Dairy Farmer Digital Edition January 2013

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DAIRYPages 46-48

Tip of the month: tax saving investment allowance – p56

New productsLatest in dairymarketplace

Pages 28-41

BREEDING SPECIALUS Jerseys set thepace for UK herds

Pages 12-14

ON FARM FEATUREAward-winningHexham dairy herd

Page 50

Pages 42-44

WORKSHOP TIPS

MILK PRICES

Farm-made cattleinspection race

January 2013 Volume 60 Issue 1FARMER

**DF Jan Cover _Layout 1 04/01/2013 11:40 Page 1

IBR is increasingly important in the UK with a study identifying infected animals in 96% of herds1. Causing respiratory and reproductive disease, IBR can negatively impact herd profi tability.

Within a herd some cows will be infected carriers and some will be naive and uninfected. Effective control of IBR at the herd level needs effective control at the cow level. The two Rispoval IBR Marker vaccines now

offer a simple 2-step vaccination programme, fl exible enough to protect the right animal in the right way and the only programme licensed to give up to 12 months protection from a single booster.

Each farm is different and IBR is a complex disease, therefore your vet can best advise on the most appropriate IBR vaccination programme for you.

AH938/12

For further information please contact your veternary surgeon or Pfi zer Animal Health, Walton Oaks, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 7NS. Rispoval® IBR Marker Inactivated contains inactivated gE-negative BHV-1 strain Difi vac POM-V Rispoval® IBR Marker Live contains

attenuated gE-negative BHV-1 strain Difi vac POM-V Use medicines responsibly. (www.noah.co.uk/responsible)

How good is your IBR

control?

Reference: 1. Woodbine K.A. et al., (2009) BMC Veterinary Research 5-5

Rispoval IBR Marker vaccines, helping to improve IBR control

NEWDATA

15:56

Pfizer IBR WP DF_Pfizer IBR WP DF 02/01/2013 17:40 Page 1

1JANUARY 2013 DAIRYFARMER

LEADER

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OK, it’s out with the oldyear and in with thenew. Let’s hope it’s thesame in dairying, aswe can’t face another

roller coaster like last year again. Undeniably, all sides of the industry

desperately need a new way ofworking. Determining farmer milkprices through protests, and for theprocessors and retailers to forever haveto mitigate them, can never be aworkable, long term strategy. Something has to change, and

fortunately we do have a few newtools in the toolbox we didn’t havethis time last year.First we have the Voluntary Code.

This needs to be adopted, must haveteeth coupled with a sharp bite, butwho is to be the judge and jury?We also have producer organisations.

They are in their infancy, and it will beinteresting to see how these pan outto give farmers some much neededmarketing muscle. And then we have new ideas coming

through such as Dairy Crest and DairyCrest Direct’s move towards formulapricing. If it succeeds, and bothparties seem committed to it, then thiswill hopefully lead to higher pricesand increased transparency in theindustry. All three offer potential.But there’s a couple of other things.

The first is to persuade retailers tostop the disruptive discountingwhich only decimateseveryone’s margin. And the other is to

do with where thesupply chain moniesend up – a moreequitabledistribution iscrucial to rewardthose doing thework and takingthe risks.There’s no doubt

the industry needs achange of mindset. Howwe get that is the majorchallenge going forward!

EDITORa word from the

**DF Jan p1 leader_Layout 1 04/01/2013 11:42 Page 1

2 JANUARY 2013DAIRYFARMER

THIS MONTH

CONTENTSjanuaryVolume 60 Issue 1

On farm

RegularsComment

New products

Award-winning

The Marleycoteherd of pedigree

Ayrshires and Dairy Shorthorns 12-14

18-19 Vet’s View42-44 Milk Prices50 Workshop tips56 Finance

4-6 Latest news8-9 Cowmen Comment16-17 Potter’s View54-55 Good Evans

New machinery kit, non-rot fencing, nitrogen testing and aguide to bioenergy crops

Dairy marketplace46-48

**DF Jan p2 3 Contents_Layout 1 03/01/2013 13:53 Page 1


THIS MONTH

T: +44 (0) 2870 [email protected] www.wilsonagri.co.uk

Happy Cows = Happy Farmers!

28-41

8-9

Tim GibsonCowmen Comment

AllowancesFinance

56

Recent changes to investment allowances

A look back at his year,including the summerremembered for theSOS Dairy campaign

Special featureBreeding

The second part of our report on Italian dairying, thelatest on genomics, a report on the US Jersey herd,plus one farm which is using sexed semen to boost

herd numbers after a TB outbreak

**DF Jan p2 3 Contents_Layout 1 03/01/2013 13:55 Page 2


NEWS

Immediate price risesand improved milkcontracts must be put inplace by milk buyers asstruggling dairy farmers

grow impatient, the DairyCoalition warned in the run up to Christmas.

However, the market isstill not helping achievethis objective, with thelatest Global Dairy Tradeauction in 2012 showingprices flat again.

Farmers need to seecommodity price increasesof 10% to inject confidenceand positive sentiment intothe market, but the auctiononly increased by 1.1%.

This is made worse byforward prices for the likes

of whole milk powdercontinuing to be lower thanthey are now, with, forexample, the price forMarch falling from $3492(£2160) to $3146 (£1950).

Whey prices are alsofalling in Europe, despitemilk production and thecheese-make being tight.

It is also expected Januarywill see a drop in creamprice, which will not help inthe quest for higher prices.

Cost of productionAlthough prices haveincreased on some contr-acts, farmer prices are stillwell below the cost ofproduction price of 32ppl.Consequently, 2012 ended

with yet more demon-strations, and Farmers ForAction out picketing liquidmilk dairies yet again.

The coalition agreed topress for a sustainable milkprice which ‘at least coversaverage cost of productionand the immediateacceptance of the terms ofthe Dairy Industry Code ofBest Practice on ContractualRelations’. It called on allprocessors and Dairy UK tofocus on delivering its fullimplementation withoutdelay.

“Delivery of the codewas a key success followingthe efforts of dairy farmersand the coalition duringsummer 2012. However,

farmers now expect actionas a result of this agree-ment,” said NFU dairyboard chairman ManselRaymond.

“We expect all milkbuyers to amend contractsto ensure they are compliantwith the code and do itwithout delay.

“If farmers are to haveconfidence in the code as amechanism to deliver betterconditions and marketreturns, processors have toshow they are committed toit. In the short term, weexpect the default answer ofmilk buyers to be ‘yes wewill honour the code, ratherthan no we’ve not had timeto amend your contract’.”

Price lift still neededto restore confidence

JDefra has formallylaunched the consultationon the implementation ofthe EU regulation surro-unding the setting up ofproducer organisations sothey can jointly negotiatecontract terms, price anddeliveries.

It has also released £5mof funds to allow Englishdairy farmers to developnew market opportunitiesthrough co-operation. Thiswill be offered through the

Rural DevelopmentProgramme for England,and will allow farmers toapply for £25,000 mini-mum grants to supportgroups of dairy farmers.

These could cover coststo establish new co-opera-tion structures, such asproducer groups and co-operatives, and investin technology to takeadvantage of new marketopportunities.

“England’s dairy

industry is world leading,yet still has so muchpotential to expand, andI’m convinced that betterindustry collaboration isthe key,” said MinisterDavid Heath at theannouncement of theconsultation in mid-December.

The consultation endson January 21. Scotland,Wales and NorthernIreland are holding theirown consultations.

JFFA’s vice-chairmanAndrew Hemming, a dairyfarmer from Solihull, diedsuddenly in mid-Decemberat an industry receptionwhere he was representingthe organisation. Andrewhad been a stalwart of thesummer demonstrations,and had become well-known in the media. FFAchairman David Handleysaid the industry had lost a‘massive ambassador’.

Defra consults on producer organisations AndrewHemming

**DF Jan p4 5 6 News_Layout 1 04/01/2013 11:25 Page 1

5JANuARy 2013 DAIRYFARMER

NEWS

A massive 23.4 kg cheddarcheese, donated by JamieMontgomery of MontgomeryCheese, Somerset, was cut by 87year-old Chelsea Pensioner BillCantwell with a helping hand fromAfghanistan veteran and 2012Paralympic athlete DerekDerenalagi.

The centre table groaned underthe weight of the magnificent arrayof cheeses donated to the RoyalHospital by cheese makers up anddown the country in the longestablished annual ceremony.

Mr Cantwell was born in Maerdy,

South Wales, and joined theGeneral Service Corps inSeptember 1942. He took part inthe D-Day landings, working hisway through France into Germany,ending up at Nienburg.

Derek Derenalagi was on a tourof duty in Helmand Province,Afghanistan, when his vehicle washit by an IED. He was pronounceddead and placed in a body bagbefore a medic detected a faintpulse. Both legs were amputatedabove the knee. Remarkably, hewent on to compete in this year’sParalympic games in the discus.

J Germany has identified arisk of Schmallenberg virus(SBV) in semen andembryos and is carrying outfurther investigations todetermine the level of threatit poses. France and the Nether-

lands have also confirmedsemen can carry the virus,and, if it is found to be arisk, could have majorimplications for semenexports from EU memberstates. Last year, several count-

ries including Australia,Canada and US appliedimport restrictions onbovine semen and embryoscollected after June 1, 2011,from all EU countries.The full extent of the risk

came to light after Schmall-enberg virus was identifiedin bovine semen followingthe German tests, wherebulls with known SBVantibody status wereanalysed for the presence

of the virus. Currently, 740 semen

batches from 94 SBVinfected and seroconvertingbulls have undergoneanalysis. Twenty-six batchesfrom 11 bulls reactedpositive in the tests. In threeof the 11 bulls with SBV-genome positive samples,the first SVB antibodieswere detected.

Virus excretionIn two bulls, the SBVgenome could be detectedfor more than 40 days in sixand eight of the semenbatches respectively. In one bull, a pattern of

PCR-positive and PCR-negative consecutivebatches were observedwithin 42 plus days,pointing to a possibleintermittant virus excretion. In vitro and in vivo

studies on the infectivity ofSBV-positive samples areongoing.

Schmallenberg virusfound in bovine semen

Veterans’ cheese ceremony


NEWS


In what could be asignificant move toimprove milk pricetransparency, DairyCrest and its supply

group Dairy Crest Direct areoffering farmers onstandard liquid contractsthe opportunity to move toa ‘ground-breaking’formula-based milk pricefrom April 1, 2013.The formula mechanism

has been developed byStephen Bradley, who iswell-known and respectedwithin the dairy sector forhis milk price comparisonwebsite, milkprices.com,and who is a regular contri-butor to Dairy Farmer.His brief was ‘to find a

simple, more transparent

formula method of agreeingthe milk prices currentlynegotiated between the twoparties’. Both Dairy Crest and

DCD hope its adoption willhelp take some of the heatout of price negotiationsand address the challengesseen earlier this year.

Pricing initiative“The process we have beenthrough with Stephen hasbeen very thorough,” saidDCD chairman DavidHerdman. “I am verypositive about the jointpricing initiative and whathas been achieved to date. “The finer details of the

actual formula calculationare currently being final-

ised, but it will take intoaccount movements in bothkey on-farm costs and dairymarket indices. “I believe this is a real

step forward in our comm-itment to find a better wayto agree farmgate milkprices for DCD members.”The formula-driven price

will be offered to farmers ona voluntary basis. InitiallyDairy Crest plans to agreean overall maximum milkvolume to be priced throughthe formula, with offersbeing confirmed on a ‘firstcome, first served’ basis. Further detail will be

provided to suppliers over the coming weeks,together with trainingworkshops.

News in brief

Richard’s moveJRichard Evans is tobecome Holstein UKcompany secretary andwill be rejoining theorganisation after 11 yearsworking for RABDF. Richard will be known to

many over recent years forhis key role in organisingthe Livestock Event. Before that he worked for

Holstein UK for more thantwo years following itscreation by the merger ofthe Holstein Friesian Societywith the British HolsteinSociety.At the RABDF, Caroline

Barbour has been appointedassistant event director totake over most of Richard’swork.

Drought tollJUS dairy farmers continueto suffer the effects of lastseason’s drought – theworst for half a century.High feed prices are

forcing producers to takedrastic measures in order tomaintain or salvage theirbusinesses as corn pricestop $300 (£185) per ton.Farmers have been forced

to sell productive dairycows to help pay for grainand hay. The number of cull cows

going to slaughter is at a 25year high, resulting in anover supply of culls andcausing prices to plummet.

JAlthough last year wasseen as pretty dreadful fordairying, the year March2011 to March 2012 was notthat bad, according toresults from Dodd & Co. Its annual survey for

the year to March 2012showed, in general, itsfarmer clients enjoyed anaverage milk price of28.41ppl, up 3.29ppl on theprevious year, allowing theaverage farm to run at asurplus of 1.90ppl.

But it wasn’t all goodnews, added the company.“These results hide theunderlying trends in theindustry. The associatedcosts of production rosesignificantly too –especially feed. Withvariable costs rising by2.26ppl and fixed costsrising by 0.44ppl, farmsurpluses only rose by0.91ppl.”Feed prices have soared

by about 44% in the past 12

months, yet milk priceshave only recently risen.The outlook for this

winter is worse, with theimpact of the wet summercoming into full effect. A lack of available

quality forage has meantan increased reliance onpurchased feeds. Withprices for feed wheat andsoya meal currently at anall-time high, this will pushmany farms into a loss-making position, it says.

Dairy Crest all setfor formula pricing

Winter feed costs will leave their mark


Use Medicines Responsibly. For more information visit www.noah.uk/responsibleMastiplan, Cepravin and Cobactan are only available via your veterinary surgeon from whom advice should be sought.Mastiplan LC contains 300mg/20mg Cefapirin/Prednisolone. Cepravin Dry Cow contains cefalonium. Cobactan contains cefquinome. Legal categories: POM-VMastiplan, Cepravin and Cobactan are the property of Intervet International B.V. or affiliated companies or licensors and is protected by copyrights, trademark and other intellectual property laws.Copyright © 2009 Intervet International B.V. All rights reserved. Further information is available from: MSD Animal Health, Walton Manor, Walton, Milton Keynes MK7 7AJ

[email protected] www.msd-animal-health.co.uk

MSD Animal Health is working with mastitis experts, vets and dairy farmers to encourage more effective and appropriate use of mastitis treatments, now and in the future, through the adoption of Early Lactation Therapy (ELT).

ELT is a pragmatic way forward for proactive dairy farmers aiming to successfully balance the demands of herd performance, best practice in mastitis management and the responsible use of antibiotics.

Ask your veterinary surgeon now for more information on ELT and look out for more information in dairy publications throughout the year.

MSD WP DF_MSD WP DF 02/01/2013 17:43 Page 1


COWMEN COMMENT

TIMGibsonTim Gibson farms in Bedale, North Yorkshire, milking 180cows with three Lely robots and the farm has 140 acresof combinable crops. Tim also runs a separate dairyengineering and supplies business from the farm.

“One thing ofwhich I am sureis the industryhas yet to fullyappreciate thecosts of lastyear’s weatherin terms of bothcrop losses anddepressedforage yields

The golden rule when kicking offone of these columns is not tomention the weather as by thetime the piece is publishedanything could have happened.

Because of its unpredictability, nothingwould surprise me if by January we havesix feet of snow or 16 degrees of sunshine. But the weather was probably the biggestsingle subject on every farmer’s lips in 2012.I have to say looking back on last year, Ihave not been affected as badly as manyand in that respect feel very lucky indeed. We harvested 40 acres of maize withoutany major issues, other than it not beingmature and theoretically too early. We hadtwo sorts in the ground – one a super allsinging and dancing variety and the other acheap game cover one. Typically with the year as it was theextreme high yielding one hardly came toany cobs, struggled in the cold and wet,and wasn’t really any good. The game cropspecial did far better, in some dry fields itwas as good as other years and, althoughnot as ripe, did produce the much neededbulk. I left a few corners and hedge backsas game crops and looking at them now Iam glad we cut when we did. They havestill not come to maturity and haven’taltered since October, so cutting when wedid was the right thing. That wasn’t the case with the third cut

silage which we left to go on top of themaize. We could have probably got it in fairfettle in September and at least have thenhad a dry feed. Leaving it until late Octoberensured we made a great big heap of wetmush that will have no feed value and nowbalances on top of the not much bettermaize mush. Feeding them both will be achallenge we have yet to face and it will beinteresting to see what the cows think of it. Another weather-related problem weencountered was a suspected mycotoxin.Milk dropped 10 litres a cow for two weekswhile we struggled to think what it wasand how to fix it. So mycotoxin binder wasadded to the feed and things came backover a week or so, but not back to wherethey were. The issue I think was somewheat we dry rolled to feed straight off thecombine, while the rest was crimped andleft in the clamp for a month beforeopening. The dry rolled wheat was not dryenough and molded. One thing of which I am sure is that theindustry has yet to fully appreciate the costsof last year’s weather in terms of both croplosses and depressed forage yields. Indeed,the knock-on effects will go into the nextharvest. So little wheat in our area has beensown that people are already talking aboutshortages and trouble of getting any forfeeding this winter let alone forwardbuying for next. I have even heard of a local

**DF Jan p8 9 Cowmen Gibson _Layout 1 02/01/2013 13:26 Page 1


COWMEN COMMENT

Farm open day

rTim has kindly agreedto hold an open day at hisfarm in North Yorkshire inthe second half of April. Details to follow nearer the time.

WORRIED ABOUTTB IN YOUR HERD?

Talk to us.FCN Helpline 0845 367 99907.00 am until 11.00 pm – everyday of the year.

pig farmer buying spring-sown feed barleyas feed, but then sending all of it away fordressing to sow this spring.

In addition, I suspect cows will comedown in price in spring as there will beforage shortages and people looking toreduce stock numbers to spin out what feedis left before turn out. I had been planningto buy some more cows, but with the wetsilages I am not tempted to rush out to doso yet, especially if they need all their feedbuying for them at high prices.

As we are all aware, the price crisis in thedairy industry is far from over, and thechallenge remains. The picture above showssome of Yorkshire’s bravest young femalefarmers, who bared (nearly) all to protestlast year that the price of milk is less than

that of water in supermarkets. I arrangedthis stunt as part of the SOS dairy campaignand long may 2012 be remembered forwhen the whole industry (for once) stoodup to be noticed and challenged prices wewere expected to accept.

There is no excuse for milk to be cheaperthan water. The efforts of these ladies, andthose who have braved cold nightsprotesting into the early hours, are some ofthe more positive things to remember from2012, and we must not let our milk buyersforget our costs have escalated.

Mind you, it would be true to say that westill have a way to go for milk prices toreflect the long hours, high costs and capitalneeded to make a decent, honest return forour efforts.

Some of farming’s finest capturepublic interest as they make theirpoint outside a middle groundCatterick supermarket.

**DF Jan p8 9 Cowmen Gibson _Layout 1 04/01/2013 10:06 Page 2


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John Trott of FarleyFarms Estate, nearSwallowfield,Reading, hasmanaged the 200-cow

8,500-litre Bearsted herd fornine months.Working alongside the

substantial arable unit, the farmis managed with 150 grazingacres, 100 acres for maize, 160acres for one grass silage cutand 70 acres for a second. Thelargely gravelly soil normallydrains well but, as Mr Trottsays, this year was out of theordinary.“We have a large area of

grazing in the water meadowsnext to the River Lodden andthe wet spring and summerplayed havoc with our plans,”he relates. “No sooner were thecows out than we had to bringthem in again as pastures werewaterlogged. In addition therewas a clear impact on mastitiscase rates in August and earlySeptember when fields wereunder water.”Normally, the herd runs at an

encouraging 80,000 cells/mland about 25-30 quarter casesof mastitis/100 cows/year (thenational target is 40 quartercases/100 cows/year). “Work was being done on the

The ELT process

ELT is a simple three-step process:1. Identify animals at risk ofdeveloping mastitis2. Monitor high risk animals andtheir records3. Early identification of clinicalcases and early appropriatetreatment.

buildings in August, meaningwe couldn’t house stock, andthere was rain virtually everyday. Looking back, we can seecell counts rose to 110,000cells/ml and mastitis rates to 40quarter cases/100 cows/year,which was not good news,”says Mr Trott.

TestingVet Phil MacIntosh of WestpointVet Group, Reading, says: “Wehad been doing really well inthe spring with very few casesbut were truly scuppered withflooded pastures, housing thatwas out of action and a rise inmastitis rates. Routine bacterio-logy testing revealed that,unsurprisingly, it was environ-mental mastitis caused by E.coli. “Luckily, it was just a small

hiccup with new cases fallingagain in mid-September andcell counts soon reverted to

normal levels of around 80,000cells/ml,” he says. The herd follows mastitis

treatment protocols designed bytheir vet, with first line therapyof Cobactan tubes and withsevere cases getting comb-ination therapy of Cobactantubes and Cobactan injection.All cows are dried off withCepravin and a teat sealant. Working with vet Mr

MacIntosh, the herd is on aWestpoint Milk 4 Life contractfocussing on reducing mastitisand cell counts. This involvesregular visits which centre onmilking routine and the cowenvironment, as well asregularly reviewing the datawith the whole team.“We have managed to get

the herd down to less than 10%with a cell count of greater than200,000, and this has beenthrough preventing outbreaksand identifying and treatingnew cases promptly andeffectively, and this is givingus excellent cure rates andlow recurrence,” states MrMacIntosh. All cows with a SCC of over

200,000cells/ml are markedwith a yellow tape and theirclusters flushed to prevent crosscontamination. In addition, all

Monitoring cattle which may be at risk of mastitis and recording all treatmentand animal responses are key elements of the ELT (Early Lactation Therapy)protocol. Here we speak to a Berkshire dairy farmer who has wholeheartedlyembraced some of the protocol’s main features.

**DF Jan p10 11 ELT CORRECT _Layout 1 03/01/2013 14:09 Page 1


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Several scientific studiesmake the point thatidentifying mastitis as earlyas possible and treating,according to the mosteffective protocol, shouldlead to the best results.And this is part of thethinking behind ELT – EarlyLactation Therapy. ELT isa new protocol developedjointly by MSD AnimalHealth (manufacturers ofCepravin, Cobactan andMastiplan) and leading UKvets to assist with the day-to-day management ofmastitis.ELT aims to help maximizecure rates, minimisemastitis recurrence rates,and deliver a rapid returnto acceptable cell countsand, hence, saleable milk.

More about ELTtreated cows have a milksample taken for freezingand are delvo tested toensure there are no anti-biotic residues remainingbefore the milk enters thetank. Also, as a belt and braces

policy, bulk milk issampled for antibioticresidues on-farm beforeevery collection. CMT testsare also used as and whennecessary. Mr Trott’s aim isto prevent mastitis wherepossible through goodhygiene, management ofhousing, parlour routine,feeding, and ensuring cows are healthy, therebyreducing the overall use ofantibiotics.

“Understanding whereexactly the herd is in termsof performance is importantand also allows us toidentify any problem cows,and follow them through ifneeds be,” says Mr Trott.“As well as improving

record keeping, John hasworked hard to make bestuse of the new cubicleshed,” adds Mr MacIntosh.

Cleanliness “All milking and dry cowsare now housed on freshsawdust put down twicedaily, and cubicle dimen-sions tweaked to improvecleanliness and occupancy.“Three weeks prior to

calving, cattle are moved

to straw yards which arebedded daily and regul-arly cleaned out.” Attention to detail is

important at all stages andnow that mastitis rates areback on target, Mr Trott isaiming to push yields andimprove fertility levelswithin the herd.

Phil MacIntosh: good cure rates.

**DF Jan p10 11 ELT CORRECT _Layout 1 03/01/2013 14:09 Page 2


ON FARM

Ayrshires and Shorthorns playtheir part in family’s success

The Baynes family has developed an award-winning herd of pedigree Ayrshire and Dairy Shorthorncows at Marley Cote Wall Farm, Hexham. Bruce Jobson reports on the family’s recent success.

The Baynesfamily, Davidand Shirley andsons Richardand Paul, farm

120ha (300 acres) on apicturesque plateau risingup from the floor of theTyne valley. The farm hasundergone a hugeinvestment programmeover the past couple ofyears with new housing,robotic milkers and an on-farm milk processing plant. The family has a deep

agricultural heritage havingfarmed in Northumberlandsince the 1800s. Theirpredecessors startedmilking Dairy Shorthorns inthe 1930s and, today, theMarleycote herd ofShorthorns and Ayrshireshas gained worldwiderecognition as a leadingsource of top qualitygenetics.The farming enterprise

has developed rapidly inthe past few years in orderto support the whole family.The Baynes’s decided tostart milk processing in 2005and with the aid of a RuralDevelopment (RDPE) grant,established an on-farmprocessing plant. The family farm is the

only business inNorthumberland to processits own milk and operatesunder the brand ofNorthumbrian PedigreeMilk and Cream.

Milk supplyThe plant now processesup to 50% of the herd’smilk supply, employs twomembers of staff and threedrivers operating the twodelivery vans, explainsyoungest son Paul, whohas responsibility for thisbranch of the business.“We’ve established a

small dedicated team, eachhaving specific responsi-bilities. Dad helps coverdelivery duties as well asbeing involved with thedairy herd, and we bottle

milk thrice weekly. TheNorthumbrian PedigreeMilk brand is growing andwe’ve expanded operationsby 50% in the past 18months and now supplyover 100 farm and villageshops.“The remainder of our

milk is sold to First Milkand we are aware demandfor own processed milk canfluctuate on a seasonalbasis. We’ve created a nichemarket by offeringcustomers a ‘traditional’product, with completetraceability, being locallyproduced with a distinctivetaste as our milk is nothomogenised,” says Paul.One of the farm’s biggest

customers is Northumber-land based Spurreli Ice

Some of the Marleycote herd of Dairy Shorthorn and Ayrshire cattle take a rest outside.

Morwick Fawn 3 EX94 wasAyrshire champion at last year’sGreat Yorkshire Show.

Cream, which wasestablished in August 2010at the Old Boat Yard atAmble. Milk is deliveredtwice weekly and bothbusinesses have benefitedfrom the development oftheir respective brands.

**DF Jan p12 13 14 On Farm_Layout 1 04/01/2013 12:36 Page 1


ON FARMA VET’S VIEWWE are all familiar with the signs of mastitis in dairycows – clots in the milk, swollen udder and sometimesa sick cow. As we know the most common cause ofmastitis is a bacterial infection, we automatically reachfor the antibiotics to treat this infection. While this is important in clearing up the invading

bacteria in those particular cows and controlling thespread of infection to other cows in the herd, wemaybe do not consider enough the significance of theinflammation associated with mastitis. Whether the mastitis is caused by pathogens which

have been picked up from the environment, ‘environ-mental mastitis’, or spread between cows, ‘conta-gious mastitis’, it is the inflammation associated withthe infection which causes the visible signs. The signs of milk clots, redness, swelling or even

the cow being generally unwell and the increase in somatic cell count (SCC) are all caused by the inflam-mation. Somatic cells are essentially white blood cells and

other body cells, and although inflammation acts as aprotective mechanism by drawing in these cells to fightinfection, it can also cause problems with a prolongedrise in SCC and long-term changes to udder tissue.

CommonNon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) arecommonly used when cows are sick with mastitis orhave a raised temperature. They provide pain reliefand reduce fever. This means the cow feels bettersooner so improving welfare. A recent study alsodemonstrated when the long acting anti-inflammato-ry Metacam was used alongside an antibiotic in mildto moderate cases of mastitis, a significant benefitwas seen in terms of reduced somatic cell count andculling rates.

Think differentlyThis should make us think a little differently when weare treating mastitis. Although it is essential the rightantibiotics are used in the right way for the pathogenson your farm, there are also benefits to be had fromusing NSAIDs routinely.If we think about using a long-acting NSAID for every

case of mastitis, not just thesick ones, we can begin todeal with the inflammation.This will reduce cell countsand culling rates, and willaddress the pain to improvecow health and welfare.

By Oli Hodgkinson, Trefaldwyn Vets

The educational item is supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, makersof Metacam. Advice on the use of Metacam® or other therapies should be soughtfrom your veterinary surgeon. Metacam contains meloxicam. Prescription onlymedicine. Further information available from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica,Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YS, UK. Email: [email protected]. Date of preparation: Sep 2012.AHD 7330 Use Medicines Responsibly (www.noah.co.uk/responsible)

From left to right: Richard, David and Paul Baynes.

Within 12 months of establish-ing Spurreli, owners Nick andKate Spurr received a host ofawards for their Italian-basedice-cream flavours. The nationalawards include a Golden Fork atthe 2011 Great Taste Awards forthe Best Speciality Food from thenorth of England for theirPistachio ice cream. Milk qualityis an essential prerequisite, saysNick.“We wanted a high quality

milk product to help enhancethe flavour of our artisan icecream. Ayrshire and Shorthornmilk has a very distinctive tasteand this has helped our productdevelopment. We were also keento use a local supplier andNorthumberland Pedigree Milkhas played an integral part inour success,” he says.The Baynes family took a

collective decision three yearsago about the future direction oftheir business. The farm’straditional buildings required anupgrade and the family decidedto invest in a green-fielddevelopment in order to houseand milk the herd in one self-contained unit.The new ‘state-of-the-art’

premises provides the herd withlarger than normal cubicles,comfortable cow mattresses,increased ventilation, widerpassageways and a stress freeenvironment. The herd is fedon grass silage and wholecropwheat using external feedpassageways in order tominimise cow disruption.

Robotic milking The facility also incorporates asuspended viewing gallery andoffice, as well as slatted flooringwith capacity for eight monthsover-winter slurry storage. Thefamily also decided to installrobotic milking facilities and thenew building incorporates twoLely Astronaut robots.“We wanted better manage-

ment control and installing therobots has provided more timeto supervise the herd. We’re notall tied up in the milking parlourtwice per day, seven days perweek,” says Richard.“On average, the herd is now

being milked between 2.5 andthree times daily. High yieldinganimals are less stressed andmastitis is extremely rare. Cellcounts have dropped from the


2012 World Red Cowaward in a photographiccompetition organised byAustralia-basedinternational all-breedsmagazine, CrazyCow, andOntario-based SemexAlliance. Peggy 10 eclipsed the

world’s best Red cowentries in a competitionfeaturing nominations fromAustralia, Canada, USA andNew Zealand, and by doingso helped propel theMarleycote prefix to globalprominence.Richard says: “We sold

Peggy 10 as an undefeatedshow heifer to Ian Harriesfrom Carmarthen, Wales,and she maintained herstatus of having neverbeing beaten in her class.We’ve never regrettedselling such a top animal as

our reputation has spreadthroughout the UK andinternationally.“Ian has gone on record

as stating Peggy is the bestcow of the breed he’s everseen. We’re all flatteredand the story is a realNorthumbrian success asPeggy is sired by MorwickSand Ranger, a bull bred byD and A Howie and Sons,Acklington, Morpeth.” The family are keen to

point out the overallstrength of the herd withmore than 100 milkingDairy Shorthorns and 60Ayrshire cows. As a mark of their

progress, in March 2012Marleycote received theBorderway UK Dairy ExpoPremier Breeder Award forthe Shorthorn breed at theinaugural event at Carlisle.

ON FARM


Farm facts

rMore than 100 milkingDairy Shorthorns and 60Ayrshire cowsrFarm 120 hectares(300 acres) in the TynevalleyrYields have increasedbetween 1500 and 2000litres over past 30 monthsrOn-farm processingplant which nowprocesses up to 50% ofthe herd’s milkrRest sold to First Milk.

The new building incorporates two Lely Astronaut robots. New ‘state-of-the-art’ premises provides the herd with larger cubicles.

200-300,000 level to 133,000and 68,000 for Ayrshiresand Shorthorns respectively. “The cows are much more

relaxed and milk yieldshave increased between1500 and 2000 litres overthe past 30 months. Therobots incorporate ‘HeatTime’ and taking all herdimprovement factors intoconsideration, as wellexpansion of the herd from120 to 160 cows, calvinginterval has been reducedby 24 days and is nowrunning at 399 days.”Current herd average for

both breeds is similar withthe Shorthorns averaging7900kg at 4.1%fat and3.46% protein, and theAyrshires slightly aheadat 8100kg but on the samecomponent level.

DietThe two breeds are fed thesame diet and Richard aimsto develop a similar type ofcow by maintaining theunique character of therespective breeds such asthe Dairy Shorthorn’s feetand legs and the renownedudder quality of theAyrshire. Richard’s expertise is

well regarded within theshow world. He judged theinter-breed competition atthe 2012 Royal HighlandShow and a few weekslater, one of the herd’sleading Ayrshires, MorwickFawn 3 Ex94, was awardedthe champion Ayrshire titleat the Great YorkshireShow. Not to be outdone on the

Shorthorn side, MarleycotePeggy 10 has become anicon of the breed after beingcrowned joint winner of the

MarleycotePeggy 10 wascrowned jointwinner of the2012 WorldRed Cowaward.


Holstein UK WP_Holstein UK WP 02/01/2013 18:10 Page 1


POTTER’S VIEW

IANPotter

“Butremember,cheese can beimported fromanywhere in theworld to plug ashortfall

This month, Ian Potter casts his eye over the cheese sector where imports are all too easilysucked in if domestic prices get out of kilter with those overseas. He also wonders whether

the Red Tractor logo will be reduced to a mere bolt-on extra.

Last year will be remembered forthe awful weather, catastrophicprice drops and the lowest milksupply in history – not forgettingthe huge farmer protests which

generated incredible media coverage andthe support of top TV chefs. Additionally, Jim Paice succeeded in

banging heads together and announcing anagreed voluntary code of practice, havingthreatened to legislate only hours before hewas axed. However, I really struggle tounderstand how the Government couldpossibly legislate over the relationshipbetween farmer, processor and retailer so asto guard against inequalities in the supplychain. It will be up to the NFUs, FFA and others

in the coalition to police it and persuade allmilk purchasers to adopt it. But if it isabused, or not used, processors should notexpect farmers to sit back and bedemoralised by a dysfunctional and de-stabilised industry. Dairy farmers knowthey have influence and power andunderstand if these are used wisely theycan be effective.As we enter 2013 it will be a challenge to

significantly increase ex-farmgate liquidmilk prices until the gap between them andthe milk for cheese price closes. Havingsaid that, there is clear evidence significantquantities of milk for cheese are going tothe liquid market, which will tighten up the

availability of cheese. But remember, cheesecan be imported from anywhere in theworld to plug a shortfall. I am aware of cheese processors who

have either defended their existingcontracts by taking a price cut, or have lostbusiness to very aggressive competitorswho have undercut them in pursuit ofvolume. All of these moves devalue theindustry and once margin is surrendered itis very difficult to recoup it as liquidprocessors will testify.The problem is cheese is a globally traded

commodity and you would be hard pushedto believe there is significant headroom topush prices up too much. While average UK milk prices were in

many cases below the cost of productionduring 2012, they moved from near thebottom of the 27 European member statesmilk price league table to almost the top.Against this is the catastrophic drop in milkproduction, which, if it were to continue in2013, will result in factories closing andimports increasing.Recently I was invited to visit the UK’s

largest cheese packing site at Adams, Leek,owned by the Irish Dairy Board (IDB),where I met two of its directors and its chiefexecutive. At the site, the company packs atleast a third of all the hard cheese sold inthe UK and half of all private label cheese,which has a total value of £220 million. Thebusiness has a £315m annual turnover.

**DF Jan p16 17 Potter VER 2 _Layout 1 04/01/2013 11:28 Page 1


POTTER’S VIEW

Ian Potter

rIan is a specialist milkquota and entitlement broker.Comments please to [email protected]

The second favourite UK cheese brand isPilgrim’s Choice, which is owned by theIDB (at number one is Dairy Crest’sCathedral City). Pilgrim’s Choice is sourcedfrom the IDB predominantly from fiveSouthern Irish Creameries. I challenged the organisation’s bosses

over the fact that the packaging forPilgrim’s Choice states it is ‘packed inBritain’. They were adamant the own labelcheddar-buying public have provenance asa low priority, and they are probably right. It is said the public are patriotic on cheese

until it costs them money. Note, somewhatbizarrely, all Pilgrim’s Choice exported outof GB is made in the south-west usingBritish cow’s milk. However, Adams didconfirm they will be changing theirPilgrim’s Choice mature and extra maturepackaging in the New Year, highlighting thefact that the cheese is made from Irish milkas opposed to sourced from elsewhere.The IDB have recently won a contract

starting in early 2013 for about 8000 to 9000tonnes to supply Iceland stores, withArla/Milk Link having lost out. When Ifirst heard I thought that is a blow to Britishcheese production, but on further investig-ation it came to light Arla/Milk Link have,for a long time, used Irish cheese packed atOswestry and put into Iceland stores. Infact, it is conceivable Iceland’s move tosource its cheese from IDB could see moreBritish milk going into Iceland’s cheese.When questioned over the effect on Irish

cheese production post March 2015, whenmilk quotas end, IDB research suggestsmost extra milk will go into butter orpowder for global markets.

Adams don’t actually make any cheese,they just cut it, grate it, pack it and sell it.They don’t get hung up about Red Tractorlogos or Farm Assurance and that is theway one or two appear to be heading. Arethese dairy businesses, which are turningtheir backs on Red Tractor farm assurance,becoming the Ryanair of the dairy world?Are they offering to deliver you competitivequality cheese with no frills, no red tape, nofarm assurance, but if you want any ofthose extra bells and whistles you pay?The very sudden and sad departure of

the FFA’s vice chairman, AndrewHemming, has left a huge void in theorganisation which will need to be filledquickly. There are a number of potentialcandidates who aspire to becomeHandley’s lieutenant. I think for theorganisation to retain credibility, the vicechairman must be a professional, active,grass-roots dairy farmer whose solemotivation is to work with David and theFFA for the benefit of farmers. He or shemust be a leader and good communicatorand someone who can share the workloadwith David. That certainly narrows downthe field and demonstrates what a goodman Andrew was, and how hard his bootswill be to fill.Finally, discounters such as Poundland

and others have decided they can no longerdo 4 pints (2.272 litres) for £1. The word onthe street is at least one of our big threeliquid processors is close to down sizingtheir standard 4 pint container to enablediscounters to continue to offer £1 cartonsof milk. We need some New Year cheer, andthat will do for starters.

‘Are they becoming thedairy world’s Ryanair?’

**DF Jan p16 17 Potter VER 2 _Layout 1 04/01/2013 11:28 Page 2


VET’S VIEW

This month Bruce Richards, farm animal director at Paragon Veterinary Group, Cumbria,shares his fears for the coming calving season and the ramifications of poor quality forages.

Is Schmallenberg about to strike us in the north?

NorthernCumbria hasits fair shareof diseasechallenges,

but there have been timesin recent years when wehave looked on other partsof the country andbeen gratefulnot to havebeen toobadlyaffectedwiththingssuch as

bluetongue and morerecently Schmallenbergvirus (SBV). So it came as bit of a

surprise when earlier thisweek we got the results ofsome random, practice-funded, SBV bulk tanktests among our clients –

60% positive and 20%inconclusive –suggesting SBV isnow present inCumbria. Bulk tank

antibodies aresimply anindication of

exposure

to the virus and it isdifficult to quantify thenumber of animalsinvolved or how recentlythey were exposed. It istrue as yet we have had noreports of suspectedclinical disease – hightemperatures, scour andmilk drop, which I knowhas being seen in moresouthern parts of thecountry. But if theevidence in early lambingsouthern flocks is anythingto go by, I fear the

northern parts of thecountry might be facingsimilar challenges comelambing, and possiblycalving, this spring andsummer.

Winter feedingAlso the effect of lastyear’s atrocious weatheris being increasingly seenas we get further intowinter feeding. Our earlyforages have beenfrustrating to say the leastwith reduced performancebeing the norm this year.

Lowdry

**DF Jan p18 19 Vets View_Layout 1 04/01/2013 10:42 Page 1


VET’S VIEW

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Winter feeding tips

rMaximise and monitorDMIrRegularly analyse andreview forages/rationsrUse a mix of foragesand typerMonitor cudding rates

and faecal consistencyrSupplement rumen en-ergy but watch for acidosisrDeliver a consistentlymixed ration every dayrMonitor BCS and BHBlevels.

matters are common placewith low energy andintake potential being thebiggest challenge. Meeting rumen microbeenergy needs remains ourprimary nutritionalchallenge and cereals haveoften been used to fill thisrumen energy gap. But thepoor weather produced ahigh risk of mycotoxins incereals and cereal-basedstraights, and we have hadtwo or three herds respondwell to inclusion of binders.With the added issue ofsecondary fermentation,poor palatability and lowdry matter intakes (DMI),the risk of rumen acidosishas been high, often nothelped by the push foradditional starch-basedenergy. Acidosis, often sub-clinical, has led to a plethoraof poor health and perform-ance conditions – oftenconcurrent with underlyinglow grade stress relatedimmuno-suppression in myview. Monitoring cuddingrates and faeces consist-

ency is a quick way ofgauging the risk ofacidosis. Those fortunateenough to be able to feed amix of forage cuts andtypes, especially maize,seem to be well on the wayto meeting the challengewithout spending afortune chasing milk withexpensive straights.

IncidenceFortunately our dairyfarmers have not yetexperienced an upsurge inthe incidence of left dis-placed abomasa (LDAs),and I suspect these are yetto come although we aregetting a steady two tothree a month. We havebegun using the laparo-scopic technique for LDAcorrection, following thepositive feedback fromother practices. The laparoscopicprocedure is relatively non-invasive, quick and,crucially, seems to have theadvantage of more milk perday and maybe even lowermortalities. We look

forward to doing our ownpractice analysis in duecourse.Liver fluke is alsoproving a massive burdenthis autumn. More than70% of our bulk tanksurveillance samples arereturning very highantibody titres, suggestingsome exposure during the

previous nine to 12months. Couple this withpositive faecal egg counts,liver condemnation atabattoirs and even death,it’s evident many of ourdairy herds faced highlevels of challenge thisautumn. Liver fluke is rapidlybecoming one of our mostcommonly diagnosedlivestock diseases. Wherethis disease is affectinghealth and productivity,treatment and control isproving a challenge withonly two products currentlylicenced in dairy animals, orat least those intended formilk production, and nonethat can be used in lactatinganimals producing milk forhuman consumption.

“Monitoringcudding ratesand faecesconsistency is aquick way ofgauging the riskof acidosis

**DF Jan p18 19 Vets View_Layout 1 04/01/2013 10:42 Page 2


CONFERENCE

Radical thinking as towhat we feed livestock

New thinking about livestock nutrition is looking at not just what is best for animals butalso what is best for humans eating milk or meat products. A recent conference,sponsored by BOCM PAULS and Valorex, outlined the scope of this new philosophy.

Aneworganisationdedicated toimprovinghuman

dietary health throughbetter livestock nutritionhas launched in the UK.

Food Chain ImprovementUK (FCi) is a collaborativemulti-company ventureincluding the FrenchValorex which has thephilosophy that providinghealthier rations to animalsresults in healthier humandiets, as well as reducingthe environmental impact ofagriculture.

Processors and retailersare increasingly buying intothis philosophy claimedPierre Weill, chairman ofValorex. Here in the UK,M&S is leading the waywith its lower saturated fat‘healthier’ milk brand. Byaltering cows’ diets andremoving palm oil, thenew milk has taken 84tonnes of saturated fat outof its customers’ diets.

In France farmers,processors and retailershave adopted thephilosophy via the €480million Bleu-Blanc-Coeur

Association brand. This isofficially recognised by theFrench National NutritionProgramme, has politicalsupport, and grew at a rateof 30% last year, with 700different products labeledwith B-B-C.

Raw materialsIt encompasses 5000farmers who produce up to12% of French milk, beef,pork, and eggs usingspecifically chosen rawmaterials. For example, theyuse locally grown (cooked)linseed products insteadof palm oil, and they alsouse local rape instead ofimported soya.

Consequently B-B-Cproducts are lower insaturated fat and naturallyhigher in Omega 3, andhave a lower environmentalfootprint.

The objective of FCi inthe UK is to deliver thesame benefits to consumersby communicating thephilosophy to growers,animal nutritionists, farmersand retailers. The initialpoint of contact in the UKfor FCi is David Forbesfrom BOCM PAULS, which

was the first company toengage with Valorex in theUK.

The company alsodeveloped Visiolac, the feedefficiency programmewhich uses milk fatty acidtesting to determinesaturated fat/Omega 3levels. But Mr Forbes saidthe Food Chain Improve-ment consultancy wouldbe independent of hiscompany as the FCiphilosophy transcends thewhole food supply chain.

Choices “There is a growingrealisation that the choiceswe make with our diet canhave a profound effect onour own health and also the

health of our animals andour environment,” he said.

“Our food chain connectsall three elements, be itthrough crop production,animal health, or green-house gas production.Through new science wenow know the lipidcomposition of feed, andespecially the Omega6/Omega 3 balance, is animportant issue for healthand environment.”

Conference delegateswere told that adopting thephilosophy would notcompromise animal health,welfare or fertility. In fact itcould improve all of thesebecause Omega 3 hasbeneficial effects on allanimals, not just humans.

In France, Danone’shead of milk sourcing PaulGardner, said the companywas now providing apositive image of farmers toimprove the quality of thefood chain.

By showing farmers wereenvironmentally consciousand interested in producingfood which was good forconsumers’ health, thiswould help them reconnectwith the public.

David Forbes: whole food chain.

**DF Jan p20 BOCM Conf _Layout 1 04/01/2013 12:36 Page 1

ike many dairyfarmers, Derbyshireproducer ChrisClowes was facedwith a squeeze on

margins due to rising soyaprices. But by changing tothe cost-effective alternativesource of quality bypassprotein, NWF Ultra Pro-R, hehas seen feed costs reducedby £8,000 this winter and

yields have been unaffected.Chris runs a herd of 230 allyear round calving Holsteinsat Sandhills Farm nearAshbourne. He grows grass,maize and cereals on 350acres of mainly clay soils.The cows average 9,500 litreswith high yielders housed allyear round while low yieldersgraze in the summer andare also buffer fed. Nothingis fed in the parlour.

The cows are TMR fed on amix of grass, maize andwholecrop silages fed with aconcentrate pre-mix. The mix has been fairlyconstant for several years,based on soya, rape meal,pea and bean meal, biscuitmeal, minerals and vitamins.The high yielders’ TMR isformulated for M+32 litreswhile the low yield diet isbalanced for M+22 litres.

Soya prices rocket“The system was workingwell and yields had beenrising steadily so I saw noneed to change it,” Chriscomments. “That was untilsoya prices began to takeoff and the economicsstarted to look far lessfavourable. I had to reducethe cost of protein, but Iwasn’t prepared to sacrificeprotein quality and milkyield in so doing.”Following advice from DavidWarrington, ManagingDirector of NWF AgricultureChris decided to try NWFUltra Pro-R, a rapeseed mealwhich has been treated toreduce the degradability ofprotein in the rumen. The cows need a supply ofquality bypass protein and

the higher the milk yield themore they need. The problemis that feeds traditionallyhigh in bypass protein are atrecord high prices. But by treating rapeseedusing a unique process,NWF have produced a feedthat is an extremely cost-effective source of thequality protein cows need.Quality at lower priceNWF Ultra Pro-R has morequality bypass protein thansoya but at a lower price,providing optimumperformance and value in abalanced diet. Based oncurrent prices, it is half theprice of soya on a cost ofbypass protein basis (see table)Instead of feeding 50:50soya and rape as the proteinin the premix, Chris nowfeeds 80% Ultra Pro-R and20% soya. The change issaving him around £40 perday at current prices, or£8,000 over the winter.

Since making the changethe cows have continued tomilk as well as before sochanging the diet did notaffect high yields.

Cow friendly feed“Milk quality has stayedaround 3.9% butterfat and3.3% protein. Fresh calvershave settled into lactationreally well. We have had noproblems with intakes orwith the practicalities offeeding NWF Ultra Pro-R.“If I continue to feed NWFUltra Pro-R to the 100 highyielders over the summer Icould save £1,900 moregiving a total saving ofalmost £10,000.“With raw material pricepressure likely to continue,changing to NWF Ultra Pro-Rhas helped me keep a lid onfeed costs and preservemargins in what is provingto be a challenging winter,”he concludes.

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NWF Advetorial WP_NWF Advetorial WP 02/01/2013 17:44 Page 1


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It is a shocking statistic that, on average, 8% of calves are born dead or diewithin 24 hours of birth on UK farms and 15% of heifers born alive fail to makeit through the youngstock rearing period1.

Along withpneumonia,which we

featured last month,infectious scour problemsare undoubtedlyresponsible for asignificant proportion ofthese calf losses.

According to the 2012Rotavec Corona NationalScour Survey conductedin association with DairyFarmer, scour problemsare still far too prevalent.

Alfredo Sanz Moreno,ruminant veterinaryadviser with MSDAnimal Health, says:“These latest surveyresults showed about aquarter of farms still havea scour problem whichdefinitely needs dealing

Tackle scours nowfor healthy calves

with. And if more than 10per cent of your calves areaffected by scour annually,you really should seekveterinary advice.”

Mr Sanz Moreno saysinfectious scour is one of thekey causes of death inyoung calves over winter,simply because the diseasechallenge is so high onmany UK farms.

“Most housed calves aresurrounded from birth bythe viruses, bacteria andother organisms such asprotozoa which causedisease. But when a calf isborn it has no antibodies tofight infection and needsassistance to ward off thevarious challenges it faces inearly life.

“Without nurture or ahelping hand to ensure itreceives an adequate supplyof high quality colostrum,particularly in the first 24hours after birth, the calfwill remain vulnerable toscour infections from itsenvironment and othercattle in its immediatevicinity.”

Despite this constantchallenge, Mr Sanz Morenosays farmers can minimise

the impact of calf scour withsome simple practical steps.

High quality“Infectious calf scour doesnot have to be accepted asan occupational hazard thatcomes with rearing calves.Sound colostrum feedingpractices, including thefeeding of high qualitycolostrum from vaccinatedcows, and scrupulousattention to hygiene, will allhelp. Put simply, providedyou seek veterinary adviceand recognise the helpcalves need to survive thosecritical first few days of life,there is no reason why youcannot cut your losses fromthis costly problem.”

Despite the high diseaseincidence flagged up by the

latest survey results, thereare also positive signs manyfarmers are already makinggood progress.

“The 2012 National ScourSurvey does show morethan one in three farmersare now vaccinating againstinfectious scours,” he says.“And of those who dovaccinate, more than two-thirds vaccinate the wholeherd, which is stronglyrecommended.

“We know too that whenit comes to tacklingrotavirus, coronavirus andE.coli K99 scours, vaccin-ation of the dam between 12and three weeks pre-calving– and then feeding theantibody rich colostrum toher calf – is an extremelyeffective disease strategy.”

A clean rearing environment will help protect calves from scour.

Alfredo Sanz Moreno.

**DF Jan p22 23 24 25 Winter Calf Health Signed off_Layout 1 02/01/2013 13:46 Page 1


SPONSORED SERIES

In a nutshell, the effective control of calf scour problems hinges around improved attention to detail, explains KatBazeley from Dorset-based Synergy Farm Health.

Attention to detail is criticalVet Kat Bazeley, from

Synergy FarmHealth, says: “I tell

farmers that the balancebetween the calf’s defencesand the disease challengeneeds to be tipped infavour of the calf.“This means maintaining

excellent hygiene and con-stant milk feeding routines,

ensuring every calf receivesadequate colostrumprotection within four tosix hours after birth,vaccinating cows againstBVD and also consideringvaccination againstrotavirus, coronavirus andE.coli K99,” she explains.Ms Bazeley stresses

that without an effective

colostrum feeding regimethere is no prospect ofreducing the impact ofscour on a calf rearingunit. “The average calf must

receive a least four litres ofgood quality colostrumwithin six hours of birtheither by sucking fromthe dam or by bottle or

stomach tube. You cancheck the quality ofcolostrum you are feedingusing a colostrometer. Inaddition, you can assesswhether your colostrumfeeding regime is adequateby asking your vet toblood test some of yourcalves for their antibodystatus,” she says.

Case study: Halton Farms, Cheshire

FOR Karen Halton, whooversees the calf rearing atHalton Farms near Congletonin Cheshire, attention to detailis absolutely crucial.“Before we changed our

approach the calf rearingwas nobody’s responsibility. Idid a bit of it, the herdsmangot involved, but there wasno individual taking fullresponsibility.”Today it is entirely Karen’s

domain. She takes respons-ibility for every calf from themoment of its birth. And herjob, she knows, is of theutmost importance.“These animals are our

future,” she says. “They areeither replacement heifers forthe dairy herd, or they are animportant part of the incomewhen sold as beef crosses.It’s important to invest energyand time in them early on, toget something back later andthroughout the rest of theirlives.”Her early focus was on

colostrum intake, which sheadmits has become almost

indication of the colostrumquality,” she says. “And it canbe very deceptive as it’s notalways the thick, yellow stuffthat has the high readings.”In fact, the herd as a whole

produces good quality colost-rum, achieved through the long-term routine vaccination ofcows with Rotavec Coronabetween 12 and three weeksprior to calving. This raises thelevel of antibodies in the cow’scolostrum against E. coli K99,rotavirus and coronavirus andensures she passes theimmunity on to her calf. The rewards from such

attention to detail have beenrich. Calf buyers at Chelfordmarket, who used to ask ‘who isthe girl with the Gucci glasses’,now pay top prices for hercalves while others go straightto the farm and are generatinga strong private trade.Tom, Karen’s husband, says:

“Our heifer rearer has definitelynoticed the difference, and hascommented our calves lookbetter and are much quieterand easier to handle.”

an obsession. “Every calf willhave a minimum of threelitres of colostrum within thefirst three hours of its life. Itwill have its own mother’scolostrum, and if the qualityof this is really good, with highlevels of antibodies, I will coolit and re-warm it within sixhours and give a further three

litres – that’s six litres withinthe first nine to 12 hours oflife.” Measuring the quality of the

cows’ colostrum is part of theroutine and a colostrometerhas been used for thatpurpose since the early days.“This is a plastic tube in

which a float gives you a good

Attention to detail is crucial for Karen Halton.


SPONSORED SERIES


For Cheshire milk producer George Riddell, the implementation of an improvedcolostrum feeding regime transformed his youngstock rearing operation to the extentthat the inherent rearing limitations of an old calf building have been overcome andanimal treatment costs cut significantly.

Colostrum tubing nowpart of routine practice

George Riddellmilks 500 all-year-round

calving Holstein-Friesians at Fields Farm,Kerminchem, Cheshire.The herd averages 10,000litres with the milk soldto Dairy Crest on a non-aligned liquid contract.“We know that our calf

house is the weak link.It’s an old building andventilation is not great,and this has undoubtedlycontributed to our calfscour problems,” he says. Identifying rotavirus as

the key causal organism,Mr Riddell’s vet fromWright and Morten,based in Macclesfield,recommended vaccinat-ing the cows withRotavec Corona between12 to three weeks beforecalving. This boostsantibodies in the cow’scolostrum, which givesthe calf protection againstrotavirus, coronavirusand E. coli K99 – three ofthe key causes ofinfectious scour.With cows calving all

the time, the Fields Farmunit can rely on a steady

supply of colostrum, but MrRiddell recognised the needto make sure newborncalves – whatever time ofday or night they were born– were receiving enoughgood quality colostrum inthe first 24 hours of life.“You have to plan what

colostrum you have and setup a simple feedingprotocol all the staff canfollow easily,” he says.Recognising there was no

way of knowing how muchcalves took on board fromtheir own mother aftercalving, Mr Riddell imple-mented a compulsorystomach tubing regime so hecould be sure calves werereceiving enough colostrum.

“For example, if a calfis born before 9.00am it isbagged before lunch, thenagain in the afternoonand again the followingmorning.”With the herd Johne’s

George RIddell: tubing protocol.

disease risk being assessedas minimal, he makes surecalves are tubed with thebest quality colostrum. “I actually tend to mix the

colostrum from differentcows to make sure if there isany that has less value it ismixed with some of betterquality, especially when itcomes to colostrum fromnew heifers. I am not soworried about it being fromtheir own mothers.”Implementing the new

colostrum feeding regimequickly improved the calfhealth situation. In the following five-

month period the unit onlylost three calves, despite therelatively poor housing.

Vet’s view on antibody levels

VET Bridget Taylor, fromWright and Morten, agreesthat controlling calf scour isa vital part of keeping herdperformance on track.“Antibodies from colostrumprovide local protection inthe gut of the calf, but someare also absorbed into theblood stream. The capacityfor absorption of antibodiesis high during the first fewhours after birth, but dis-appears once the calf is

24 hours old. This is why it iscrucial to maximise theintake of good qualitycolostrum on day one.“The effectiveness of your

colostrum feeding can beevaluated by measuring thelevel of antibodies in blood.Ideally, you are looking forvalues above 20g/litre.Anything between 10g/litreand 20g/litre suggests onlypartial antibody absorptionand any calf with less than

10g/litre has suffered acomplete failure ofabsorption.“None of the calves

assessed at Fields Farm hadmore than 20g/litre andmost were below 10g/litre.But when we went backafter George hadimplemented his new tubingsystem, all calves testedwere above 20g/litre andmost were even above30g/litre,” she says.



SPONSORED SERIES

A ccording to vetOwen Atkinson,from Lambert,

Leonard and May, based inCheshire, cryptosporidia-induced calf scour is aperennial problem across itspractice area.“Scours in calves are everpresent, but the diseasecomplex does appear to bechanging. Cryptosporidiaare frequently found in calfsamples – at least a thirdnow of the ones we test –and it’s a notoriously trickybug to treat,” he says.Cryptosporidiosis as aresult of infection with C.parvum generally occurs incalves around two to 10days old. Once infected, ittakes about four days forscour to develop, whichthen lasts for about 14 days. Affected calves sufferfrom dehydration, loseweight and become dulland listless. Some may evendie. It is also important toappreciate humans are susc-

Cryptosporidiosis is on the rise

eptible to infection, usuallyas a result of handlinginfected animals or drinkingcontaminated water.As is the case withrotavirus, cryptosporidiadestroy the cells which linethe villi of the smallintestine. This reduces thedigestive and absorptivecapacity of the gut andcauses profuse waterydiarrhoea. The onset of thisdiarrhoea usually coincideswith the shedding ofoocysts, which are fully

developed and infectiouswhen shed. “Scour caused by crypt-osporidia is evidence thatmillions of oocysts arebeing shed,” Mr Atkinsonexplains.

Contamination“These contaminate theenvironment and lead tothe infection of othercalves. However, the oldera calf is before beingexposed to cryptosporidia,the less severe the signsare likely to be. Unfortunately, removalof cryptosporidia frominfected housing isextremely difficult as theoocysts are resistant tocommon disinfectants.This means it can be avery difficult scourproblem to get on top ofunless you use rehydrat-ion and Halocur to bring itdown to a manageablelevel.“Halocur is the only

licensed product availablefor cryptosporidiosis andwe have found it to bepretty effective, providedit is used properly. It isespecially useful atpreventing cryptosporidiaspreading through a groupof calves. “On farms with a historyof crytopsporidiosis,newborn calves should betreated within the first 48hours of life and the oncedaily dose of 2ml/10kgshould be administered forseven consecutive daysafter feeding. It can also beused for treating calveswith cryptosporidia scoursymptoms, but administ-ration should start within24 hours after the onset ofdiarrhoea,” Mr Atkinsonsays.Good housing hygienehelps prevent the problemalong with resting thepens for a while as theoocysts will not survivedrying out.

The management of calf scour

Always use medicines responsibly. Please see noah.co.uk/responsible for more information. Rotavec Corona contains inactivated rotavirus and coronavirus andE.coli K99 antigens (POM-VPS). Halocur contains 0.5mg/ml halofuginone lactate as an aqueous excipient (POM-V) and is only available from your veterinary surgeonfrom whom advice should be sought. Halocur withdrawal period is 13 days for meat and offal. Further information is available from MSD Animal Health, Walton

Manor, Walton, Milton Keynes MK7 7AJ. T: 01908 685 685. F: 01908 685 555. E: [email protected] W: www.msd-animal-health.co.uk

Calf scour problems caused by the small protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum are becoming more widespread.

Owen Atkinson: oocysts resistant.

Environment and manage-ment factors influence theoccurrence of calf scour:• Improved hygiene canreduce the spread of thedisease• Good colostrum is key toyoung calf immunity• Dam vaccination will boost

the number of antibodies incolostrum.Rotavec-Corona is the UK’sleading vaccine for thecontrol of calf scour:• The only single shotvaccine• Controls the main viral andbacterial causes of calf scour

• Simplifies group vaccin-ation thanks to a broadwindow of vaccination (12 tothree weeks prior to calving).Halocur is used for theprevention and control ofcryptosporidiosis:• The only licensed productto control cryptosporidiosis in

new born calves• Breaks the infection chainby significantly reducing eggshedding by infectedanimals.

Reference: 1DairyCo fundedstudy: Reducing wastage inthe dairy herd.



CONFERENCE

Reproductive performancefailing to meet expectation

Adopting a mindset which sees the spend on getting cows back in calf as an investmentrather than a cost is central to improving reproductive performance, according to dairy fertilityexpert Professor Paul Fricke, University of Wisconsin, speaking at a recent Genus conference.

Getting cowsback in-calfas soon aspossible isimportant as

in essence it marks the startof the next income stream.Professor Paul Fricke told

the audience that “Thereturn on investment fromgetting a cow pregnant isconsiderable, but all toooften farmers look at thecost and not the return withthe consequence that ferti-lity performance is poorerthan it could or should be.” He identified five key

areas where managementfocus and a willingness toinvest can have a significantimpact on reproductiveperformance.“All farms will say they

implement a voluntarywaiting period (VWP).Cows must be served assoon after the end of theVWP as possible, but all toooften records show many

cows will go way beyondthe VWP before gettingserved which represents ahuge loss of time,” he said.“If transition management

is effective, 75-85% of cowsshould be seen and brednaturally in the 30 daysafter the end of the VWP. Ifrecords show a significantproportion of the herd isgoing more than 30 dayspast the end of the VWP, itmay pay to intervene.”

Research“Research shows the use ofpresynch/ovsynch progra-mmes can significantlytighten interval to firstservice, and as you have toget semen into the cow toget her pregnant, the sooneryou start doing so after theend of the VWP, the better,”he advised.Professor Fricke accepts

there are reasons whysynchronisation progr-ammes are more widely

used in the US than the UK.However he believes theyare a valuable tool on farmsserious about getting cows

back in calf quicker.His second point was to

ensure insemination occursat the optimum time inrelation to oestrus andovulation. “The idea that you leave

cows at least 12 hours afterseeing signs of heat worksagainst biology. Cows willovulate 24 to 32 hours afterthe first standing heat, sothe am:pm rule can onlywork if you know theprecise onset of oestrus.This is becoming more of aproblem as higher yieldingcows are in heat for ashorter period of time.“You want to serve the

cow before she ovulatesbecause the oocyte is onlyviable for around 10 hours,so semen needs to be in thereproductive tract when theoocyte is ready. If you wait12 hours you may be toolate. All evidence suggests asingle mid-morning AI forall cows seen bulling that

“While earlydetection isimportant, it is essential notto carry outpregnancydiagnosis toosoonProf Paul Fricke

**DF Jan p26 27 Genus Conf _Layout 1 02/01/2013 13:49 Page 1


CONFERENCE

Professor Fricke’skey points

rServe cows soon afterend of VWPrInseminate at thecorrect timerImprove AI efficiencyusing skilled techniciansrIdentify non-pregnantcows quicklyrAggressively re-inseminate non-pregnantcows.

morning or the night beforewill deliver near optimalconception rates,” hemaintains. As well as ensuring

correct timing, he saidprofessional inseminatorsconsistently get betterconception rates than DIY. “The cost saving of

DIY soon evaporates ifconception rates fall,” hewarned.The fourth point was

the need to identify non-pregnant cows sooner. Hesaid diagnosis of non-pregnancy was critical foreffective reproductivemanagement as until youknow she is not pregnant,you can’t take action to

rectify the situation.“While early detection is

important, it is essential notto carry out pregnancydiagnosis too soon. Thismight sound a bitcontradictory but thepregnancy loss curve isquite steep initially and it ispossible for a cow to bescanned pregnant and tostill lose the pregnancy,” hedeclared.

Costly delay “But leaving it too longbefore diagnosis is equallycostly as you lose timewhen a cow could be rese-rved. We find where cowsare being pregnancy che-cked weekly, ultra-sound

pregnancy diagnosis at 35days after insemination is auseful benchmark.”Finally, he said it was

vital to have a strategy forgetting cows diagnosed notpregnant back in calf asquickly as possible. Herecommended hormonalsynchronisation followedby timed AI. “Once you know she isn’t

pregnant, invest in maxim-ising the chance of gettingher pregnant as soon aspossible. A resynch progra-mme on cows confirmed asnot in calf will ensure youknow when she will ovulateso you can inseminate herat the optimum pointavoiding more lost time.

“If we can improvereproductive efficiency wewill improve profitability.An investment in moreaggressive reproductivemanagement must be seenas just that –- an investmentand not a cost,” he said.

**DF Jan p26 27 Genus Conf _Layout 1 02/01/2013 13:49 Page 2


BREEDING

US Jerseys raise thebar for our UK herds

When visiting California as the winner of the Cogent Breeding Jersey Youth Travel Award,Matt Pye was staggered to learn just how much the US Jerseys produce.

It is quite a staggeringrevelation to discoverthe national averageJersey production inAmerica is 8470kg

(18,633lbs) milk at 4.77 percent butterfat and 3.63 percent protein. What this means is the

711kg weight of F+P was 10per cent greater than the642kg averaged by Holst-eins in the UK in 2011.Three-times-a-day

milking is the norm withparlours operating for up to23 hours every day. ButAhlem Farm Partnershipsoffers a variation on thistheme, milking the 1200freshest cows three timeswhile the remainder of its3000 herd were on twicedaily milking. Yields still reached

9694kg at 4.93%F and3.71%P, placing the herd inthe top 10 Jersey herds inthe US with 750 cows ormore. Individual cows inthe herd are ranked on‘Cheese Yield Merit’, andbreeding females producing50% or more above averageare recorded in a hall offame. Herd average is838kg and 69 Ahlemfemales have completed a

305-day F+P lactation of1250kg or more in the pastyear.

Hilmar CheeseVisiting Merced Countyproved an enlighteningexperience. Merced County,south of San Francisco, ishome to the Hilmar CheeseCompany, a businessfounded by a dozen large-scale Jersey farmers almost30 years ago. The successof Hilmar has seen theJersey population expandenormously. To put that in context, the

American Jersey CattleAssociation registers andclassifies a similar numberof animals each year to

Holstein UK. AJCA also hasa commercial subsidiary,National All-Jersey, whichruns an auction businessand is heavily involvedin the politics of milkmarketing. From Alaska to Arizona

and from Washington to

The density of large scale herds in Merced County, California, means breeders qualify for direct representation onthe society’s National All Jersey board.

Heifer calves are fed four times a day at BW Farms where the 1400-cowherd averages 9300kg.

Wisconsin, the 12 seats onthe AJCA board have beenredistributed every 10years, based on a pro-ratasplit of the number ofactive Jersey herds andregistrations between the 50states which form the USA.From the 2014 redistrib-

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BREEDING

Heifers are routinely calved at 21 months of age at D and E Jerseys where attention to detail keeps stress to the minimum.

Winner Matt Pye, High Farm,Carnforth, Lancashire.

ution, Merced County alonewill qualify for a boardmember in its own right.We visited six farms with

a total of 15,000 milkingJerseys between them. Thelargest had 5000 cows,while the smallest, D and EJerseys at 650, was stillbigger than anything I hadseen in the UK.Irrigation to grow crops,

coupled with fans andwater sprinkler systems inparlours and buildings, setthe scene for storage-basedfeeding systems without agrazing option. While theproduction of consistentlyexcellent forage is achievedin such an environment,sustaining feed intake is achallenge but neverthelessperformance resultsconfirm the success of theseoperations.What was impressive

was the scale of production,with farms able to justifytheir own vet which

resulted in high welfarestandards. Bob and Pam Bignami

own Brentwood Farms andhave a 1600-cow Jerseyherd. Milk yield averages9300kg per cow on a three-times-a-day routine.

MaizeCalifornian Jerseys arehighly dependent uponmaize in their diet. Cropyields are maximised asgrowing temperatures areideal and irrigation ensuresample water is applied. Maize (or corn) makes up

a huge proportion of thediet, with 13kg of silage perday to the 1187 cows in themain milking groups. Inaddition, 13kg concentratesare included within the totalmix ration, and theconcentrate portion has 40per cent rolled maize grain.The 36kg fresh weightconsumption is completedby 6kg brewers grains and

3kg alfalfa (lucerne) withmilking cows having accessto the first three cuts peryear. The ration is fed outonce a day.Calf rearing is taken

seriously at B W Farms andthe 380 calf hutches are anamazing sight. Calves aregiven the best possible startby receiving a milk feedfour times a day. Youngstock rearing is an

area of particular focus forthe Californian Jerseyfarmers as they strive tostart heifer lactations at ayounger age. Most herds

send weaned calves tospecialist youngstock units.However, performanceappears to be compromisedby this practice as theaverage of calving is 22 to23 months. By way ofcontrast, the few herdsrearing their own replace-ments seem to be success-fully calving at the target of21 months of age. The reason for this

difference is not clear. Itcould be that contractrearers pay less attention todetail. Or it may be that themixing of stock from anumber of different sourcesreduces animal resistance toinfection, while also at thesame time increasingexposure to a wider rangeof diseases. Or it may simply be that

the stress caused in movingstock about from onelocation to another ishaving an adverse impacton them.

**DF Jan p28 29 US Jerseys_Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:08 Page 2


BREEDING

Breeding the right cowsto suit your farm system

Last month, Ann Hardy accompanied a group of journalists and producers on a World WideSires UK trip to look at the dairy industry in the Po Valley in Italy. In this, her second report,she focuses on Italian genetics including observations from UK farmers on the trip.

AlexanderPark, whowas keen tosee daughtersof some new

high profile sires, says hetravelled to Italy to see ifthey would suit his herd.Farming with his parents,

Alastair and Mattie, atBrownhill Farm, Tarbolton,Ayrshire, where they milk250 Holsteins, he says: “Weare aiming for a mediumsized cow that’s easilymanaged, has low cellcounts and has longevity.”

Extreme“I’ve seen the problems ofmanaging the more extremecows that are bigger and

angular, so now we arelooking for something thatwill hold its condition.”His attention on the trip

was focused on BertaiolaMincio, a Bolton x Boss Ironwhose index featureslongevity and lower thanaverage cell counts withplenty of milk production.But the highlight of his

Baroni Wyman Marma, a daughter of Pirolo Goldwyn Wyman.

Alexander Park: hold condition. Martyn Smith: bone quality.

index is unquestionably histype profile, including aType Merit of 4.18 which isnumber two of all marketedbulls. And unusually for abull with such a high TypeMerit, his stature is amoderate 1.57.

Cubicle housed“This is perfect for ourcubicle-housed herd,” saysMr Park. “And alsoimportant to us is hisdaughters’ excellent udderconformation with reallystrong fore udderattachment, very high rearudder height and strongcentral support.” But Mr Park says he is

more swayed by the bull’sown index than the handfulof daughters he saw in Italy.“I would not buy a bull

because I have seen two or

three daughters; I wouldbuy him because I haveseen his proof.“His proof is based on the

performance of far moredaughters, and you can seethe health traits from thefigures – which you can’tsee when you look at thedaughters.”Martyn Smith’s attention

on the trip was more takenby Pirolo Goldwyn Wymanas he had already used thisbull on the Gold Cupwinning Kingspool herdnear Bristol, which hemanages for the Kingfamily. “I’d done a lot of research

on Wyman and had usedhim heavily by the time wewent to Italy so I was keento see some early daughtersmilking on Italian farms,”he says. “We only saw a fewon this occasion but every-thing about them made mepleased we’d opted for thisbull – and I’ve just put in anorder for more.“They certainly stood out

in their herds, being longand black with lovely bonequality – which is exactlywhat I am already seeing inour calves,” he adds.

**DF Jan p30 31 Italy2 _Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:16 Page 1


BREEDING

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1 3

The impact of genomics on Italian dairy breedingJAsked whether genomicswas the future for theItalian genetics industry, theresponse from EnricoDadati, manager of geneticprogrammes at CIZ, one ofItaly’s big three studs, camewithout hesitation.“It is the present,” he

says, remarking that CIZhad been progeny testinggenomically selected bullsfor the past two years. “Youtest 10 or more bulls andchoose one – it’s a filter.”

ConfidenceExpressing completeconfidence in genomicpredictions, he says: “Thereare 16,000 bulls in theestimate – that’s a highnumber. And we knowthere’s a high correlationbetween the genomic anddaughter-proven index.“We know out of the 50 to

60 bulls this stud tests, alarge number will be neartheir prediction; half ofthem will be above averageand a few of them willbecome the best provenbulls,” he says. Will genomics lead to the

narrowing of bloodlines? “If

Toc-Farm AllenAmyly EX95.

Enrico Dadati: better bulls.

idered old fashioned, butwe wanted to test her abilityto transmit,” says MrDadati. The result was seenin the headline bulls,Glauco, Goldsun andGoldfish, which now dom-inate sire rankings aroundthe world.And how will the various

studs’ emphasis ongenomics be reflected on thefarm? “Farmers willdefinitely get better bulls asa result,” he says. “But Idon’t necessarily think thatusing genomic bulls is thebest way on the farm. In theAI industry it’s differentbecause you are going toprogeny test each bull.“For the farmer, I’d say

spread your risk by usingaround 10 genomic bullsbecause the combinedreliability will be 95%. Ifyou use just one or two, thereliability is around 70%,and that is not goodenough,” he says.

you don’t manage it, yes,”he says. “But if you look forthem, you will find theoutcrosses more easily.“There’s enormous

variability in the Holsteinbreed with the number ofcattle and the number ofgenes involved in geneticvariation. Genomics willhelp you find that.”Also remarking that the

stud’s ‘Royal Programme’(a nucleus herd schemesimilar to our former MOETherd) will help develop themore unusual bloodlines, hesays this is an importantfoundation for the genomicsprogramme.“It’s hard to convince a

private individual to use acompletely different bull,”he says. “But in the prog-ramme, you can dedicatesome cows to moving awayfrom the usual lines. We doit here at our own risk.”

TransmitSuch a risk has paid off forCIZ as is illustrated by thefamous show-winning cow,Toc-Farm Allen AmylyEX95.“Her pedigree was cons-

**DF Jan p30 31 Italy2 _Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:16 Page 2

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1 1 10:14

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BREEDINGTechTalk by Rosebeck

Neil can be contacted by email: [email protected]

For further information call Rosebeck Services on 01642 718814 or visit www.rosebeckservices.co.uk

Early lactation mastitis cases can have a negative impact on the whole lactation, yet increasingly more and more producers are seeing high rates of clinical cases in the first few weeks after calving. 50% of all early lactation clinical cases are a result of infection being picked up while the cow is dry. The dry period can be split into 3 parts, 1) the week post drying off, 2) a stable middle period and 3) the build-up week pre calving. The fact is 90% of infections originating during the dry period are picked up in parts 1 and 3 with part 2 being relatively safe. If Streptococcus uberis proves to be a persistent offender in early clinical cases then infection is most likely to have been picked up in part 3. It is debateable how many cows actually form a natural keratin plug after drying off. Some purer Holstein cows take a lot longer or may never form a plug whilst perhaps as many as 50% actually fail to form a natural plug in the first place!. Without this natural barrier in place the teat is more vulnerable to infection. The risk of a new infection in early lactation is doubled in teats that have not been sealed, either naturally or using a sealant product. Dry cow therapy using long term, broad spectrum antibiotic tubes is very effective at fighting infections already present but will not prevent new cases. Hence, during the last few years benefits from using an internal sealant along with the dry cow antibiotic tube have been seen. In addition to this the use of an additional external sealants has proved extremely useful, both in the wider bore teat canals of the Holstein cow and as an alternative to internal sealants for the smaller bore Friesian cow. Combining antibiotics and sealants in a dual therapy approach can succeed but oil based residues can prevent the internal sealant setting so real care must be taken with this approach. Generally, the more care and attention given to cows at drying off, with quality time being allocated to the task, the better the result. The aim is to reduce profit-breaking early clinical cases. Five minutes more care per cow at drying off is nothing compared to the time and cost involved in withdrawing milk and treating the cow post calving! Note: antibiotics may only be purchased with a veterinary prescription

Keeping the Dry Cow Safe

Time spenton observingcows will bewell worth it

One route to better herd fertility is improving heatdetection, but to make best use of the extraresources required in doing so, it is worth consideringthe behaviour patterns of cows in heat.

Observing cowsfor heat isunlikely to be themost populartask for a busy

herdsman, but when doneproperly it can reap considerablerewards, believes Kingshay’sPeter Shipton.

He says: “To really gain fromthe time spent on heat detectionit needs to be at the right timesof day and for the right lengthof time to ensure you see thosecows which might be bulling forless than eight hours.

“We know bulling activity ismost pronounced during thenight, and cows which comebulling between 1am and 7amalso have the shortest heatperiods. So to maximise chancesof heat detection, the mostimportant times to observe cowsare late at night and early in themorning, before milking,” saysMr Shipton.

“They should also be checkedevery four to five hours through

the day. At least two of thesedaytime periods should be afully dedicated 30 minute slot,when it’s otherwise quietaround the cows, as cows inheat may only be mounted at20-minute intervals.

“Observing cows once ortwice a day for 30 minutesresults in a heat detection rate of49%. However, four dedicatedperiods of 30 minutes each willsee that increase to more than60% in an all-year-round calvingherd,” he says.

Standing heatsWhen a larger number of cowsare bulling they generally havelonger standing heats and moremounts per animal, he says. Sowhen five cows are bulling, theymight stand for 15 hours and bemounted 40 times. “Then thechances of seeing them in one offour 30-minute periods a day isquite high,” says Mr Shipton.

“However, if only one cow isbulling, she might only stand

**DF Jan p34 35 Kingshay_Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:18 Page 1


BREEDING

A. How many cows weredue on heat in the pastmonth (or quarter)?B. How many cows didyou spot bulling lastmonth (or quarter)?Calculate the heatdetection rate:(B/A) x 100 = X %The best block calvingherds achieve 90% andthe best all-year-roundcalving herds achieve70%.

How good you areat heat spotting?

When a group of cows comes bulling at once they generally have longer standing heats and show moremounts per animal, and so the chance of spotting them is greater than for one lone buller.

for eight hours and bemounted 10 times, so evenif all seems quiet it isworth observing for adecent length of time tocatch these cows.”

Heat spotting can be anatural instinct amongstockmen, but Mr Shiptonrecommends training foreveryone who spends timearound the cows.

“Chin resting andrubbing, nostril flaring andlifting of the tail head areall common signs of heatalongside standing to bemounted and alsomounting,” explains MrShipton. “Also, look outfor small groups ofcows or individualsseparated from the maingroup and for any vaginaldischarges.”

When cows are housed,Mr Shipton warns there islikely to be a reduction inbulling expression and the

duration of oestrouscompared with when theyare at grass. “This is mainlydue to less space andslippery concrete,” he adds.

Increasing light in cowsheds from 12 hours to 16-18 hours a day is proven toincrease bulling behaviourand milk production, aswell as making it easier toidentify cows bulling,advises Mr Shipton. “Butremember cows need resttoo, so lower the levels insleeping areas for at least afew hours a night.”

Tail paintTail paint and mountmarkers can be useful toincrease heat detectionrates. However, MrShipton warns they stillrequire regular checking to know when they areactivated, and they arenot suitable when backbrushes are used.

“Good records, particul-arly for spotting cowsreturning after service, andmilk progesterone testingcan all help identify whencows should be in heat.Keeping a bull in a pennearby or a vasectomisedbull with cows can help,but safety must comefirst,” he says.

“Heat spotting services,using trained technicians toidentify the more subtlesigns of heat are available.One company claims it canincrease heat detection ratesby 15% and we’ve reports

of good success from ourKingshay famer members.”

Pedometers have alsobecome increasinglycommon as an alternativeto physical heat spotting,adds Mr Shipton. “Putsimply, they record cowactivity which increaseswhen cows are in heat,and it can be downloadedto a computer.

“Our members use arange of options which gofrom those that onlyhighlight cows with extraactivity and can automat-ically sort these out atmilking time, without theneed to be a computerexpert, to more expensiveoptions linked to compu-terised herd recording.

“Other technical solut-ions linked to computerrecording can be relativelyexpensive to set up, but insome situations the resultsachieved justify the outlayinvolved,” he stressed.

“We knowbulling activity is mostpronouncedduring the nightPeter Shipton

**DF Jan p34 35 Kingshay_Layout 1 04/01/2013 13:17 Page 2


BREEDING

Your records will help tokeep progress on track

There are compelling arguments in favour of record keeping says DairyCo’s Marco Winters,and there’s now an urgent need to take it to a new level. Ann Hardy finds out why.

Stackpole Sham Marthema (left) was supreme champion of the Royal Dairy Show at Olympia in 1962, whenaverage production was around 4500kg. Castellhyfryd Spirte Rosina EX93(2) (right) has a string of show wins toher credit including the Royal Welsh in 2012. Her second lactation (305 days) totalled 16,242kg.

rMilk record your herdrIdentify sires on cattlepassportsrRecord service dateswith your milk recorderrRecord calving easeinformation with yourmilk recorder

rRecord all healthevents including mastitisand lamenessrType classify your herdrMobility score your herdrWhere possible, askyour foot trimmer torecord foot health data.

Recording advice

Dairy farmersand theancillaryindustrywhich

supports them deserve a paton the back, believesgeneticist Marco Winters.This may not be a view

which is frequently aired,but the two cows picturedcould not illustrate the pointmore clearly. “Imagine trying to make

money from the cow on theleft,” says Mr Winters. “Withmilk production at around4500kg and cell counts likelyto be in excess of 500,000, shewould not be a profit makerin most modern herds.”But that is the type of cow

milked in the 1960s, andwhich for the time was pro-bably perfectly adequate.Since then, the dairy cow

has changed as productionand conformation haveimproved beyond measure,

that we’ll also want furtherimprovements in fertility, amore accurate measure ofcalving ease, information onfeed efficiency, and we’llwant to make worthwhileprogress in the fight againstdisease,” he says.“I’d ask everybody to

record the identity of theircows’ sires on their cattlepassports and with theirmilk recorder, as withoutthis anything collected failsto contribute to the bullproofs on which geneticprogress depends. “Then I’d record things

like degree of calvingdifficulty, service dates,mobility scores, foot trimdata, and absolutely anyhealth event, in particularlameness and mastitis.“Traditionally these have

been presented as Predicted

Transmitting Abilities forboth males and female, andlatterly we have addedgenomic indexes. Thiscreates future opportunitiesto enable us to do more.“We have had long

relationships with all themilk recording organis-ations and breed societies,and now we’re consideringadding others. We’realready undertaking workwith national foot trimmingdatabases; we’re exploringways of incorporatingslaughterhouse data; andwe are working with theBritish Cattle MovementService (BCMS) to makebetter use of their data.“Remember that every

piece of information mayhave a future use that willbenefit the industry andyour herd,” he says.

and in recent years we havestarted to improve fertilityand fitness traits.But these two cows beg

the question ‘where will wego over the next 50 years’,and the answer will againbe shaped by farmers.

Progress“In the future, we will carryon demanding improve-ments in lifetime milkyields, low cell counts andfunctional type traits,” addsMr Winters. “But alongside

**DF Jan p36 Breeding Records _Layout 1 04/01/2013 10:08 Page 1


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Genomics pointing way ahead

The O Man sonFreddie hastopped the latestUS TPI listingwith an impres-

sive 2295 points, some 40points ahead of his closestrival.While this may be a

remarkable achievement initself, it serves to take us astep further in buildingconfidence in genomics. That is because the bull

was in the original group ofgenomic sires put out by theCRI stud into the US marketfour years ago, and his earlypromise has been substant-

Galaxy: limited availability in UK.

iated by the fact that hiscurrent chart toppingposition is based on 2663daughter proofs.Although the bull himself

is not available in the UK,his two sons, Galaxy andGervase, are available here

through Bullsemen.com.Galaxy has a PLI in the

UK of 238 and Gervaseslightly less at 208. Galaxysemen has been in verystrong demand in the USsince he entered thecountry’s Genomic TPIrankings in the last coupleof months, and thecompany claims there is awaiting list in the UK. Nick Kirby, managing

director of Bullsemen.com,says: “US dairy breeders arenow relying on genomics toidentify top bulls early,allowing farmers toimprove their herds more

quickly and with confid-ence. “Genomics are giving an

accurate picture of thepotential of a bull andincreasingly bulls thattopped genomic lists arenow topping daughterproof ones,” he adds.Galaxy’s milk figure was

867kg complemented by aType Merit score of +2.86,with Legs and Feet at +1.68and Udders at +2.69. SCC is-22 and Daughter Fertilitystands at +3.5.Semen price is £38 per

straw with limitedavailability.

**DF Jan p37 Breeding Galaxy_Layout 1 04/01/2013 12:37 Page 1


BREEDING

The cost ofrearing heifersat home, thenumbersneeded, and the

additional labour required,have all contributedtowards encouraging moredairy farmers to buy inreplacements as required.

West Cumbria Holsteinbreeder Stephen Boow sellsabout 40 heifers a year fromhis Dunnerdale herd atBootle, providing usefuladditional income.

It comes as no surprisethat Dunnerdale heifers areso much in demand. The125-cow herd has anaverage yield of 11,390litres, but despite its highproduction the herd has areputation for wearability –an important criterion forbuyers as calved heifervalues increase. The herdhas plenty of cowsachieving more than sevenlactations.

Stephen, who farmswith his mother Doreen atCorney Hall on the westCumbria coast, runs a high-index herd with a wealth ofdeeply-bred cow families,high yields and longevity.

It is a popular package

Breeding dairy heifers for sale is an important income stream for some milk producers, butto be successful they have to produce what the market wants. Jeremy Hunt reports.

Breeding sort of heifersthat buyers are seeking

with the steady stream ofregular buyers forDunnerdale heifers offeredat the monthly pedigreesales at Beeston, Cheshire.

In 2010, the herd wonHolstein UK’s MasterBreeder Award, which isbased on home-bredmilkers awarded points forproduction, longevity andclassification.

“We milk at six o’clock ateither end of the day and Ithink that is one of thereasons why we get longerlasting cows because of the12-hour milking interval,”says Stephen.

Heifer calves are bucket

reared on milk replacer andcoarse mix and are intro-duced to TMR at fourmonths of age. The doubleaim is to produce a well-grown heifer to calve at24-months and an animalwith the ability to last.

“Getting the calves on tobig bale TMR helps rumendevelopment – that’sprobably one of the mostimportant parts of the waywe rear heifers,” he adds.

Lifetime yieldThe herd currently has sixcows that have given morethan 100 tonnes, with thehighest being a 16-year-oldcow with a lifetime yield of173 tonnes.

“We’ve always bred fortype, and if you breed theright type of cows the milkjust follows if they aremanaged properly. Thecows average five lactations,

Dunnerdale heifers have a reputation for wearability – many have gone on to do seven lactations or more.

Stephen Boow: going for type.

**DF Jan p38 39 Breeding VER 2 CORRECT _Layout 1 03/01/2013 15:20 Page 1


BREEDING

so we’ve plenty going toseven or eight calves.”Jack and Barclay Taylor at

Webscott Farm, Myddle,near Shrewsbury, have awide reputation forsupplying newly-calvedheifers. The enterprise’s success

led to the sale in 2009 of thefamily’s original herd of 300cows to concentrate on thesale of newly-calvedheifers, although they havenow returned to running asmall 60-strong milkingherd alongside the heiferrearing business. “We could see there was

an increasing demand fortop quality calved heifers,reared to a high standardand of a type wanted bycommercial milk producersrunning flying herds orexpanding,” explains Jack. “We wanted to make

this the main focus of thebusiness and do it in a veryprofessional way.” Calved heifers are sold

through Wright Manley at

Beeston market, but as wellas setting out to buy in andrear to a high standard, theTaylor brothers were veryconscious of producing thetype of cattle buyers werelooking for.

Requirements“If you are going to set upthis type of business,you’ve got to make sureyou are producing whatthe buyers want and it wasclear the tall and angulartypes of heifers weren’tpopular with commercialbuyers. “They want strength, but

they want milk and anim-als that will wear well.“We were calving heifers

down at two years, but feltthey were a little immatureat that age. Now we’recalving everything at 27-months and they are muchbetter for having that extratime to grow and develop.”Sexed semen is used on

the heifers, which nowproduce the majority of the

youngstock needed forrearing and ultimate sale. Newly-calved heifers,

mostly pedigree, are soldthrough the mid-monthlysale in batches of 20-30, andlast year the brothers sold300 from the unit whichusually carries in the orderof 500 head of stock at anyone time. All stock are vaccinated

against pneumonia, IBR,BVD and leptospirosis, andwormed with Eprinex twodays post calving to ensuretheir stock are ready to gofor any purchaser. But according to Barclay

Taylor, one of the bigchanges over the last fewyears has been the additionof minerals and traceelements each spring to thegrazing and silage groundon the recommendation ofindependent adviser SoilFertility Services.“We particularly noticed

at the end of the first yearwe did this the strengthand well being of our

younger stock with healthyshiny coats, and thepalatability of the silagehad greatly improved too,”he said.The brothers believe this

is important as their saleheifers are not the productof high concentrate use butforage-based diets.“We don’t feed more than

1kg of concentrate a day toany animal,“ adds Jack.

Sire selectionSire selection gets thesame sort of attention aswell. “Daughters of Wa-DelHayden have beenparticularly popular withbuyers and we are stillusing sexed semen fromhim plus that from Dray-man, Mars, Mel, Seaver,Spectrum Red, Wyman andYank,” explains Jack.As a testimony to their

success, last year thebrothers’ heifers averagedcomfortably over the £2000mark at the sales.“It is the type of animal

that is important, and ifyou take the right type, ingood order, they will sell,”declared Jack.

Getting close! A batch of heifers about to calve at Jack and Barclay Taylor’s farm near Shrewsbury.

Jack Taylor: heifers are nowcalved at 27 months of age.

**DF Jan p38 39 Breeding VER 2 CORRECT _Layout 1 04/01/2013 13:14 Page 2


BREEDING

Sexed semen helping tokeep expansion on track

A Wiltshire herd that was decimated through the loss of TB reactors has clawed its wayback by using sexed semen to build up herd numbers. Ann Hardy reports.

Everyone hadreached a lowebb by the timeherd managerKeith Scott joined

the team at Ben Marsh andfamily’s Maunditts ParkFarm, near Chippenham,Wiltshire. Low cownumbers reflected historicproblems with fertility, cellcounts were through theroof and the final straw wasthe regular loss of cowsthrough bovine TB.

“Soon after I started hereback in 2010 the herd wentclear of TB, which was agreat relief to us all,” saysMr Scott. “But then in 2012we were hit with 26 reactorson one day, two monthslater they took 32, and twomonths after that anotherseven went.”

With numbers depletedby a staggering 65 primemilking animals over thespace of four months, theherd was crying out for

Duce daughters going into the parlour have the wide rumps considered important for calving and mobility.

replacement heifers.“It was very fortunate my

predecessor had started touse sexed semen,” says MrScott. “We had 60 heiferswhich had calved last April,some of which we weregoing to sell, but all wereavailable to come into theherd, and another 35 havejust calved this winter.”

The decision to use sexedsemen had been madeunder the guidance of the

farm’s AI technician KelvinLinsley, who tradesindependently as ‘The AIMan’ and offers the farmbreeding advice as well ashelp with reproductiveperformance.

Results“We’ve certainly seen theeffects, as all of a suddenthere’s a mountain ofheifers and lots morecoming through the

system,” says Mr Scott. But Mr Linsley is insistent

successful sexed semen usedepends on having the rightcow health and relevantmanagement.

“The results are only asgood as the peoplemanaging the cattle,” heclaims. “And if I don’t thinkthe tone of the uterus or thegeneral well being of thecow is right then I’d rathernot waste their money.”

**DF Jan p40 41 Sexed Semen _Layout 1 03/01/2013 15:49 Page 1


BREEDING

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AI technician Kelvin Linsley (left) with herd manager Keith Scott.

Having the right diet hesays is fundamental tosuccess and he’ll observethe cows’ manure as ayardstick of rumen health.“I tell my customers if theywant to get pregnant cattlethey must keep their muckfirm,” he says.

Natural heatsAlso he recommendsnatural heats (as opposed tosynchronisation) to achieve‘as little interference withthe back end as possible’, aswell as keeping a closewatch on vaccinationprogrammes which cancompletely disrupt fertility.Another pre-requisite, hemaintains, is that it iscritically important to getthe timing right.“If an animal is bulling

hard I will come back to dothe insemination later in theday at the latter end of herheat,” he says. “I’d putmyself out to do this as it’sso important to achievinggood results.”The figures at Maunditts

Park Farm have steadilyimproved over the past twoyears, and today the 180-strong milking herd, whichnow comprises 50% heifers,has edged its production upto 8000 litres at 3.9% fat and3.2% protein. Meanwhile,cell counts have declined to140-150,000/ml, conceptionrate to first service is 42%and the herd’s calving indexis 401 days (12 month NMRrolling averages).The 2.26 services required

per conception takes in allthe semen use, includingsexed on all maiden heifersand the herd’s top cows,conventional dairy semenon some, and British Blueon the bottom end.“It’s true we still have all

sorts in the herd,” admitsMr Scott, “but now we’regradually achieving moreuniformity.”Guided in his choice of

genetics by Mr Linsley, hesays: “When I got here therewas such a cracking bunchof heifers I could see he’dbeen doing a great job so it

made sense to leave it toKelvin.”“My aim is to find that

bull that will do mostthings,” explains MrLinsley. Within thisobjective he seeks moderatestature, good feet, legs,udders and health traits, butsays ‘one of the mostimportant things to me isrump width’.“The cow has to walk

around her udder and shehas to give birth easily, andshe can’t do either withoutadequate width through herrump,” he says.Working with the Mtoto

son Kings-Ransom M Ducein the earlier days, Mr Scottpraises the 35 daughters he

has in the herd for theirudder conformation, milkproduction and quiettemperament. Using sexed semen has

now become a matter ofroutine at Maunditts ParkFarm. Mr Linsley explains: “As

far as I’m concerned it’s justa standard way of gettingmore heifer calves and oncepeople start with it – notjust dabbling but going forit in earnest – they tend tofind it works.” Mr Scott concurs, but

with average productionheading towards 9000 litreshe is hoping it is just amatter of time before he hassurplus heifers to sell.

**DF Jan p40 41 Sexed Semen _Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:24 Page 2


MILK PRICES

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M D W ISP

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MILKpricesMuller Wisemansets pace forothers to follow JMuller/Wiseman put itsmarker down in mid-November by announcingmilk price increases of0.5ppl from December witha further 1ppl increase tocome from Feb’13, and thishas forced others to showtheir hands. First to follow was Arla

Foods which, havingmerged its Asda, non-aligned and standard milkprices into one standardprice from October, somenine days later announcedan increase of 1ppl butfrom December 10. The penny increase takes

our standard litre (4%b/f &3.3% prot, Bactoscans of30,000/ml and SCCs of200,000/ml, 1mltrs/yr onEODC but before seasonlityor balancing charge) up to30.38ppl after haulage. Three days after Arla,

Dairy Crest confirmed itwas lifting its liquid milkprice by 1ppl from Jan’13,taking our standard pricefor them to 29.87ppl. At the

same time the company alsoconfirmed an additional1.25ppl for Davidstowsuppliers taking ourJanuary price for them up to30.12ppl, taking the Cornishcreamery’s milk price up toa new record high. Our manufacturing

standard (4.3% b/f & 3.5%prot with the same hygiene,volume and collection)Davidstow price willincrease from 29.90ppl to31.86ppl. All of DairyCrest’s milk prices are basedon our 12-month rollingaverage profile payment toOct’12 of 1.08ppl. Smaller liquid processors

followed with Grahamsincreasing 1ppl fromDecember 1, taking ourprice up to 30ppl. PaynesDairies shadowed ArlaFoods with the same 1pplincrease from December 10,taking our price to 30.20ppl. Yew Tree Dairy offered

1ppl to its price fromJanuary 1, taking its priceup to 30.5ppl.

**DF Jan p42 43 44 Milk Prices _Layout 1 04/01/2013 11:51 Page 1


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Milk price analyst StephenBradley on the latest milkindustry developments.

News in brief...Sainsbury’s uses cost tracker

First Milkstaggers change

JOn the back of its CostTracker model update,introduced from May’12 andtracking the changes in theprice of feed, fuel andfertiliser every three months,Sainsbury’s has confirmed itsmilk price will increase from0.93ppl to 31.59ppl fromJan’13.This increase follows the

previous increase of 0.1pplfrom Oct’12, and takes ourstandard price up to31.59ppl for our Muller/Wiseman supplier. Our Arlasupplier receives a fractionless at 31.47ppl afterhaulage, while Dairy Crestproducers receive 31.46pplafter taking into account ourrolling 12-month averageprofile payment of 1.08pplfrom Oct’12.

JFirst Milk is increasing itsmember milk prices by0.5ppl across all contractsbut at varying times. Producers in the liquid pool

will receive their 0.5ppl fromDecember 1. Those supplyingthrough the company’scheese pool will receive theincrease from Jan 1. Producers in the balanc-

ing pool will have theincrease split 0.25ppl fromDecember 1 and a further0.25ppl from January 1. The increases takes our

standard price up to29.15ppl for liquid, 28.5pplfor cheese, with Highlands &Islands on 28.96ppl. Ourbalancing price fromJanuary 1 rejoins the sameprice level as cheese at28.5ppl.

Arla Milk Link price riseJArla Foods amba hasincreased its Arla Milk Linkmember milk price by1.33ppl from December 3.The increase will be appliedto all member milk pricingschedules via an increase inthe monthly Business

Market Related Adjustmentelement of the price andtakes our standard price upto 28.83ppl on both liquidand manufacturingcontracts, while our Rodda’sprice increases by the sameamount to 29.23ppl.


MILK PRICES


Notes to tablePrices paid for 1mltr producer supplying milk of average constituents 4% butterfat and 3.3% protein, SCCs of 200,000/ml and Bactoscans of 30,000/ml on EODC excludingcapital retentions and MDC levies. SAPP = Seasonally Adjusted Profile Price. (i) Sept’12 prices before seasonality. (ii) Oct'12 prices before seasonality. (iii) Seasonally adjustedprofile price for Oct’12 taking into account monthly seasonality payments and profiles of supply. ** Seasonal adjusted profile supply for 1mltr supplier (using monthly RPAfigures) for Oct'12 = 2,498ltrs/day, flat supply = 2,740ltrs/day. (iv) Table ranked on the seasonally adjusted price for the 12mths to Oct’12. § SAPP reflects 12mth profileadjustment of -0.28ppl. ¢ SAPP reflects 2,723ltrs (Aug to Dec’11 daily average) paid as ‘A’ ltrs with the remaining ‘B’ ltrs paid @ 130% of the ‘A’ price (ie constituents plusMarket Related Adjustment) for Oct'12. • No 'B' litres/day applicable for Oct'12 with daily volume of 2,498ltrs/day being below the 'A' volume of 2,723ltrs. 0.5ppl productionbonus for Milk Link, First Milk and Glanbia Cheese not applicable in the seasonal price for Oct'12 with daily production below that of Oct'12 (-6.51%) based on RPA monthlyfigures. •• No balancing charge from Jul'12 through to Dec'12. ∞ Price before seasonality includes 12mth rolling profile payment of 1.08ppl to Oct'12 (0.05ppl down onprevious month). ∞^ Price before seasonality includes 12mth rolling profile payment of 0.47ppl to Oct'12 (0.05ppl down on previous month). ± Price before seasonality includes12mth rolling profile payment of 0.5ppl to Oct'12 (0.04ppl down on previous month). # Constituent payments priced by volume. ≠ Seasonality built into monthly base price. ArlaFoods-AFMP Asda and Non-aligned prices merged into Arla Foods AFMP Standard from Oct'12. *** RWD increase of 1.41ppl reflects the effects of increasing the price fromthe 15th October. **** Grahams increase of 1.23ppl reflects the effects of increasing the price to 29ppl from the 15th October. ¶ Price includes Regional & SupportPremiums. ‡ Non-seasonal price includes 12mth average rolling profile of 0.5ppl to Oct'12 (0.04ppl down on previous month). Tesco milk prices include the 0.5ppl bonus forco-operation with Promar costings. Milkprices.com cannot take any responsibility for losses arising. Copyright: Milkprices.com

Sept'12 Oct'12 Oct'12 12mth4.0/3.3 4.0/3.3 4.0/3.3 AveBefore Before 1mltr Nov'11Seas'lty Seas'lty SAPP Oct'12(i) (ii) **(iii) (iv)

D.C – M&S ∞ 32.22 32.17 32.88 31.56RWD – Sainsbury's Central Scotland 30.56 30.66 32.66 30.54RWD – Sainsbury's England 30.56 30.66 32.66 30.54D.C – Sainsbury's 30.48 30.53 31.85 30.54D.C – Waitrose ∞^ 31.04 30.99 31.82 30.36Arla Foods – AFMP Sainsbury's •• 30.44 30.54 30.48 30.14RWD – Tesco Scotland 29.56 31.58 33.58 30.03RWD – Tesco England 29.56 31.58 33.58 30.03Arla Foods – Tesco •• 29.31 31.33 31.26 29.48Cadbury – Selkley Vale Milk 28.67 30.16 30.16 29.46Robert Wiseman – The Co-op Dairy Group 29.00 30.00 32.00 29.40Wyke Farms 28.00 28.50 28.50 28.79Caledonian Cheese Co – Profile ‡ 27.60 28.68 28.28 28.77Arla Foods – Standard (former Asda) •• 29.38 29.38 29.32 28.77D.C – Davidstow ∞ 28.16 28.11 29.43 28.64Parkham Farms 28.01 29.00 30.98 28.60Barber A.J & R.G 28.11 29.11 29.11 28.36Yew Tree Dairy 27.50 28.75 28.50 28.33Caledonian Cheese Co 27.06 28.18 28.18 28.28Meadow Foods Lakes ± 26.92 28.25 27.65 28.11Meadow Foods – Level 26.88 28.25 28.15 28.07Meadow Foods – Seasonal 26.88 28.25 29.15 28.07Arla Foods – Standard (former Non-aligned) •• 26.88 29.38 29.32 27.97Wensleydale Dairy Products 26.99 28.49 28.50 27.95Paynes Farms Dairies 26.45 29.20 29.20 27.85Robert Wiseman – Aberdeen*** 26.43 27.84 29.84 27.74Robert Wiseman – Central Scotland*** 26.43 27.84 29.84 27.74Robert Wiseman – England*** 26.43 27.84 29.84 27.74Milk Link – London Liquid 27.00 27.00 26.38 27.69Milk Link – West Country Liquid 27.00 27.00 26.38 27.69Milk Link Rodda's ¢• 27.41 27.41 26.79 27.65D.C – Liquid Regional Premium ∞ ¶ 26.53 28.12 29.44 27.64Grahams Dairies **** 26.75 27.98 29.98 27.64Saputo UK – Level supply # 26.47 27.96 27.96 27.61Joseph Heler 25.99 27.99 29.99 27.49Glanbia – Llangefni (flat) 26.85 28.35 27.85 27.35South Caernarfon 26.52 27.52 29.28 27.32Belton Cheese 26.30 28.05 28.05 27.32Arla Foods – AFMP Standard •• 24.38 29.38 29.32 27.31Saputo UK – Seasonal # 26.17 27.66 29.16 27.31Milk Link – Manufacturing ¢• 27.01 27.01 26.39 27.30Glanbia – Llangefni (Constituent) 26.79 28.28 27.78 27.25First Milk – Highlands & Islands § 26.71 26.71 25.88 26.96First Milk – Liquid § 26.05 27.05 26.40 26.79First Milk – Cheese § 26.25 26.25 25.60 26.55First Milk Balancing § 26.10 26.60 25.95 26.53United Dairy Farmers ≠ 26.09 28.89 28.86 25.95Average Price 27.61 28.73 29.24 28.28

Latest milkprices from


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FG House Com WP DF_FG House Com WP DF 04/01/2013 12:19 Page 1


DAIRY MARKETPLACE

NEWThis month, a new tractorrange from Turkey is destinedfor the UK market, ‘recycled’mixers make eco sense andLandini reveals its 7 Series.products

Non-rot plasticfencing posts

ArmaTrac to make UK debutJArmaTrac Tractors is setto make its UK debut atLamma in January, wherethree models are due to beon display.Powered by Perkins and

Deutz engines, the fuel-efficient 50 to 110hpArmaTrac range isdesigned and manufact-ured by Erkunt TractorIndustries, based inAnkara, Turkey.General manager

Zeynep Erkunt-Armagan

is currently establishingArmaTrac in the UK, plansa dealer recruitmentprogramme early in 2013and expects the ArmaTracrange to be available toBritish farmers this comingspring.Mrs Erkunt-Armagan

founded the company withher husband Tuna in 2003,as an offshoot of ErkuntIndustries which has beenproducing metal castingsfor more than 60 years,

with customers includingJohn Deere, MasseyFerguson, New Holland,Steyr, SAME and Valtra.It now builds 6500

tractors a year, has risen tonumber three out of 32active brands in theTurkish market, and isseeing increasing demandfrom Europe, Americas,Africa and the MiddleEast.� Details atwww.armatrac.com

JQuality plastic productsupplier JFC Manufact-uring is launching a newrange of hollow poly-ethylene fence posts whichwill not rot, shrink ordecompose.The end strain assemb-

lies (Strainer and StrutSystem) features arotationally mouldedpolyethylene outer whichencapsulates the kiln driedtreated timber which, oncecapped, can be driven intothe ground by convent-ional means.A complete system for

ends and corners, incl-uding brackets and strai-ning cables, gives thefence a strong structuralbase for use with hollowposts, creating a cost-effective fence over itslifetime.Hollow posts are ideally

suited to electric fencingsystems and insulators canbe screwed directly to thestake as carriers.� Details on 01691 659226, or www.jfcuk.com

**DF Jan p46 47 48 New Products_Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:34 Page 1


DAIRY MARKETPLACE

N-Min systempatent grantedTechnology allows on

the move adjustments

Recycled parts reduce cost of mixer wagons

JKuhn has added the Axis 40.1 H EMC W,incorporating Kuhn’sCoaxial DistributionAdjustment (CDA)technology, to its hydraulicdriven spreader range.Allowing on the moveadjustment of applicationrates, integration withGPS, and – throughindependent control ofeach disc – on the moveadjustment of spreadpatterns according toborders and field shape.The EMC (ElectronicMass Control) alsoprovides an automatic andinstant monitor of fertiliserspread, while two high-capacity weigh cellsprovide a constant recordof the amount of fertiliser

in the hopper.The standard Axis 40.1 HEMC W machine has a 3000-litre hopper and is adjustableto spread from 18m up to amaximum of 42m. It is available ready tooperate directly through atractor’s IsoBus terminal,

or supplied with the CCI100 control box for usewith tractors without anIsoBus terminal.Prices start at £20,460plus VAT.� Further details telephone01952 239 300, [email protected]

JKeenan’s new ECO mixerwagons, which reusepreviously owned machineparts, reduce the entry priceto 70% of a new model.The factory manufacturedmixer wagons use recycledand new parts, coupledwith a new machine body,and are put through thesame rigorous testing asnew machines.With major environ-mental benefits as a result of

using recycled machineparts, the ECO range of dietfeeders brings togethersimplicity of operation withadvanced mechanical andelectronic engineering.Having the same mixingtechnology as a new Mech-fiber machine, it is possibleto retro-fit the PACE controland monitoring system tothe ECO machine.� Details atwww.keenansystem.com

JGrowHow’s N-MinNitrogen testing system hasbeen granted a patent.It is a method ofmeasuring the amount ofnitrogen a crop will get fromthe soil over the wholeseason. This includes thestandard SMN (Soil MineralNitrogen) measurement andthe AAN (AdditionallyAvailable Nitrogen)measurement.Using these with anestimate of what hasalready been taken up bythe crop, optimum fertiliserrecommendations can bemade. The work has shown thatfields which are likely tohave low or high soilnitrogen supply (SNS)benefit the most from usingN-Min.� Details atwww.growhow.co.uk


DAIRY MARKETPLACE


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JLandini’s upgraded 7Series of heavy-dutytractors brings morepowerful engines and abetter cab interior.The five tractors, ranging

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tractor line-up as a result ofsignificant power andtorque increases, the 7-180has 150hp maximumstandard output and 175hpwith Dual Power; the 7-195gets 165hp for operatingdraft equipment such as aplough or cultivator and188hp to tow trailers and

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spool valves with fingertip flow and timingadjustment are operated bya pair of cross-actionjoysticks on the seat-mounted console. The cabis a redesigned version ofthe four post Master Classcab which now has a roofwindow.� Details on 01302 757566, or atwww.argotractors.com

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JLimagrain UK’s newfree booklet, Crops forbioenergy, enables growersto make informed decisionsabout which bioenergycrops will best suit theirrequirements.Providing a breakdown of

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JDairy Spares new rangeof vacuum pump oils hasbeen colour matched tospecific manufacturers forease of selection.Formulated to be suitable

for all leading makes andmodels of milking machines,the oils are available at lowerprices than their brandedequivalents.The range incorporates

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p49_Layout 1 04/01/2013 10:59 Page 2


WORKSHOP TIPS

WORKSHOPtips with Mike Donovan

About Mike

rMike is a machinerycolumnist offering tipson building or modifyingfarm equipment. Sign upfor his free newsletter atwww.farmideas.co.uk

Cattle holding racehelps presentation

So we find Ruthand DavidArcher, who farmin Ambridge, areembarking on a

change from all-year-roundcalving to autumnblock calving,which theirconsultant sayswill producethe returnsthey need.

I was interestedin hearing themdiscuss one of theconsequences of the changewith Ruth saying she wouldbe able to cope on the AIfront with the early calversbut would need some helpwith the later ones.

My mind immediatelythought of the inseminationraceway I saw on JohnnyAlvis’s Somerset farm, andhow, while I was visiting,the inseminator workedquietly and methodicallythrough a dozen or so of the600+ herd. The set-up isinexpensive and would beno great challenge for

farmers able to wield awelder, disc cutter andconcrete mixer.

The raceway has a widthof one metre, measured

inside the rails, andfinishes with a 1.6m

gate set at anangle at theend. Cowswalk into thepassage and

automaticallyalign themselves

with the angled gate,so their back end is againstone rail and their headagainst the other. Thispresents the inseminatorwith each cow's back-end,and the cows load into thepassage naturally.

The inseminator standson a 200mm high step madefrom expanded metal sothere is no slipping withwet feet, and it can bemoved to another location ifneeded. The step is narrow,so a tall inseminator servinga small cow can stand onthe floor behind.

The open front of the

raceway is equally useful asthe herdsman can deal withproblems such as infectedeyes and it also makes iteasier to do batch testingand other work.

Most raceways are builtagainst a wall, and Johnnythinks this is a big mistakeas you may as well make iteasy to get to front and backat the same time.

The raceway is 18m (60ft)long and can hold batches

of 18 cows. Johnny sees thecalving index as a vital partof the business, and withstraws costing £30, reckonsthe cost of the raceway canbe easily justified.

This month Mike Donovan explains how to construct an insemination raceway.

TOP TIP

rThe open front o

f the

raceway is usefu

l as it

allows for easy

eye

inspections.

The end opens either to release the cow or to move her into the foot crush.

Cows fit up against the angled gate at the end which is 1.6m long, andthere is space for batches of 18 cows at a time.

**DF Jan p50 Workshop Tips_Layout 1 02/01/2013 17:36 Page 1

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GOOD EVANS

GOODEvansI say beware of strangerswho come bearing giftsThis month RogerEvans warns thatprocessors maycome looking formilk to cover theirshortfalls and in thehope that last year’sshenanigans will beforgotten… but theywon’t

Happy New Year and althoughthere is hope of better timesahead I still can’t get last yearout of my mind and theproblems encountered then.

Trying to get things in perspective, I askwhat was it that went wrong last year?Firstly, and probably the most catastrophicthing, were the attempts by the liquidprocessors to inflict a price drop on ourindustry because, having given away theirtraditional revenue to the retailers in theirheadlong pursuit of volume coupled withthe reduction in the cream bonus, theysought redress from hard-pressed dairyfarmers. The reaction to all that bought farmersout on the streets and it did more toundermine the confidence of producersthan any other single act I can remember. At the same time, the price of feed shotthrough the roof, and while there may belittle we can do about that save to say it is asymptom of the sort of volatility we have toget used, it is also an early indicator of theimpact of food security. The pressure isthere with more mouths competing forfood, bad weather affecting crop yieldsaround the world, and increasing amountsof crops being diverted to energy.Here at home we have traditionally fed a

kilo of concentrates to produce a litre ofmilk but when the price of that cake is veryclose to the value of that litre, then thewhole exercise becomes pointless,businesses become unviable, and volumes,as we have seen, drop. As if all that wasn’tenough, along comes the weather. HoweverI gave up worrying about things I couldn’tdo anything about years ago, and you justhave to buckle down and do the best youcan like you always have. The fact you are short of silage, the silageyou have is crap, and your maize cobs werean anaemic shadow of the bright yellownuggets your cows have grown to knowand love, have repercussions still to come.But not all milk ends up on supermarketshelves as milk – a lot ends up as cheeseand if your milk goes into cheese you needmore money as well. But how do you getthe price of cheese up when the country isawash with Irish cheese which was madewith milk costing 23ppl? And why wouldthe Irish Dairy Board want to sell cheapcheese? Because Ireland is short of cashwhich is a main driver for them so they areundercutting mainland cheese by £400 atonne to get that cash. So where are we today in dairy farming?Well to continue with cheese, cheesemanufacturers are facing a double hit. As I

**DF Jan p54 55 Good Evans _Layout 1 02/01/2013 13:50 Page 1


GOOD EVANS

write, there are 10,000 tonnes of Irish cheesehanging over our industry like a sort ofDamoclean sword, so every time yourcheese processor tries to get more moneyfrom his customer, the customer tells himhe has just had an Irishman on the phone.Your cheese producer is having a toughtime so he is reducing his cheese make asmuch as he dare and selling milk on thebuoyant spot market.But he’s also got another problem. The

big liquid processors are short of milk, forall the reasons I have addressed, so they aretrying to recruit supplies in cheese areas byoffering 30+ppl which the cheese processorsfind difficult to match. If you cast yourminds back to the early summer, you willremember these are the same processorswho didn’t have any money and under-mined the confidence of the whole industry.They are hoping all that is forgotten, but Ihave news for them... it never will be. So if one of them comes on your yard

with this recruitment offer you need to askyourself where the milk is going. And if it’sgoing 300 miles to a big liquid dairy youneed to ask yourself just how long that willlast. Because one thing I have learned is

that if something looks too good to be true,it usually is. Come a bit more milk in thespring and when haulage costs arebeginning to bite, there will be so muchback pedalling on price you won’t believeit. These strangers bearing gifts are thedairy farming equivalent of men offeringyou sweets to get in their cars, which yourmother warned you about as a child. Some liquid processors have flagged up

price rises a couple of months down theroad. They grab the headlines for a pricerise but they get a time lag which savesthem a fortune. They don’t know what milkwill be worth in a few months time, neitherdoes anyone else, so what they are reallytrying to do is cap the price. It’s a win-winfor them. Because if the value of milk goesup more than they predict, they will dragtheir feet achieving that price like you havenever seen feet dragged before. But if it’s anearly spring and there’s more milk aboutand the price threatens to come down,down they will come with it, faster thanyou can make a cup of tea. I have got used to people taking the p***,

it’s a part of life. But they must not think fora minute I don’t know!

“One thing Ihave learnedis that ifsomethinglooks too goodto be true, itusually is

**DF Jan p54 55 Good Evans _Layout 1 02/01/2013 13:51 Page 2

Afew weeksago in hisautumnstatement, theChancellor

announced the AIA limitwill rise to £250k for aperiod of two years fromJanuary 1, 2013. This was a bit of a U-

turn as in their changebefore that, the coalitiondecreased it from £100k to£25k from April 2012. As you will appreciate

this is a significant increasewhich should enablemany businesses toobtain an immediatewrite-off for theirpurchases of machinery

in the year they arebought.

This willgivebusinessesa cashflow

rIf you are planning to invest in new plant and machinery you should take advice from your accountantto ensure it is timed to maximise allowances.

Expert opinion


FINANCE

The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) provides a 100% deduction against profits for the costof plant and machinery purchased by a business up to a specified limit. Sam Kirkham ofTaunton-based accountants, Albert Goodman, outlines the recent changes.

Chancellor lifts investment allowance

“Carefulconsiderationwill need to begiven to thebusiness taxcomputationsand timing ofexpenditure

advantage where capitalinvestment is planned nextyear. (See example above).However care will need tobe taken where a business’saccounting period straddlesJanuary 1, 2013.No details have been

provided as to how theAIA will be calculated foraccounting periodsstraddling the change inlimit. In some cases, forexample, businesses with aFebruary 28 year end,there will be three differentAIA limits during the year.Therefore careful consider-ation will need to be givento the business tax compu-tations and timing ofexpenditure.The type of plant which

qualifies for AIA includestractors and combines,milking parlour equipmentand bulk tanks, silageclamps, renewabletechnologies, kitchen andbathroom fittings and

certain electrical and hotwater systems. If you areplanning to invest in newplant and machinery youshould take advice fromyour accountant to ensureit is timed to maximiseallowances.A further change to the

capital allowance system isto the 100% first yearallowance (FYA) availableon new low emission carspurchased by a business.Currently there is a 100%FYA available where a car’semissions do not exceed110gm/km. The 100% FYAis to continue for a furthertwo years but only whereemissions do not exceed95gm/km. This change willlimit the number of modelsqualifying for 100% FYAfrom April. Those thinking of

purchasing a low emissioncar might wish to ensuretheir purchase is madebefore April 2013.

Business making profits of £100k and spends£100k on new machinery

Purchase in Purchase in year ending year ending

Dec 31, 2012 Dec 13, 2013£,000 £,000

Profits 100 100AIA (25) (100)Cap allowance (13.5) -Taxable profits 61.5 -Tax at 42% 26 -

**DF Jan p56 Finance_Layout 1 04/01/2013 12:34 Page 1

REGISTER YOUR DETAILS TOCONTINUE RECEIVING YOURCOPY OF DAIRY FARMER

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DO NOT DELAY – REGISTER TODAY TO RECEIVETHE INDUSTRY’S NO.1 DAIRY PUBLICATIONIf you are unable to access our web site, but still wish to register, then please email [email protected] with your Dairy Farmer registration request, your name and your address. A registration card will then be posted to you.

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TIONFarmer Dairy your with

HSE AD Reg WP_DF Reg WP 04/01/2013 16:10 Page 1

Dehorning is acutely painful.1 That’s why a local

anaesthetic is given – but a few hours later its

effect wears off and pain erupts. Administration

of Metacam – newly licensed for dehorning pain –

provides time-appropriate pain relief.1 So now, at

last, you can make dehorning a more comfortable

experience for everybody.

P A I N E R U P T I N G A F T E R T H E L O C A LY E T A N O T H E R T H I N G M E T A C A M T A K E S C A R E O F

Reference: 1 Heinrich A et al. J Dairy Sci 2010;93:2450-2457.

Advice on the use of Metacam or other therapies should be sought from your veterinary surgeon. Metacam contains meloxicam. Prescription only medicine. Further information available from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YS, UK. Email: [email protected]. Date of preparation: Dec 2012. AHD 7409. Use Medicines Responsibly (www.noah.co.uk/responsible). www.mastitis.co.uk/MetacamCattle Days, not hours

NEW LICENCE

16:46

Boehringer WP_Boehringer WP 02/01/2013 17:41 Page 1

Dairy Farmer Digital Edition January 2013

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