Fog Fever: I have heard of a couple of cases of fog fever in the past week, both occurring in the southwestern region of the country. Fog fever is basically pneumonia in adult cattle. It is not a common problem for herd owners, but autumn is the period of increased risk. It occurs when cattle have been grazing a high dry matter diet for a prolonged period of time and the rumen becomes accustomed to this type of feed. Fog fever is triggered when cattle are then moved to lush grass with a lower dry matter and the animal’s metabolism is affected. The symptoms will usually be displayed around one week after the change. In recent weeks, cattle would have been moved onto high-quality grass on silage aftermath, or lush regrowth in paddocks after grazing strong swards with plenty of fibre. Grass dry matter is declining as day length decreases, especially with the effect of dew on grazed grass in the morning. The symptoms of fog fever are laboured breathing and high respiration rates. In severe cases, cattle will have discharge from the nose, coughing and froth around the mouth. The end result is sudden death. Treatment options are limited, but cattle with mild cases usually recover. The important thing to remember is that if you suspect cattle may be suffering from fog fever, do not be placing the animal under stress by poor herd management. Keeping affected cattle settled is crucial. Bring cattle into pens slowly and calmly, to prevent further breathing problems. Prevention is the best cure, so when moving cattle from strong covers to short swards, limit cattle intake by strip grazing for a few days.

Pneumonia: Where spring-born weanlings are being vaccinated against pneumonia with a two-shot programme, the second shot will be due now if they were vaccinated in late August to early September. This should give two to three weeks for a proper immune response to develop and cover the calf against pneumonia, PI3 and RSV, ahead of weaning.

Grazing rented land: There are strong grass covers on many farms across the country. Getting this grass utilised fully is essential to maintaining performance. It is important that heavy covers are grazed off before closing up for the winter. Farmers grazing cattle on rented ground have little over a month to have grass cleaned off before the annual lease expires. In some cases, land owners will allow producers to graze on if ground conditions allow. On heavier rented land, if the weather turns wet the grazing season could end in a few weeks. In general, concentrate on getting rented ground grazed off this month as it is unlikely that you will have the rented land available for an early turnout in February or early March. You have paid to grow the grass with fertilizer, so make sure to get the full benefit of it now.

Winter Feed: This week’s Focus supplement features winter feed management of cows, weanlings and finishing cattle. It also looks at ration formulation, which is important for finishers given the drop in meal prices. Knowing the value of straights can help to reduce winter feed costs, which can in turn make or break winter finishing.