The recent base change by ICBF has changed the EBI and the PTA for every animal in the country, with all EBIs dropping by €71. This is because the base herd against which all animals are compared has changed, moving from cows born in 1995 to cows born in 2005. Because the cows born in 2005 had a higher EBI than the cows born in 1995, the EBI of today’s animals has reduced because the relative difference is less. And because the cows born in 2005 also produced more milk and had better fertility than cows in 1995, the PTA (predicted transmitting ability for milk volume, fat, protein and fertility) has changed also and farmers are now seeing animals with minus figures for kg of milk. The important thing to remember when buying animals, selecting animals for sale or picking bulls for next year is that a minus for milk volume is not a bad thing. It just means that the animal has a lower PTA for milk volume than the base herd at 5,743kg of milk in their first lactation. The milk volume figure can be ignored, because this only relates to the water content of the milk – it is kg and percentage of fat and protein that is important when looking at genetics for production. To get high production you must target fertility (long lactations over multiple years) and high fat and protein. Your best animals will have the highest EBI and many of these may well have a negative for milk volume but don’t worry about that.
Herd Health:
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Cows dosed at drying off for fluke with a dose that treats adult fluke only will be needing their second dose around now. Some farmers on heavy land or with a history of rumen fluke will dose for rumen fluke now. Watch out for lice on cows housed. Symptoms include hair loss and irritation and result in a reduction in animal performance. All animals should be treated with a pour-on on the one day. Now is the time to be thinking about giving the rotavirus vaccine. This should be given between three and 12 weeks before calving. Some farmers only give it to the later-calving cows because they say they only get problems towards the end of calving. Whatever you do, it’s only effective if the calf gets enough colostrum as it’s through colostrum that the immunity is passed. No vaccine is a substitute for good hygiene, but no amount of vaccines or cleaning will make up for insufficient or poor-quality colostrum. Some farmers are buying colostrometers and refractometers to test colostrum quality before feeding to calves. Other jobs for this time of year include clipping tails and freeze-branding maiden heifers.
New Year:
Most dairy farmers will be glad to see 2016 come to an end and will look forward to 2017 with renewed optimism. Hopefully, milk prices will rise but there are threats on the horizon. Overall, I think the industry can be proud of how we handled the low milk prices of 2015/2016, being one of the few countries in the world to increase output and not increase overall debt levels in the process. Best of luck for 2017 and never forget it’s all about converting grass to cash at low cost – everything else is a distraction.
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Breeding stock:
The recent base change by ICBF has changed the EBI and the PTA for every animal in the country, with all EBIs dropping by €71. This is because the base herd against which all animals are compared has changed, moving from cows born in 1995 to cows born in 2005. Because the cows born in 2005 had a higher EBI than the cows born in 1995, the EBI of today’s animals has reduced because the relative difference is less. And because the cows born in 2005 also produced more milk and had better fertility than cows in 1995, the PTA (predicted transmitting ability for milk volume, fat, protein and fertility) has changed also and farmers are now seeing animals with minus figures for kg of milk. The important thing to remember when buying animals, selecting animals for sale or picking bulls for next year is that a minus for milk volume is not a bad thing. It just means that the animal has a lower PTA for milk volume than the base herd at 5,743kg of milk in their first lactation. The milk volume figure can be ignored, because this only relates to the water content of the milk – it is kg and percentage of fat and protein that is important when looking at genetics for production. To get high production you must target fertility (long lactations over multiple years) and high fat and protein. Your best animals will have the highest EBI and many of these may well have a negative for milk volume but don’t worry about that.
Herd Health:
Cows dosed at drying off for fluke with a dose that treats adult fluke only will be needing their second dose around now. Some farmers on heavy land or with a history of rumen fluke will dose for rumen fluke now. Watch out for lice on cows housed. Symptoms include hair loss and irritation and result in a reduction in animal performance. All animals should be treated with a pour-on on the one day. Now is the time to be thinking about giving the rotavirus vaccine. This should be given between three and 12 weeks before calving. Some farmers only give it to the later-calving cows because they say they only get problems towards the end of calving. Whatever you do, it’s only effective if the calf gets enough colostrum as it’s through colostrum that the immunity is passed. No vaccine is a substitute for good hygiene, but no amount of vaccines or cleaning will make up for insufficient or poor-quality colostrum. Some farmers are buying colostrometers and refractometers to test colostrum quality before feeding to calves. Other jobs for this time of year include clipping tails and freeze-branding maiden heifers.
New Year:
Most dairy farmers will be glad to see 2016 come to an end and will look forward to 2017 with renewed optimism. Hopefully, milk prices will rise but there are threats on the horizon. Overall, I think the industry can be proud of how we handled the low milk prices of 2015/2016, being one of the few countries in the world to increase output and not increase overall debt levels in the process. Best of luck for 2017 and never forget it’s all about converting grass to cash at low cost – everything else is a distraction.
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