed prices and a cutback in expenditure on repairs.

As a result, farm profits were likely to fall from 4.35ppl in 2014/5 to 0.85ppl, including non-milk income and inputed labour of £20,000 per person for unpaid workers, but excluding rent, interest charges, drawings and tax.

***DF Nov p67 DS Limagrain _Layout 1 20/10/2015 13:24 Page 1

REPORT DAIRY SHOW

More milk from maize

S

electing maize varieties which have been proven to deliver higher feed value can increase milk yield potential by more than 5000 litres per hectare for a negligible increase in growing costs.

Speaking at the Dairy Show, Tim Richmond from Limagrain said the BSPBNIAB recommended varieties list contains more than 50 maize varieties, and once farmers have shortlisted ones with suitable agronomic features and maturity

dates, the aim must be to select the variety with the greatest milk production potential.

“Most growers will plant around 80% of their maize area with varieties they have grown before and just 20% with new varieties, meaning they aren’t making full use of the new varieties that have been developed.”

Mr Richmond said the total energy content of a variety on the BSPB-NIAB List, expressed in ME, ranges from 11.0-11.7MJ/kg DM. He said this meant the

highest energy yielding varieties on the list would produce around 27,000MJ/ha more than the lowest variety. With each litre of milk requiring 5.3MJ, that is a difference of 5280 litres per hectare.

Feed potential “To supply the potential extra energy via purchased feed would require around 2.5 tonnes of dairy compound to be fed per hectare of maize grown. For a farmer growing 20 hectares of maize, this is a feed sav-

ing of around £12,500.”

To help growers select varieties with the highest milk potential, Limagrain introduced the Limagrain Animal Nutrition (LGAN) accreditation scheme, which is an assurance the variety selected will deliver higher yields of digestible energy leading to increased feed intakes and better production.

“To achieve LGAN status, the variety’s performance must be outstanding compared with average varieties that have been on the List at least four years,” he said.

Optimise the Rumen. Optimise Performance.

Creating the perfect rumen environment is essential to driving herd performance.

Acid Buf, with its unique honeycomb structure, is a highly efficient buffer that breaks down slowly, ensuring an optimum rumen pH over a longer time period.

Feeding Acid Buf can: Increase milk yield Improve feed efficiency Improve milk components Reduce the risk of SARA and acidosis Provide a source of bio-available calcium and magnesium.

Contact AB Vista for more information: 048 9447 3478 (ROI) 028 9447 3478 (UK) www.abvista.com

NOVEMBER 2015

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TEEMORE ENGINEERING LT LTD D LIVESTOCK LIVESTOCK HOUSING SPECIALISTS

Calf Hutches - Deluxe SL Calf Hutch & Group Calf Hutch Moulded frrom om heavy gauge plastic Completely opaque Left or right side door Top o sliding s roof vent Rear door for bedding purposes and ventilation Stay open side door locks in place when opened calf hutch with detachable pen

rear doors

For a full brochure call: 028 6774 8 8377 www.teemoreengineering.com www.teemoreengineering.com

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NOVEMBER 2015

MILK PRICES

MILK prices

Further details on monthly payments

JFirst Milk has confirmed its Tesco winter cheese supplement (29.93ppl on all litres supplied to make its own label British cheddar to February 28, 2016) is to be paid out to Haverfordwest suppliers only from September, and this will be at a flat 1.54ppl paid on all ‘A’ litres.

The additional money takes our liquid standard price* up from 19.37ppl to 20.91ppl. Our manufacturing standard litre* price therefore also rises by the same amount due to the flat rate element taking our price up from 19.88ppl to 21.42ppl.

South Caernarfon has confirmed that from the Tesco supplement it will pay all SCC members a fixed supplement of 2.5ppl for the three-month period September to November. However, as the company’s three-year supply agreement with Tesco through Adams Foods finishes at the end of the year, the final December payment will be adjusted to reflect the actual payments received from Tesco for the

whole four month period.

After having paid 0.595ppl to its direct suppliers on standard non-aligned contracts for August, Muller Wiseman has confirmed its monthly supplement will increase to 1.621ppl for September.

Dairy Crest, who has committed to DCD to pass on all supplement money in full once received from customer price guarantees with Morrisons and Lidl, has indicated its estimated supplement payout for October will be 0.39ppl and 0.65ppl for November.

Holding its standard liquid price unchanged for November, the company has reduced its Davidstow price by 1.5ppl after 8mths of price stability (including a 0.25ppl increase from Aug’15).

The decrease takes our liquid standard Davidstow price down to 23.84ppl and our manufacturing standard litre down to 24.92ppl, both prices based on the 12mth rolling profile payment fixed at 1.15ppl.

***DF Nov p68 69 70 Milk Prices _Layout 1 22/10/2015 10:08 Page 2

Milk price analyst Stephen Bradley on the latest milk industry developments.

News in brief...

Retailer milk price cuts

JSainsbury’s reduced its SDDG milk price by 0.05ppl to 30.82ppl from Oct’15 following Kite’s annual round of data collection from the SDDG milk pool.

This decrease takes the SDDG price reduction for 2015 down by a total of 1.59ppl, and our liquid standard litre down to 30.82ppl for our MullerWiseman SDDG supplier which, as with the other SDDG prices, includes obtaining an average 0.35ppl for welfare and environment.

Our Arla producer receives the same level of decrease taking the price down to 30.70ppl after including the company’s 0.12ppl haulage charge, while our Dairy Crest price (taking into account the rolling 12-month profile payment at 1.15ppl) also moves lower by 0.05ppl to 30.76ppl.

From November, Tesco has reduced its TSDG price by 0.35ppl as a result of its Promar ‘Cost Tracker’ decline to

30.08ppl for the six-month period to Mar’16. This now puts the total price cut for 2015 at 1.43ppl. The reduction takes our liquid standard litre down to 30.58ppl which includes the 0.5ppl premium for those TSDG producers submitting their cost data into the tracker. (Note: For Arla Tesco producers not signed up to AMCo, the price is before the company’s £6.75/stop haulage charge which calculates as 0.25ppl deduction on the basis of EDC and therefore reduces our price to 30.33ppl).

Dairy Crest M&S suppliers have had their milk price cut by 1.469ppl as a result of changes to the feed, fertiliser and energy indices. The reduction in base price takes our liquid standard price down to 31.33ppl. The MWD Co-operative Dairy Group (CDG) price is to reduce by 0.31ppl taking our liquid price down to 28.01ppl.

* Our Liquid standard litre is 4%b/f & 3.3% protein. Our Manufacturing is 4.2%b/f & 3.4% protein. In both cases it is for Bactoscans of 30,000/ml & SCCs of 200,000/ml, 1mltrs/yr on EODC but before B pricing, balancing, seasonality, monthly profile payments, capital deductions or annual / part annual growth incentive schemes not directly linked to dairy market price movement.

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MILK PRICES Latest milk prices from

LIQUID PRICES (4% b/f & 3.3% prot) MüllerWiseman – Booths D.C – M&S ∞ D.C – Waitrose ∞ MWD – Tesco Arla Foods – Tesco MWD – Sainsbury's D.C – Sainsbury's Arla Foods – Sainsbury's •• MWD – The Co-op Dairy Group DC/DCD – Liquid Formula ∞ ¶ DC/DCD – Formula Simplified Liquid Crediton Dairy Blackmore Vale Farm Cream Arla Foods – AMCo Tesco•• Grahams Dairies Yew Tree Dairy Arla Foods – AMCo Liquid Arla Milk Link – Liquid Freshways Dale Farm GB (Kendal) MWD – Standard D.C – Standard Liquid ∞ Arla Foods – Direct Liquid Paynes Farms Dairies Pensworth Dairy Meadow Foods Lakes Meadow Foods First Milk – Northern England Balancing First Milk – Scottish Mainland Balancing First Milk – Midlands & East Wales Balancing Dale Farm NI ≠ Simple Average

MANUFACTURING PRICES (4.2% b/f & 3.4% prot) Parkham Farms Cadbury – Selkley Vale Milk D.C – Davidstow ∞ Barber A.J & R.G Wensleydale Dairy Products Arla Foods – AMCo Manufacturing Arla Milk Link – Manufacturing The Fresh Milk Company – Level Profile ‡ The Fresh Milk Company (Lactalis) Belton Cheese Glanbia – Llangefni (Constituent) Wyke Farms Arla Foods – Direct Manufacturing Glanbia – Llangefni (flat) South Caernarfon MüllerWiseman – AMPE/MCVE Formula First Milk – Lake District Solids First Milk – Haverfordwest Simple Average

'B' Price Indicators FCStone/Milkprices.com AMPE Futures (gross) FCStone/Milkprices.com AMPE Futures (net) Delivered spot milk (net to the producer)

Jun'15 4.0/3.3 Before Seas'lty

Jul'15 4.0/3.3 Before Seas'lty

12mth Ave Aug'14 Jul'15

Diff Jul'15 v Jun'15

Latest Confirmed Milk Price

(i) 34.50 32.79 32.48 30.93 30.68 30.98 30.92 30.86 28.69 28.69 28.62 26.36 25.00 25.69 25.25 25.00 24.99 24.99 24.15 24.14 24.15 23.09 22.00 23.20 23.40 21.00 21.00 20.50 20.30 19.30 20.94 25.95

(ii) 33.00 32.79 31.98 30.93 30.68 30.87 30.81 30.75 28.69 28.03 27.96 26.36 25.00 24.51 23.75 24.50 23.81 23.81 23.87 23.89 24.15 23.09 22.00 21.70 23.40 21.00 21.00 19.50 19.30 18.60 19.69 25.46

(iii) 34.63 34.00 33.48 32.31 32.10 31.83 31.76 31.71 30.44 29.70 29.63 28.94 27.48 27.44 27.04 26.77 26.74 26.74 26.72 26.52 26.45 25.79 25.72 24.84 24.76 24.68 24.65 23.31 22.78 22.64 22.57 27.88

(i) v (ii) -1.50 N/C -0.50 N/C N/C -0.11 -0.11 -0.11 N/C -0.66 -0.66 N/C N/C -1.18 -1.50 -0.50 -1.18 -1.19 -0.28 -0.25 N/C N/C N/C -1.50 N/C N/C N/C -1.00 -1.00 -0.70 -1.25

(iv) N/C 31.33 N/C 30.58 30.33 30.82 30.76 30.70 28.01 26.79 26.72 25.36 N/C 23.74 N/C 23.75 23.04 23.04 22.14 23.14 22.35 21.69 20.15 21.20 21.40 19.00 19.00 18.80 18.60 17.90 19.34

32.21 29.30 26.17 26.59 26.07 25.98 25.94 23.34 22.77 24.90 24.71 23.85 22.72 24.40 23.57 21.00 22.00 21.74 24.85

32.21 28.58 26.17 25.56 25.57 24.74 24.71 23.34 22.77 24.90 23.94 23.85 22.72 23.65 23.57 20.59 20.96 20.71 24.36

33.67 31.35 28.88 28.55 28.12 27.80 27.70 27.60 27.03 26.97 26.86 26.78 26.58 26.49 25.60 25.42 24.42 24.37 27.45

N/C -0.72 N/C -1.03 -0.50 -1.23 -1.22 N/C N/C N/C -0.77 N/C N/C -0.75 N/C -0.41 -1.04 -1.03

31.86 27.66 24.92 24.01 24.82 23.94 23.91 22.31 21.74 23.75 21.88 N/C 20.79 21.65 22.53 18.24 19.40 20.91

17.69 14.80 12.69

16.54 13.72 12.95

20.54 17.51

-1.15 -1.08 0.26

Notes to table Prices for both Liquid & Manufacturing tables paid for producer sending 1mltrs/yr on EODC with Bactoscans of 30,000/ml and SCCs of 200,000/ml. Prices exclude capital retentions or AHDB levies, seasonality and balancing schemes. Excludes annual / part annual growth incentive schemes not directly linked to dairy market price movement.

Liquid price for milk containing 4% b/f and 3.3% protein. Manufacturing price for milk containing 4.2%/b/f and 3.4% prot. (i) Jun’15 prices before seasonality or B pricing. (ii) Jul'15 prices before seasonality or B pricing. (iii) Table ranked on simple rolling 12mth average of monthly prices before seasonality or B pricing. (iv) Latest confirmed milk price (before seasonality or B pricing) at the time of going to press. Arla AMCo prices cut 1.18ppl from 6th July include amba forecast 13th payment +0.78ppl and before Jul'15 b/f reconciliation of -0.01ppl. Arla Milk Link prices cut 1.18ppl from 6th July include amba forecast 13th payment +0.78ppl. Pensworth Dairy, ranking price based on the 10mths to Jul’15. Grahams price reduced by 1.5ppl from 15th July. ∞ Price includes 12mth rolling profile payment fixed at 1.15ppl. ∞^ Price before seasonality includes 12mth rolling profile payment fixed at 0.52ppl. ‡ Price includes 12mth average rolling profile fixed at 0.57ppl. DC/DCD & MWD Formula prices assume 100% of producer supply.

AMPE Futures net to producer includes 5% processor margin while allowing 2ppl for ex-farm haulage & milk testing. Average delivered spot milk price net to producer allows an average 2.5ppl covering haulage from farm to customer + milk testing, admin and margin. Tesco milk prices include the 0.5ppl bonus for co-operation with Promar costings.

Milkprices.com cannot take any responsibility for losses arising. Copyright: Milkprices.com

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DAIRY FARMER

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DAIRY MARKETPLACE

NEW products

Cordless clipper set

JQuiet, powerful, cordless clippers like the Aesculap Econom CL are low on vibration and allow easy access to difficult to reach places without leads snagging.

Featuring the same clipping head as the Econom II, but powered by new technology with Lithium-ion batteries, running time is about 80 minutes.

Aesculap’s Econom CL GT804G comes complete with a two-year warranty, the clippers, charger, one Liion battery, upper blade, lower blade, a solid plastic carry case, a supply of Aesculap oil, a screwdriver and instruction manual. The GT806G set contains two Liion batteries. RRP from £399 plus VAT. ■ Details on 01759 368 588, visit www.showtimesupplies.co.uk

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DAIRY FARMER

This month, we feature the R Series front loader from John Deere and a new mixer wagon from Kuhn.

New generation of front loader from John Deere

he new generation R Series front loaders from John Deere features higher payloads and increased versatility – as well as being easy to attach and remove and provide smooth, fast and precise handling.

They are designed for Stage 4 JD tractors, but are still compatible with older Stage 3A and Stage 3B models. Particularly aimed at livestock customers, the loaders will replace the current H Series models for use with mid-size tractors.

With curved booms and enhanced side and front

visibility, they include optimal positioning of the loader lights for better integration with the tractor design.

The new loaders are also engineered to cope with full front axle oscillation, maximum steering angles, as well as fenders and large wheels.

Available from November, the loaders feature a

new Z-Kinematic design with relocated pivoting points on the boom and an increased roll-back angle to provide up to 10% higher lift capacity.

There is a choice of levelling options from a non selflevelling version to a full mechanical or hydraulic self-levelling system.

■ Details 01949 860 491, or www.JohnDeere.co.uk

JDairy farmers could boost use of cost effective homegrown cereals in cow diets by as much as 40% with two new alkalising feed options from FiveF Alka.

The new Alkablend feeds incorporate the Alkagrain

150 Protein Premix at 20%, allowing approved blenders to produce a range of bespoke feeds.

High specification Alkanut® ranges are manufactured pelleted feeds ready to use straight off the truck.

This is a powerful alkalising feed option and will be particularly useful for automated feeding systems, such as through milking parlours, robots and out-ofparlour feeders.

■ Details at www.fivefllp.com

T

Alkalising feed options to boost cow diets

NOVEMBER 2015

***DF Nov p72 73 New Prods_Layout 1 23/10/2015 11:50 Page 2

Larger capacity milk bar feeder

JDairy Spares is launching a redesigned version of the single teat Milk Bar feeder.

It now has a larger capacity of 3.4 litres, and an extra hook so it can be hung securely from any size of rail.

The new single teat feeder costs £25.95 plus VAT. ■ Details on 01948 667 676.

GOT W A NE UCT? PROD

DAIRY MARKETPLACE

New mixer wagon range

JKuhn Farm Machinery’s Profile 70 Series mixer wagon range benefits from a number of key features including low loading height, reduced external width at the wheels, a wide variety of feeding-out options and electronic weighing as standard.

Two independent vertical augers accurately and quickly mix a range of feedstuffs, with adjustable counter-knives giving the ability to cut fibrous material to a pre-determined

length. The small diameter augers reduce the power requirement, with the 12cu m Profile 1270 compatible with 75hp tractors.

The range starts at £31,615 for the 1270 model, rising to £37,361 for the 20cu m 2070.

■ Details on 01952 239 300.

Additions to X7 Series

JA simple to use continuously variable transmission features in new additions to the McCormick X7 Series, bringing the benefits of seamless acceleration, precise speed control and intelligent powertrain management to deliver improved productivity and fuel economy.

Five models are available – three, four-cylinder tractors, and a pair of six-cylinder machines.

■ Details on 01302 757 550.

New products are featured in each issue of Dairy Farmer. Please send details and pictures to Jennifer MacKenzie at mail@jennifermackenzie.co.uk, or call 01768 896 150.

NOVEMBER 2015

DAIRY FARMER

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WORKSHOP TIPS

WORKSHOP tips with Mike Donovan

This month, Mike Donovan tells us of the benefits of zero till for grassland.

Min-till has a lot to offer

A

recent visit to In year two, the grass mat Will Scale, has rotted to become a who grows fertile absorbent top layer both grass with good surface drainage. and arable Will sees the method as crops in West Wales, being particularly useful for demonstrated the benefit of grassland farmers who drilling directly into a longwant to add an arable established grass rotation, and a direct sward sprayed drill such as his with glyphosate.

John Deere d n la s Will direct 750 can be s gra prove ing seed m I r s by us drills a pioneer shared or lude soil ich inc ve h w s crop of beans owned by a e a mixtur ies which h s it c f e e into the grass local contractor sp d ben define turf and then and be used for drills wheat the cereals, beans, following year, and keeps maize, rape and grass seed. establishment costs to a Farmers see the main fraction of those incurred benefits of this approach as when ploughing and saving fuel and time, but all cultivating. the 20-plus zero-tillers I

P TOP TI

Wheat being drilled into a sprayed-off cover crop in West Wales, and markers have to be used because of the unreliable GPS signal.

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NOVEMBER 2015

The 1996 750 box hopper drill can be quickly attached for work.

have visited talk about improvement in soil quality and reduced erosion. The spade goes into the soil easier and there is more humus and friable material on the surface.

The next challenge is to improve grassland soils by using seed mixtures which include species which have specific benefits, preferably for the grazing animal as well.

Zero-tillers talk about the benefits of cover crop diversity – the wider the mix the greater the benefit.

Maybe the same can apply to grassland. Not only vetches but forage radish and other plants which could benefit the soil might well be found to provide benefits to grassland which are cheaper and more

effective than the traditional reseed.

Soil is an amazingly complex material, and the more we know about it the better we can get it to perform.

This means moving farmers’ understanding from one connected only with chemicals to one that includes the millions of microbes and other matter which are the essential driving force of soil.

■ Mike Donovan’s Practical Farm Ideas has a section on soil structure and cover crops.

About Mike

r Mike is a machinery columnist offering tips on building or modifying farm equipment. Sign up for his free newsletter at www.farmideas.co.uk

BLANK PAGES_DF_12_P43 20/10/2015 18:03 Page 2

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DAIRY FARMER

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GOOD EVANS

GOOD Evans

He told me just where I could stick my cow bell Cow bells, rocket propelled stones and divorce are just some of the heady mix in Roger Evans’ report this month.

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DAIRY FARMER

P

eople seem very taken with the idea of the milk jug that I had been given, and which I mentioned last time with dead cows and live badgers on it.

If you want one, get in touch with Priscilla Kennedy on 01584 861 692. They are hand painted so they are £30 apiece.

The lady has said she will make a donation to a dairy farmer’s good cause. I’ve suggested Farmers For Action, and I can’t think of a better place to put it. So get one for Christmas.

It’s a bit ago now and by the time you read this it will be even longer, but a few weeks ago the Farmers Guardian carried a picture of farmers on the continent blowing straw over a line of policemen. At first sight it was very amusing, getting straw down your policeman’s uniform would be very uncomfortable, especially if it contained barley piles, but when I paused to think about it I wasn’t so sure.

The straw chopper was the same make as ours but I hope the straw was very different! When we are blowing straw, which we do at quite regular intervals, stones come through. That’s why there are elements of our Yorkshire boarding loose and why some of the boards have holes in them. That’s why the cattle all go down to

NOVEMBER 2015

the other end of the shed when you are giving them some clean straw. If I was a continental policeman I wouldn’t want barley piles down the collar of a hot uniform, and neither would I want a rocket-propelled pebble in my face.

Many, many years ago we crossed a Jersey cow we had with a Brown Swiss.

The heifer she produced looked so like a real Brown Swiss that I wrote somewhere all that was missing to make her complete was an Alpine cow bell. So a reader sent me one. And the bell has been on various Brown Swiss crosses ever since.

Not only has it been on various cattle, but the animals wearing the bell have been in various fields. Its sound carries a very long way, which is what it was designed for. It’s rarely quiet and rings out even when the 'owner' is ruminating. And it’s accumulating stories.

The first story was when we first put it on and a friend was fetching the cows in one morning for us. It was one of those dark, misty mornings like we are having now, but he hadn’t bothered to take a torch.

He heard this bell coming slowly up the field towards him and thought the grim reaper was about to gather him up.

The bell next went on an in-calf heifer and her group were on some grass keep

***DF Nov p78 79 Good Evans_Layout 1 20/10/2015 17:32 Page 2

GOOD EVANS

He left me in no doubt about where the bell would end up if I didn’t remove it from the heifer

“

adjoining a village. The heifers always lay down at night near some cottages. A man phoned up late one night wanting to fight me and left me in no doubt about where the bell would end up if I didn’t remove it from the heifer.

It’s now on a pure Brown Swiss heifer I bought and, once again, as she’s dry, it’s in a different field. The game keeper feeds his pheasants in the dark before he goes to his full-time job. He told me he could hear this bell coming down the field and couldn’t think what the hell it was. It frightened him so much he got his shotgun off his mule just in case.

A few days later we moved these cattle to a fresh field. Another neighbour stopped David on the road and asked him if we had one of those water pumps that cattle operate themselves so they can drink out of a stream without getting in to the stream. (Very popular these pumps round here at present, in fresh water mussel country). David said, no, we hadn’t.

“Well something is clanging down your fields,” he said.

A vet friend of mine bought his grandsons to watch the milking.

“Granddad, why has the farmer got one cow with a bell on it?” “Because he’s a very eccentric farmer.”

A group of dairy farmers wives were having a good moan about the bad deal life had dealt them. The complainants were numerous and various. “We’ve never got any money.” “I never have any new clothes.” “If I go shopping I have to go in that stinking Land Rover.” “He calls it a new kitchen but his mother put it out 50 years ago.”

Others went on with “I have to do all the scraping.” “I have to rear all the calves.” “I have to do all the milking.”

“My mother thinks he’s wonderful but she hasn’t seen his dirty clothes.” And so on and it gradually gathered a sort of momentum, a sort of unity of purpose.

They decided enough was enough, they were going to leave their respective husbands and file for divorce.

Then one wife who hadn’t spoken thus far made her contribution. “It’s too late, we should have all gone two years ago when the milk price was good and they had some money.” “We’ll have to stick it out now until milk prices get better!”

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***DF Nov p80 Finance_Layout 1 20/10/2015 18:10 Page 1

FINANCE

Greater flexibility over pension rules could help dairy farmers to supplement their income during the current downturn. Stuart Coombe, from accountants Old Mill, explains.

Pension flexibility could offer lifeline It is important to look at all your financial options and assets, and have a robust budget and cash flow forecast

“

D

airy farmers facing a temporary downturn in profitability could benefit from greater flexibility over pension rules by supplementing their income from their pension fund.

Although not a long-term solution to unprofitable businesses, farmers over the age of 55 could use their pension to see them through a difficult period. Recent changes to pension rules mean they are much more flexible to use now. From the qualifying age farmers can take as much or as little from their pension fund as they like.

Farmers can take a 25% lump sum tax free, after which drawings will be subject to

Expert opinion rOther changes to the pension regulations mean farmers can now pass on their pension fund to the next generation tax free.

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Income Tax at the usual rates. Be aware once you have started drawing from your pension, you can then only top up £10,000 a year tax-free compared to the usual maximum of £40,000.

Having a pension is all about saving for retirement, so taking money early should not be done lightly. It is important to look at all your financial options and assets, and have a robust budget and cash flow forecast so you know you are not pouring good money after bad.

Another change means farmers can now pass on their pension fund to the next generation tax free.

Pension funds used to be taxed at 55%, so that is a huge saving. It’s particularly useful where farmers have put land and other assets into a self-invested personal pension. In the past they were difficult to pass on but now it’s a lot easier to plan ahead for inheritance.

Assets can effectively remain in the pension fund indefinitely. If the pension holder dies before the age of 75 the fund is passed on tax free, and all subsequent drawings from it will also be tax free. However, if they die after the age of 75, while

the transfer is tax free, any subsequent drawings will be subject to Income Tax. The fund effectively becomes the successor’s pension but they don’t have to wait until retirement to draw from it.

However, many of the new benefits do not apply automatically, so it’s essential you are proactive and fill out a nomination form, identifying who you want to inherit your pension after your death.

Other changes mean you can cash in existing annuities for a lump sum, and can choose whether to keep funds invested or use them to purchase an annuity to take a guaranteed payment for life.

Annuities cannot be passed down the generations in the same way as a lump sum, but don’t rush to cash in your pension as many older schemes have extremely attractive annuity rates of up to 15% a year.

You won’t get that sort of return anywhere else, so be careful – make sure you understand the full implications before making any changes.

■ For more information, contact Stuart Coombe on 01392 351 301.

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Reference: 1. Meadows (2010) Cattle Practice 18(3): 202-215 Advice on the use of Bovela or other therapies should be sought from your veterinary surgeon. Bovela lyophilisate and solvent for suspension for injection for cattle contains modified live BVDV-1, non-cytopathic parent strain KE-9: 104.0 –106.0 TCID50, Modified live BVDV-2, non-cytopathic parent strain NY-93: 104.0 –106.0 TCID50. UK: POM-V IE: POM. Further information available from Boehringer Ingelheim Limited, Vetmedica, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YS, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1344 746959. Technical enquiries: +44 (0)1344 746957. Email: vetmedica.uk@boehringer-ingelheim.com.

Date of preparation: Feb 2015. AHD8395. Use Medicines Responsibly (www.noah.co.uk/responsible)

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