Over the last 18 months I’ve enjoyed one of the highlights of my career as a contributor to the vet’s corner for the Irish Farmers Journal online. I’ve been blogging about my weekly activities on farm and the problems I’ve encountered. My emphasis was always on controls and prevention. I’m a huge advocate of herd and flock health performance.

It has been a real pleasure to have had this platform to write about something I’m so passionate about. As I sign off from vet’s corner, I want to leave with some of my thoughts for the future.

Optimism and controlling what is one’s control

Being on the ground with farmers, I am immersed with the realities of farming and the huge challenges it faces, including a very low milk price and many beef and sheep farmers struggling.

Yet my outlook now is very much one of optimism and of controlling only what is in my control. I moved from constantly dwelling on the things that were wrong to moving and focusing on the things that were right. Controlling the things I could, learning and having the right attitude have been so important, as was ultimately forgetting or not worrying about those things that were out of my control. We should never be limited by our fears of not being able. I truly believe everyone can achieve anything with the right focus, support, determination and people around them.

In dairy farming, as we move into an era of expansion with many different systems, I never favour one over another. It is about finding the system or cow that is right for you and then maximising the efficiencies of this system.

Four years ago I read a quote from President Eisenhower back in the 1950s: “It is easy to talk about farming when you are pushing a pen, not a plough.” Remembering this quote has stood me well when advising farmers. The textbooks can be a far removed place from a cold milking parlour in February or a lambing shed at midnight in March. This does not mean we can make excuses to not follow best practices, but it is a reminder that they should be implemented and structured around the practical realities of individual farms and farmers.

Preventative health strategies

If we keep doing the same thing and expect better results; well, we all know the outcome of this. Change is never easy and certainly brings its challenges. My message has been consistent and simple – start planning ahead and implementing preventative health strategies in your herd or flock. Create a team of people that you can work with to help you achieve your goals – family, friends, staff, advisers, vets, nutritionists, consultants etc. The power of collaboration within agriculture is the future of more profitable, sustainable farming.

All agriservice providers have an opportunity to step up and move Irish farming forward by working with farmers and each other to achieve the best results. With Teagasc and Animal Health Ireland, we already have two fantastic networks and knowledge available to us all. We must continue to engage with them to drive change and promote the super job Irish farming is doing.

The global challenges farmers face around climate change and antibiotic resistance won’t go away

The global challenges farmers face around climate change and antibiotic resistance won’t go away. For me, preventative medicine and planning is our answer. It provides a more sustainable profitable way of farming and certainly provides answers and ways of tackling these challenges.

If you have a herd/flock health plan, well done. If you don’t, then start one. They can be a simple page to start, and they will grow and evolve with your individual needs and those of your farm.

As a vet, I’m faced daily with the challenges our food-producing animals face in modern farming. However, the challenges of the farmers who manage these animals must be dealt with too. Fundamental to the wellbeing of our animals is the wellbeing of the farmers who work with them.

Achievements

Some of my proudest achievements in the last three years have been at the kitchen tables of my clients as we made plans for their farms. We talked about real issues on how to implement plans, but on their terms. They say: “We can only learn what we truly discover for ourselves.” Change must be driven by farmers themselves, who see the on-farm benefits of preventative planning and medicine.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff in the Irish Farmer’s Journal for the opportunity they have given me over the last 18 months. To the readers of the vet’s corner, I just hope that some of what I have written has been useful. My own journey moves to a project called Co-farm.

I read recently about measuring success that maybe the greatest key performance indicator should be our happiness. It is certainly a metric we don’t discuss enough. There is no perfect blueprint for farming or life, but it is what you make of it.

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Herd health: Prevention is better than cure