An overlooked source of infection on all farms is water, Eamon Sheehan told the Nuffield Ireland conference in Castleknock on Friday.

“Water troughs grow a biofilm that harbour bad bacteria, putting constant stress on the animals,” he said.

Sheehan also showed the conference a picture of two dead birds he pulled out of a water trough on his farm and asked, “would you drink out of that?”

He treats his water with PIP Water Plus, introducing good bacteria to clear the bad bacteria.

His report is called Microbial management and its importance in the dairy and beef industry.

Antibiotics

The availability of antibiotics since the 1950s on farms has led to misuse and suggests that a lot of their prophylactic use is more of a crutch than a necessity.

To help agriculture meet the antimicrobial resistance challenge, he recommends:

  • That the government removes the 23% VAT rate on vaccines.
  • More milk recording should be carried out by farmers and the government could incentivise this or co-ops could have a bonus scheme for low SCC.
  • Milk culturing.
  • Reducing antibiotic use through better husbandry.
  • Selective dry cow therapy.
  • “Blanket dry cow treatment is illegal in most EU countries,” Sheehan said.

    “Less than 35% of dairy farms in Ireland milk-record, which is comparable to the Dutch in the 1950s. You need to be recording to do selective dry cow therapy because if it’s not done right it won’t work. It needs to be clinical.”

    Reduced SCC

    By milk recording and using selective dry cow therapy over the last three years, Sheehan has reduced the SCC on his farm.

    “The return to a pre-antibiotic era is the greatest threat to agriculture and would have devastating effects for us as an industry. We can show example through leadership in our industry by developing strategies for our own farms and getting involved in current strategies already put in place by industry.”

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    Nuffield conference: 'There is no threat larger than farmers themselves'