Farmers are beginning to plan for drying off cows, with many planning on using selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) for the first time this year.
This is due to the new legislation that came into effect earlier this year, with the overall aim to reduce antibiotic usage on farms.
To aid farmers, Animal Health Ireland (AHI) in partnership with Teagasc and in conjunction with the dairy processors and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), hosted a farm walk on Michael and Enda Horgan’s farm in Fringestown, Navan, Co. Meath.
SDCT
The Horgans are milking 230 cows on three Lely robots and are farming 125ha in total, with 66ha used for the milking platform. Milk production started on the farm in 2015.
The stocking rate on the milking platform is 3.48 livestock units (LU)/ha and 555kg of milk solids/cow were sold in 2021.
The Horgans have been using SDCT for four years, with 140 of the 200 cows dried off in 2021 only receiving a teat sealer.
This means that 70% of the herd is dried off using teat sealer only on the Horgan’s farm.
Furthermore, with 91% of the spring-calving proportion of the herd calving in six weeks, drying off is also compact.
In 2021 the overall cell count was 109,000cells/ml, with all cows under 150,000cells/ml being dried off using SDCT.
Cell counts are currently 115,000cells/ml, with 31 cases of mastitis recorded on the farm this year.
Enda said it is more a case of which cows aren’t suitable rather than which cows are suitable.
Focus at drying off
One of the key points Enda focuses on at drying off is calving date, with cows dried off at 210 days in-calf, once they are in good body condition score (BCS).
Enda also focuses on having good hygiene conditions when drying and on taking his time.
He dries off six cows at a time and he takes about 10 minutes/cow to ensure that everything is done correctly.
Best practice
Farmers attending the event heard from industry experts such as Padraig O’Connor from Teagasc on best practice at drying off cows.
Padraig outlined some of the best practices when drying off cows and how hygiene during the process is of the utmost importance.
Some of the key points Padraig outlined were:
- Always discuss dry-cow treatment with your vet;
- Preparation is key: Allow sufficient time, have adequate labour and have all the equipment you need;
- Identify cows clearly before you start;
- Teat ends should be spotless;
- Do not massage teat sealer;
- Massage antibiotic up into quarter;
- Ensure dry cow environment is clean;
- Good records are essential.
AMR
Another speaker at the event was Caroline Garvan from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), who explained to the farmers in attendance why SDCT has had to be introduced onto farms.
Caroline said that these measures have been introduced to protect human health and to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
She said that antibiotics are becoming less effective due to their overuse.
Caroline stated: “Globally, 4.97 million people died from Covid-19, but the same number of people died because the antibiotics didn’t work when they went into hospital.”
So, antibiotics can no longer be given to prevent infection – instead it can only be given to cows that are at a predisposed risk.
Caroline said that number of cows you use SDCT on this year doesn’t matter, but it is important that you try it this year and continue to increase the numbers next year.
As a country, Ireland has been asked to reduce antibiotic usage by 50% by 2030 across all the sectors and although the dairy sector isn’t the biggest user of these drugs, it still needs to reduce its usage.
Consult
The farmers in attendance also heard from Catherine McAloon from the University College Dublin (UCD) Veterinary School.
Catherine said that for many years, antibiotics have been used by farmer as a safety blanket to defend against poor drying-off practices and poor dry cow management.
The highest risk period for cows in the dry period is two weeks post-drying off and two weeks before calving.
Another key point highlighted by Catherine is ensuring there is one cubicle/cow in the shed and that hygiene levels are maintained during the dry period.
One of the key points from the event was to encourage dairy farmers to take part in the free-of-charge Dry Cow Consult that is available to them.
The consult is free to all farmers that are milk recording and have a bulk tank somatic cell count (SCC) consistently below 200,000cells/ml.
The consult takes place with a trained vet and assess the current drying off process, dry cow management and identifies possible changes that can be made.