22 minute read
Spring calving
by AgriHQ
Achieving full calf potential
By Ross Nolly
Planning ahead and being prepared gives calves the best possible chance to ensure they achieve their potential.
With many farmers now calving, attendees at the Dairy Women’s Network Calf Rearing Expo should be well placed to ensure they have a good calf rearing season.
SealesWinslow nutrition and quality manager Natalie Hughes was one of the presenters at the expo and spoke about successful calf rearing, which she says starts before the calf is born.
“It all starts before day one of the calf’s life. Planning and preparation before calving sets us up for a successful season. Knowing the “what and how” of our own calf system with the latest tips and tricks, takes some of the weight off when calves hit the ground,” Hughes says.
Hughes feels that it’s all about what farmers do today and the impact they have on what’s coming into the herd later on.
“Prior preparation prevents piss-poor performance,” she says.
“If you don’t plan, you plan to fail. No matter what you do, you need some targets. They help draw the team together because they know exactly what they’re working on.”
Calf rearing
Not every farm has a purpose-built calf shed and Hughes began by looking at ways that farmers can effectively set up their calf shed. She believes that a purpose-built calf shed should be twice as deep as each bay’s width, so that the calves can hide in the back from any inclement weather.
“The standard space requirement is 1.5-2.5m2 for each calf. Jersey calves will need a little less than 2.5m2. But if you have big Holstein genetics in your herd, then you’ll need more than 2.5m2 to allow them to run, play and interact,” she says.
“We always run out of space at home and I assume other people have the same issue. But we still have to ensure that each calf has access to the available feed.”
Hughes reminded the attendees that they needed solid, easily cleaned partitions between each pen to provide separation between the groups and prevent the transfer of disease.
“There is a gold standard to what we want to achieve, and then there’s stuff that’s practical. What is practical is not always going to be science-backed, but realistically we’ve got to make what works for us in our systems,” she says.
She illustrated the point with an image of a calf shed where the farmers had attached old real estate signs on the fences between the pens to provide 1.2-metre high, solid partitions for the time that the calves were in the shed.
Hughes also emphasised the need to break any winds and draughts from entering the shed. But she also reminded the attendees of the importance of having adequate ventilation to prevent ammonia build up.
She showed an image of where a farmer had taken the practical approach and had placed a row of wrapped bales along the side that caught the prevailing wind as a practical and cheap solution to break the wind, but still provide adequate ventilation.
To assess the quantity of ventilation Hughes recommends farmers get down to calf height.
“You should be able to light a match and not have it blow out. Before it does burn out you should be able to tell where any draughts are coming from. Don’t use this method if straw is used as a bedding though,” she says.
It’s important to ensure that calves have enough entertainment and behavioural stimulation. Items such as road cones, Swiss balls and pantyhose with a tennis ball inside hung from the roof are all things that can be used and work well.
These entertainments give calves something to do, particularly when they’re transitioning between feed options such as twice-a-day feeding to once a day.
These options are cheaper than a commercial calf brush. However, she has seen a calf shed where the head of a yard broom has been taped to a wall as a much cheaper DIY solution.
Hughes told the crowd that studies
SealesWinslow nutrition and quality manager Natalie Hughes was one of the presenters at the Dairy Women’s Network Calf Rearing Expos talking about successful calf rearing.
had shown that a calf shed utilising an all-in/all-out system was better for calves compared to continually moving them to the next pen in a “conveyer belt style system” until they left the shed.
“Calves are born without any kind of immune system. The study showed that there is a 9% higher growth rate in an all-in/all-out system, with no extra feed or management. If you use the conveyor belt system, the later calves are going into pens that may have already had a number of mobs through them and potentially, a large number of pathogens,” she said.
Bedding
Calves need to be kept warm so they use less energy to keep warm and more energy to grow.
AgResearch Ltd undertook a study to determine calf body temperature on the various typically used calf bedding options.
Wood chips containing chipped rubber, (similar to what is typically used for horse arena floors), proved to be the warmest bedding. However, Hughes said that this is why science is sometimes not practical. The chip containing rubber can’t be composted and therefore created a disposal problem. The researchers found that the wood-based bedding products were the next best option.
“The optimal temperature for a calf is between 15 and 25degC. On a practical level, very few farmers will be calving in 15degC temperatures. But it demonstrates the importance of ensuring that all attempts must be made to keep the calves as warm as possible so they can utilise as much feed as possible into growth,” she says.
Navel
When the calf is in-utero or inside the cow, the umbilical cord is the passageway for the calf’s nutrients. When the calf is born, the navel acts as a highway to the joints, lungs, kidneys and other organs. Keeping the navel clean and dry is important to reduce the risk of infection.
“Any infections travel up the navel and the calf’s ability to fight them off is very low. You want the navel to be dry within 24 hours. You must ensure that it is clean of organic matter before it’s sprayed or dipped (in a cup),” she says.
“The best gold standard scientific practice is to use a different cup for each calf to eliminate cross contamination. This is where there is a difference between ‘gold standard’ and what is actually practical on the farm. Complete coverage is the key whether you’re spraying or dipping.” n
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Why is teat condition so critical?
Maintaining good teat condition can be a battle in the first eight weeks of lactation when conditions are generally cold and wet. Focusing on teat condition during this time is critical to minimise teat damage and elevations in somatic cell count (SCC), says
FIL National Sales Manager
Colin May.
Teat skin thickness changes when there are changes in the weather and temperature, making teats particularly susceptible to drying and cracking – especially during the dry period as the winter weather strikes.
Add to this scenario the fact that a cow’s teat is stretched to a third longer under vacuum when being milked and you have the perfect storm: mastitis pathogens thriving on damaged teat skin.
“The sooner emollient is applied to improve the outer skin and teat elasticity, the more comfortable the cow will be during milking.
And it will be less likely that mastitis pathogens, such as coagulase-negative staph (CNS), will have the opportunity to thrive on damaged teat skin,” May says. “Until a few years ago, nobody in New Zealand was talking about the group of bacteria called CNS. Yet it is the most common mastitiscausing pathogen found in
New Zealand dairy herds.
“We have recently worked with farmers that have had a reasonably high SCC, but no cases of clinical mastitis.
“CNS is part of the normal skin flora, but they have the ability to colonise the teat canal. This prompts the cow’s immune system to counter this bacteria group – and in doing so it lifts overall SCC levels.
“Healthy and supple teats will limit the opportunity for CNS to thrive in cracks, which is why it’s so important to focus on good teat condition.”
The key to good teat condition is simple: use a good quality emollient, ensure you have the right emollient levels and achieve adequate teat spray coverage.
1. Use a good quality emollient
FIL Technical manager Drew Chadwick says a good quality emollient, like FIL Active Teat Conditioner, works to actively restore teat health.
“It’s formulated with active ingredients like mānuka honey, aloe vera and allantoin – all of which have unique properties to help nourish teats. It is also easy to mix and spray due to its viscosity.
“If the viscosity of an emollient is too high it won’t mix well or atomise through the teat sprayers. Straight glycerine is very thick and isn’t easy to mix, and in drier conditions can be counterproductive by drawing moisture out of the teats.”
Mānuka honey, also used in FIL teat spray and creams, is known for its antiinflammatory properties, which can help repair damaged skin. Aloe vera, which is commonly used for treating sunburn due to its antioxidants and mineral content, works to restore the condition of stressed skin. Allantoin is a natural and active moisturising agent that is widely used for its skin rejuvenation properties.
2. Ensure you have the right emollient levels in your use solution
May notes that in the first 90 days of lactation, it’s critical to use a mix rate of 1:6 and add extra emollient to achieve the ideal 12%-15% concentration level.
“It’s a fact that the majority of the teat sprays available in New Zealand will not be able to deliver these levels without adding additional emollient.
“It can be confusing working out the emollient levels for a 1:6 mix rate. My advice to farmers is to read the label and follow this simple calculation: * Add the mixing rate, for example, 1 + 7 = 8. * Divide the emollient level stated on the label by the mix rate, for example, 40% divided by 8. * Equals 5% emollient level
“It does become more complicated when you add additional emollient, but your teat spray supplier will be able to advise you on this,” May says.
3. Achieve adequate teat spray coverage
Once you have your emollient levels sorted, check that teat spray is being properly applied, says May. Too often, teat spray application can let you down.
“Many of the issues we see are a direct result of the poor application through
Teat in rest phase. Teat stretched under vacuum.
Teat skin protects the deep teat tissues from infections. When chapped or damaged, the skin produces cracks and crevices that harbour mastitis-causing pathogens.
The Intelliblend will automatically mix the teat spray, emollient and water at the correct ratios, and deliver it to the spray nozzle.
all methods, including walkover or on-platform systems.
“This is where our staff training and teat-spray mixing buckets come in handy. Although, we are noticing more and more large herds adopting automatic mixing systems, like the FIL Intelliblend.
“Automatic teat spraying systems must be calibrated to ensure adequate coverage, while those using manual systems need to spray in a circular motion to cover all quarters properly.” n “Teat skin thickness changes when there are changes in the weather and temperature, making teats particularly susceptible to drying and cracking.”
Sarah Smart, Hillbrook Dairies, North Otago.
Partnering with farmers like Sarah Smart to like Sarah Smart to reduce clinical mastitis.
clinical mastitis for seven years and were treating 20 percent of the herd annually. Not only was it was Hillbrook Dairies are on top of mastitis with costing them in treatments and time,they also had more knowledge and better practice than the constant risk of penicillin grades. ever before. With FIL and Farm Medix’s support,they were able to dig deep, find out which pathogens they were The 645-cow dairy farm in North Otago had dealing with and implement a prevention plan. experienced high numbers of clinical mastitis Today, Hillbrook Dairies are on top of mastitis with for seven years and were treating 20 percent more knowledge and better practice – and the of the herd annually. Not only was it was costing them in treatments and time, they also herd’s somatic cell count is the lowest it has ever been. had the constant risk of penicillin grades. That’s what we call a good partnership.Ask us how we can help improve your farm’s profitability. With FIL and Farm Medix’s support, they were able to dig deep, find out which pathogens they were dealing with and implement a prevention plan. Today the herd’s somatic cell count is the lowest it has ever been. “We suddenly knew what we were dealing with,” says Sarah. “Knowledge is power.”
Get intouch with yourlocal areamanager on0508 434 569orvisitFIL.co.nz
That’s what we call a good partnership. Ask us how we can help improve your farm’s profitability, visit FIL.co.nz.
Close-up on colostrum
By Samantha Tennent
Research team has had a birds-eye view of calving cows to see if their calves were actually drinking from mum in the paddock.
Calves that do not receive adequate colostrum in the first 24 hours of life are susceptible to failure of passive transfer (FPT). This means they fail to absorb sufficient quantities of immunoglobulin from colostrum and are at greater susceptibility to disease and mortality. There have been assumptions about whether calves drink from their dams before they are collected, but nobody really knew either way.
Research veterinarians Emma Cuttance and Winston Mason wanted to find out what really happens in the calving paddock.
“We’ve assumed for years only about 50% of calves suckle from their dams,” Mason explains.
“But nobody really knew for sure and we wanted to explore what was happening and how it related to the calf outcomes, as well as uncover what risk factors contribute to FPT.”
They stationed teams in scissor lifts who observed eight farms during calving 24 hours a day across two years, for 12 days in the first year and eight in the second. The teams made observations about dams and calves as well as potential risk factors such as weather, break size and pasture cover. The farms went about their regular management but the calves had blood samples taken on day one before the farmer fed them colostrum, as well as on day three.
“We were checking the blood for serum total protein as an indicator of the failure of passive transfer and we measured the colostrum quality that each of the calves had been individually fed using a Brix refractometer,” Mason says.
“The farms all had different policies around collecting calves and feeding colostrum. Some picked up calves once a day, some picked them up more often.
“But we found there was nothing specific that led to FPT. It was very farm specific.”
They collected a large number of risk factors and found the calves that took the longest to stand also took the longest to suckle. Calves born to older dams took longer to suckle. Interestingly, calves that were born on the farms that collected calves once a day suckled faster than calves that were removed more often. And calves that were born into colder temperatures took longer to suckle.
“By the end of the study we wanted to find out whether they suckled or not made a difference to their FPT, but the results were spread. We had as low as 2.5%, which is the best I’ve ever seen, up to around 31%, which is what we typically see across New Zealand,” Mason says.
“But suckling was a very strong preventative for FPT. Calves that did not suckle in the paddock were almost three times more likely to have FPT.
“And we found if they took longer to stand they were more likely to have FPT regardless of what the farmer did to them. So what they were doing in the paddock was a very strong indicator for what was happening towards their FPT status.”
Cuttance and Mason also uncovered a linear relationship between colostrum quality and FPT: for every 1% increase in colostrum quality, the odds of FPT reduced by about 33%.
“That’s a really important message for farmers. They shouldn’t lose their momentum if they’re not getting high Brix results because any improvement in quality will reduce the chances of FPT regardless of the baseline.”
They found the combination of suckling in the paddock and getting fed good quality colostrum was better than one or the other.
Calves must receive adequate colostrum in the first 24 hours to achieve their potential.
“That’s another really important message: the management in the shed is still really important. Regardless whether the calf drank from mum, they will all benefit from being fed optimum-quality colostrum quickly after birth.
“The three Qs of colostrum are still valid: quickly, quality and quantity, and we know about 25% of farms are actually measuring their colostrum with a Brix refractometer now, which is great news.
“But there’s still a lot we don’t know. We still have high FPT rates across the country and we need to look at feeding success, but we don’t have an easy way to analyse, not unless we have a lot of people prepared to spend calving in a scissor lift,” Mason laughs.
Their next chunk of work is trying to validate the pick-up test that can be done on day one for calves. Mason and Cuttance and others working in this space are aware of the pressures surrounding animal welfare.
“If we are thrown into a situation where there is a requirement for calves to stay on the dam for a greater period of time, the reality is we are not ready.
“We need more information to find out why some calves are feeding very well and some are not, but a validated day one test will help us uncover that.
“And we do need to be asking those questions because we are in a unique position. There are more pasture-based systems developing and we could lead the approach to say this is going to benefit cow-calf behaviour, suckling, FPT, and calf welfare right the way through.
“That’s a pretty exciting place to be.” n
Researchers stationed teams in scissor lifts who observed eight farms during calving 24 hours a day across two years for 12 days in the first year and eight in the second to monitor dam and calf behaviour.
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Bringing life experience
By Samantha Tennent
Continuing our Road to Dairying series, we catch up with a Manawatū farmer who has found his place in farming.
Back in 2020, when Winston Peters was in the news urging Kiwis to get home as soon as possible,
Ben Hayes booked the first flight he could from Western
Australia. He was thankful he did as he has friends who have only recently been reunited with their families.
But it was the first time in his working life he had left a job without a new one to go to.
“I’ve worked in a few different industries but I always had a new job lined up before I left the old one,” says
Ben.
“But I didn’t really have an option. When that first lockdown hit, I had to get home to my family.”
He grew up in urban
Auckland and after dabbling in the building industry after school he went into the Navy as a chef. He spent eight years in the Navy but his priorities changed once he and his wife Sherie had kids. It was hard to balance the lifestyle, especially needing to deploy at the drop of a hat.
A conversation with a family friend at a BBQ led him to the PGG Wrightson livestock rep cadetship. He spent 18 months as a cadet and a further 18 months as a livestock rep, based in
Taranaki.
Although he enjoyed the role, a family member twisted his arm, convincing him to move to Western Australia to work on their avocado orchard. That didn’t work out as planned, so Sherie and the kids moved back to
New Zealand while Hayes worked on exploration drill rigs around rural Western Australia.
But it was only 12 months later that the first lockdown hit and he came home, moving back to Taranaki. He helped a friend on his farm till he found a role with Fonterra in the local factory, but he struggled being stuck inside all day and jumped at a role in the On Farm Assets team when it came up. “We were looking after anything the tanker touches, I liked it better than being in the factory but I still wasn’t settled,” Ben says.
“But it wasn’t long till a farm assistant role came up at one of the Fonterra Farms in Longburn in Manawatū so we decided to give it a crack and move the family down.”
Starting in June last year and launching into the apprentice scheme, he has been absorbing as much as he can. He has completed
Manawatū farmer Ben Hayes – with daughter Keira on the farm – has tried his hand at a few different careers but it wasn’t until he went dairy farming that he found one he really wanted.
Ben Hayes works on a Fonterra farm at Longburn as a farm assistant and has been learning on the job as well as studying with Primary ITO. Ben Hayes, treating a cow down with milk fever, enjoys being outdoors with the animals as well as the large variety of farm work.
Primary ITO level 3 and is working on his level 4 and has found the study really valuable to connect what they are doing on the farm with the reasoning behind it. He also credits his supportive manager, Lorraine Ferreira, and his 2IC Phil Read for helping to develop his farming knowledge.
“I’m loving it, I can really see a future in the sector and Sherie and I are dead keen to own our own farm one day,” says Ben.
But they have an alternative plan to the traditional farm ownership pathway, building their equity through property development. They own three houses already.
“I grew up on a building site, my parents always had property projects on the go, so I know how to do a lot myself and know the value you can create.
“We’re planning to get our deposit together using the residential market and get ourselves into a position the bank is willing to lend to us on. I reckon that’s the key, having the backing from the bank.” requirements that prevent him from sharing it with his family.
“It’s not the same lifestyle you have on general dairy farms, the kids can’t come out with me or anything so it’s like a normal job where Dad
He looks forward to being able to work for himself one day but is hoping to work on a more generic farm soon too. The Longburn farm he is currently on has extensive health and safety leaves for work and comes home at the end of the day.
“I do look forward to being able to share the lifestyle with my family sometime in the future and I’m keen to work for myself eventually.”
They split calve 600 cows through a 50-bail rotary shed. There are six farm team members plus the manager who runs two dairy farms and the support block.
Being involved in the sector has given Ben an appreciation for how much farmers are trying to juggle.
“When you’re responsible for 600-plus animals, there’s a huge amount of care that goes into them. You need to make sure they’ve got everything before you can worry about yourself.
“People outside of the sector don’t realise how much goes into it.”
He is thoroughly loving it, though, and is pleased he made the jump. He is eager to learn as much as he can to put his family in a good position for future opportunities and eventually buy their own farm. n
