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Participants on the Dairylink Ireland programme are encouraged to take a “measure to manage” approach to running their farm businesses.
This involves basing management decisions on information from the likes of replacement heifer growth rates, weekly grass measurements and cashflow plan projections.
The same principle is being applied to animal health, where veterinary tests and records of sick and culled animals are used to develop herd health plans for individual farms.
The plan is drawn up in consultation with each farmer’s local vet. It identifies the main health risks that livestock are exposed to and sets out steps to minimise them.
A critical review of the farm set-up and animal health protocols by a vet will help identify issues
Herd health plans are already a requirement under various quality assurance schemes, including Red Tractor in Northern Ireland. Rather than putting together a document as a tick-box exercise, it is much more beneficial to properly involve a vet in the process and then implement the plan afterwards.
A critical review of the farm set-up and animal health protocols by a vet will help identify issues in the likes of biosecurity, hygiene, drug usage, as well as morbidity (sickness) and mortality rates. Recommendations are also more likely to be implemented if they are put in writing and subject to a periodic review.
Tests used to develop health plans include bulk tank antibody monitoring, somatic cell counts, metabolic profiling of dry cows and post-mortem of fallen stock.
Changes in test results and on-farm records are then monitored over time to see if the measures implemented as part of the health plan have led to improvements
Farmers give details of antibiotic usage, mortalities and culling in each livestock group on-farm over the past year. Records from periodic weighing of replacement heifers can also help inform vets about any potential health issues among young stock.
Changes in test results and on-farm records are then monitored over time to see if the measures implemented as part of the health plan have led to improvements, or if more needs to be done.
A revised herd health plan for Richard Marshall’s farm in Omagh, Co Tyrone, was developed by his local vet Maria Morris from Strule Veterinary Services.
Richard already had a health plan in place for all groups of livestock on the farm, so it was an opportunity to review how well the previous plan had been working.
The main changes that need to be addressed on the Marshall farm surround biosecurity, particularly at boundary fences. A farm map is included in the herd health plan and highlights areas to limit the risk of straying and nose-to-nose contact between neighbouring animals.
The herd is currently free of bovine TB, although it has been closed up in the past and there are TB issues on farms in the local area at present.
The other new component of Richard’s health plan is a Johne’s disease management programme
Taking steps to construct double fencing, or simply setting up an electric fence along a march when cattle are grazing in boundary fields, will help reduce the spread of disease between neighbouring herds.
The other new component of Richard’s health plan is a Johne’s disease management programme. This is set to become a requirement under Red Tractor in Northern Ireland later this year, so it was decided to add it in to the herd health plan now.
Richard is going to start monitoring milk samples for the bacterial disease, as well as blood test all bought-in stock. Replacements will not be bred from Johne’s positive cows and their colostrum will be dumped after calving Herds with a high health status will ideally be used for sourcing bought-in stock and new arrivals will be isolated for at least a week (if not milking).
Vaccines
If the vaccination history of bought-in animals is unknown, then they will be started on IBR, BVD and leptospirosis, with any two administered together initially and the third given a few weeks later.
The health plan also details standard operating procedures for the prevention and treatment of the likes of calf scour, pneumonia, navel infections, lameness and mastitis.
Maria visited the milking and dry cow accommodation, handling facilities, calving areas and youngstock accommodation. In general, she found there was a high level of hygiene with the only recommendation being to set a disinfectant foot bath at the entrance to the farmyard, milking parlour and calf house.
Blood testing of dry cows on the Marshall farm found there were no metabolic issues in the group
Richard is also well up to speed with most other common health issues. For example, mastitis is well under control in the herd and bulk tank somatic cell count is usually less than 70,000/ml. Blood testing of dry cows on the Marshall farm found there were no metabolic issues in the group.
A comprehensive vaccination protocol is already in place on the Marshall farm and this will continue to be part of the revised herd health plan.
As outlined in Table 1, a calendar has been developed to simplify the administration of vaccines and other treatments. It should be noted that this is a plan specifically for Richard’s farm and is not suitable for directly copying to other herds.
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