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The location and timing of UK Dairy Day makes it a key event for dairy producers seeking information, advice and support ahead of the autumn and winter period
’ Lynette Smale
New calcium binder boosts dry cow diet
Dairy farmers could signifi cantly reduce cases of milk fever and boost post- calving dry matter intakes by feeding an innovative new calcium binder in their dry cow diet.
Launched at the event, CalFix is a patented new product designed to bind calcium during the transition period, to trigger more effi cient calcium mobilisation in the critical 48 hours after calving. “Clinical milk fever cases average 10% on farms in the UK, but sub-clinical cases are much higher, at 40- 60%,” said Rupert Stafford, commercial manager at NWF Agriculture. This dramatically increased the risks of ketosis, mastitis, retained placentas and other health issues, resulting in average losses of £200 for every cow in the herd, he added. The key, according to Adam Clay at Trouw Nutrition, was to limit calcium intake to 30g a day in the three weeks before calving. However, typical dry cow diets averaged 55g/day. “By feeding 3.5kg/day of DryFix (which contains 2kg of CalFix) with grass silage and straw you will bind 9kg of calcium, cutting calcium intakes to 30g,” he said. Trials showed that blood calcium levels in cows fed with DryFix remained above the critical 2mmol/litre of calcium throughout the 48 hours post- calving. “Anything below 1.5mmol is clinical milk fever – between 1.5 and 2 is sub-clinical – so although you won’t see any symptoms sub-clinical milk fever will be having a hidden effect.” As well as reducing the risk of milk fever, feeding DryFix during the transition period boosted dry matter intakes by an average of 1.6kg a day for 10 days after calving, said Mr Stafford. “That decreases the negative energy balance, boosting milk production and improving fertility. ”
Herd Navigator launched to analyse key hormones and disease indicators
than saying: ‘I’ve got a calf to sell’, start from the other end, with the why and the how.” Using photographs and videos to help tell that story would also help capture attention, added Mr Gue. “And use tools to help you. Hootsuite will post to multiple platforms, while other apps will tell you when your Twitter followers are most active. With social media you still need to be targeted, but the marketing basics remain the same – you’re just changing where you do it.”
A new computer programme which analyses milk to give farmers early warning of their cows’ reproductive status, mastitis and ketosis could boost profi ts by more than £200/head each year. Launched by DeLaval at UK Dairy Day, Herd Navigator takes automatic milk samples from every cow and analyses them for key hormones and disease indicators. Combining them with real-time production information it fl ags up any cows in the herd in need of attention, long before traditional methods would be able to. “Herd Navigator gives producers the ability to take their herd management to the next step,” said Kieran Fitzgerald, VMS Solutions manager at DeLaval. “It’s basically giving them a laboratory on the farm.” Accuracy for heat detection was more than 95%, with mastitis detection at 80%, 24-36 hours before onset of clinical symptoms. Accuracy in detecting cysts was 70-90%; pregnancy or abortion more than 90%, and ketosis over 80%, he added. “If you catch mastitis and ketosis early you can address it before it becomes a problem and the return on investment is huge.” Savings from using the system included reduced labour and vet bills, increased productivity and longevity and consequently lower replacement rates.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD STANTON
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