livestock ‘n’ animal health


Safeguarding your herd - Biosecurity NBA launches plain English animal health campaign


In this second advisory guide to be published by The National Beef Association’s (NBA) Animal Health Committee, the subject is on-farm Bio-security. The aim of these unique guides is to help beef farmers protect the health of their herds and to ensure that they have the correct protocols in place. Compiled by Charles Maclaren, Chair of the NBA Animal Health Committee (pictured), the guides are the first in a campaign by the NBA to provide beef farmers with information about common health problems and their potential financial impacts on beef enterprises. Biosecurity is a word we all know and hear regularly but do we really know what it is? Do we know what the implications are to each of us? Biosecurity can be split in to three key areas: Farm Biosecurity Human and Vehicle Traffic The Wildlife


Farm Biosecurity Charles explains: “The most effective way for you to approach this is to have a drawing of the buildings on your farm and to use a colour


coded system to colour the sheds for risk. A traffic light system is what I use when doing this for others. Green - is for sheds not ever used for feed, housing of cattle or sheep or anything to do with livestock in any way. Amber - is for those areas and buildings sometime used for stock or stock related purposes. Red - is a high risk area where stock is kept or used routinely for livestock or tasks relating to livestock such as feed storage. “Once you have established this you then need to put a system in place to reduce the risk of any contamination. A good place to start is to reduce any visitors to this area.


Human and Vehicle traffic: “Unfortunately most diseases and viruses cannot be seen and many can and will be carried on clothing, in your hair and even up your nose. We all need to be much more aware of these facts, especially as we are increasingly keeping larger numbers of in livestock in one place. Human traffic should be reduced where ever possible and consideration of this


should be understood by all, not just the farmer. From vets to reps and delivery drivers to contractors, all must play their part; they must be made aware of the risks and think before they enter. It is so easy to unwittingly spread disease. For example; when carrying out AI, scanning, calving or any work which means internal examination, remember to always only use your gloves on the one animal and then discard. This is very important as you just don’t know what you might be transmitting from one animal to the next.”


The Wildlife: We know and understand that the wildlife on our farms carries some diseases and that it would be impossible to keep them all out. However, it is important to try to find out who is on your farm. Always report any sick or dead animals to the relevant authorities who may post mortem the carcase and give you some useful feedback. Know your enemy: “It is crucial that we all make the effort to understand the threats and be able to recognise the signs of the start of a disease taking


Increased mycotoxin risk from silage field aftermath


UK dairy farmers are being advised to remove aftermath from silage fields or run the risk of a higher mycotoxin challenge in the conserved forage they make this year.


“The weather was very mild at the back end of last year and grass was still growing on many farms right through Christmas and beyond. Consequently, there’s a lot of aftermath about, which also means plenty of dead material that’s likely to contain high levels of yeasts and fungi,” says Dr Dave Davies of Silage Solutions.


Dr Davies advises farmers to remove the aftermath if at all possible. “Many dairy farmers don’t like taking sheep on tack, but these grazers really are the best animals for cleaning up the sward in the winter. Essentially, you’ve got two options: either leave the aftermath – which means you run the risk of producing poor


quality silage – or remove it, either by mowing it off and wasting it, or bring the sheep in.” If neither option is practical, Dr Davies says many farmers will have to focus on excellent clamp management this year. Mycotoxin management specialist Alltech agrees, pointing out that compaction of grass in the clamp is absolutely crucial. “When clamping silage to reduce the risk of mycotoxin contamination, the aim is to remove as much air from the grass as quickly as possible,” says Lauren Dimmack from Alltech UK. “Fill the clamp in layers no more than 15cm deep at a time and compact as you go. Your target should be 750 kg of fresh material per m3 (c. 250kg DM). Unfortunately, most farms are only reaching 650 kg per m3 or less, which means too much oxygen is left with the grass, increasing the chance of aerobic spoilage


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and moulds, and then multiple mycotoxin contamination,” she says. Dr Davies adds that farmers with a lot of aftermath who are concerned about the risk of aerobic spoilage must use an appropriate silage additive. “Ideally use a homo- fermentative inoculant plus a chemical additive, or a chemical (salt) alone. The inoculant will improve the fermentation and the additional salt reduces aerobic spoilage. This will help stabilise the clamp,” he says.


Other tips to mitigate potential mycotoxin risks when silage making: Mow grass when it is dry Aim for a stubble height of 7-10cm Spread the crop immediately after mowing Spread the sward to encourage wilting


Don’t leave a thick, dense sward – this is the perfect environment for mould


hold. You should all know the health status of your herds, and should be able to use this information to your own advantage. Preventive medicine has and will always be cheaper than trying to suppress and get rid of a disease once you have it. All diseases and all viruses will affect the animals’ natural immune system leaving it vulnerable to a secondary outbreak of something else. Biosecurity is very important and these are all facts that cannot be ignored. If you take control of your On Farm Biosecurity it will help your business financially. “Remember,” says Charlie, “the old saying - look after your stock and they will look after you”.


Charollais index updated to reduce days to slaughter


Signet Breeding Services has produced a new breeding index to improve the growth rates and the speed of finishing Charollais- sired lambs. It retains the changes made ten years ago to penalise sheep with very low fat depth EBVs and will now also reduce the emphasis currently applied to sheep with genetically lower levels of fat within the overall carcase.


The use of Estimated Breeding Values and Breeding Indexes are a proven way to enhance commercial sheep production and these changes will lead to the production of well-muscled, faster-growing, but slightly fatter Charollais sheep. The improvements are expected to further increase the commercial value of Charollais- sired lambs by performance- recorded rams as trials have shown the financial benefit of choosing the right recorded ram can exceed £1000 over its working lifetime. To find a breeder that is recording or look at the EBVs of all Signet-recorded sheep go to the Signet Breeding Services website www.signetfbc.co.uk.


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