Pregnancy loss: It’s that time of year again when we see some premature calves. While there will always be some of this taking place in herds, it’s important to investigate everything. Often I hear farmers saying “she got a hurt” but really these cases should be investigated further. Cows should be isolated and foetuses sent to your nearest regional veterinary laboratory for a diagnosis. We had a case on Tullamore Farm two weeks ago and results came back inconclusive. It’s peace of mind if nothing else that nothing bigger is going on in the herd.

Neosporosis is one of the top three causes of late-term abortion in cows in Ireland, together with salmonellosis and leptospirosis. The neospora parasite has a strong connection to canines – dogs and foxes. Cows and heifers can abort at any stage of gestation, but most abortions occur after five months. Abortion is not generally associated with retained placenta or sickness. A characteristic of neospora infection, however, is the higher incidence of repeat abortions in cows exposed to the disease – a cow infected with neospora is nine times more likely to abort than a non-infected cow. Control of neospora-induced abortion in cattle depends on protecting feed and water from contamination by the faeces of dogs or foxes. Dogs should not be allowed to eat aborted foetuses or placentae.

Johne’s disease: Johne’s disease can have a severe economic impact on farms where a number of animals become infected. Animals can become infected in two ways – through ingesting dung, or being fed infected colostrum or milk. As the disease progresses in the dam, calves can become infected in the womb. The problem is an animal may test negative for the disease and by the time she develops signs she may well have other animals in the herd infected.

Bringing in colostrum from another farm of unknown Johne’s status is high-risk. If possible you should freeze surplus colostrum from your own cows of known Johne’s status. Feeding milk from other farms is high-risk. Testing animals before purchase is unreliable. The only way to control Johne’s on your farm is to protect young calves from exposure to colostrum, dung or milk, and reduce shedding by removing infectious animals identified by repeated individual testing. For more detailed information on Johne’s disease visit www.animalhealthireland.ie.

Phone a farmer in February: It’s a dull and dreary time of year, the dark before the dawn of spring. COVID-19 has meant it’s been even more difficult, especially for people living on their own. No marts, no mass, no pubs, no events have meant there is no weekly social outing.

Declan Marren got a huge reaction from his “phone a farmer” article last weekend and it’s something we should all try and do in the next few weeks. Lift the phone, have the chat, talk to someone about anything. That little bit of contact could mean more than you know to someone.