COVID-19

Have you a contingency plan in place in the event that you or key members of the farm team cannot work due to illness or the need to self-isolate? The next few weeks will see more cases of COVID-19 on farms, so everyone should be thinking about what they will do in the unfortunate event that the virus visits their farm.

Due to the nature of the virus, family labour may be less dependable than normal, as a number of family members may be sick at the one time. Farmers should consider entering into a pact with a good friend who will look after things during the days that you may be unable to work and vice versa. Remember, the virus spreads in droplets which can survive on surfaces so wear appropriate PPE, practice good hand hygiene and stay at least 2m away from other people at all times, whether on your farm or someone else’s.

Tasks will need to be prioritised in the event of an illness. Are there written instructions for starting the milking machine and washing up? Keep things simple and eliminate steps if possible. The same applies to calf feeding. Everything should be simplified as much as possible. Keep up to date on routine jobs such as fertiliser spreading and fencing so if you or staff members are out of action for a period the farm will be able to operate reasonably well.

Once a day (OAD) milking and calf feeding should be considered during the period of illness. Generally speaking, milk solids production will drop by approximately 20% during the period of once-a-day milking but there are no lasting effects if the period of OAD is short, eg two or three weeks. While it’s not ideal to go on OAD at peak, it can be done, even with Holstein Friesian cows. Meal feeding rates should be minimised to reduce pressure on the udder in very high-yielding cows.

It’s worth remembering that cows are extremely resilient creatures. Worst-case scenario research in New Zealand on missed milkings in mid-lactation (due to earthquakes) showed that cows that missed milkings for two and four days were back to full pre-treatment milk yield three and four days after resumption of twice-a-day milking respectively. It took longer for SCC to recover, but it did return to normal levels after less than a week of twice-a-day milking. The point here is that in a worst-case scenario if cows cannot be milked it is not the end of the world. Once they are well fed with plenty of good-quality grass they will recover. The key thing is to do everything possible not to get the virus, but have a plan in place for what to do if you do get it.

Reseeding

Some farmers have started spraying off land for reseeding. It’s still early in the year, but if you are sure that you will not need that grass in April then it’s OK. Spring reseeding is always better than autumn reseeding. The Pasture Profit Index (PPI) was published in last week’s paper, but two varieties were accidentally omitted – Aberplentiful and Moira. As mentioned in the article on the on-farm monoculture study, Aberplentiful is one of the top growing varieties on commercial dairy farms. It has the highest spring growth in the PPI for a late variety.