It still seems very early to talk about drying off, but the more preparation that goes into it, the more successful it will be, and that starts with milk recording data.

Although we are still a couple of months away from drying off, and there is still a lot of milk solids to be produced and a lot of grass still to be grazed, for many herds around the country, it is time to start for planning for it.

The dry period is a crucial time of year for cows, as it is the time that the mammary tissue regenerates, repairs, and prepares to produce milk again.

The dry period is also crucial in building up body condition score (BCS) in preparation for calving and the start of the next breeding season.

In terms of drying off, it is still early days, but there are a number of things that you can do now to make sure that you are prepared.

Blanket dry cow therapy is a thing of the past, where all cows in the herd are treated with dry cow antibiotic tubes at drying-off.

Giving antibiotics was traditionally the best way of preventing mastitis, but due to more studies on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this practice has since been reviewed.

The Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation requires farmers and vets to move towards selective dry cow therapy (SDCT), which is a more targeted use of antibiotics.

This requires the farmers to be more aware of the herd in front of them, as they have to identify specific cows that need an antibiotic, rather than just blanket treating the whole herd.

The main purpose of SDCT is to protect the antibiotics we have by using as little as possible and thereby minimising the risk of AMR, which occurs when an antimicrobial that was previously effective in treating an infection or disease is no longer effective.

The user of sealers alone on cows can come at a cost, especially if used on the wrong cow or heifer, as when used on a high cell count cow or a problematic cows in terms of mastitis, it can lead to severe infection and problems throughout the lactation.

Now, obviously farmers are going to use just sealers on these type of cows, but they need to understand what the most suitable average SCC threshold is for SDCT, which needs to be discussed in detail with your vet and adviser.

A milk recording within 30 days of drying off is essential to provide your vet with individual cow information to make sure the cows are prescribed properly.

This along with clinical mastitis history and milk sampling will make sure that the right cows are picked out for SDCT and will minimise the risk of infection.

By removing these problem cows, you will reduce the spread of infection to the healthy cows in the herd, and the need for recurrent antibiotic treatments.

Many farms will have completed a scanning or will have records of served dates for their cows, when you know the expected calving dates.

Based off this data, cows should be dried off for a minimum of six to eight weeks.

However, any cows that are identified as under condition or over conditioned in the coming weeks may have to be put onto a different diet and the length of an individual cow's dry period may be altered.

Thin cows may require a longer dry period or maybe put on once-a-day milking prior to drying off, whereas any fat cows may be left for a later dry off date and put onto a fibre rich diet thereafter.

Clipping excessive hair on cows tails and rear udders to ensure better hygiene is essential in the lead-up to drying off, while ensuring that all facilities, passageways, and roadways are kept to a clean standard.

If there are still a number of cows that are yielding greater than 12L/day in the week before planned drying off, it will not hurt to reduce their feed intake.

Any cows that have been identified as infected should be considered for removal if they are unlikely to be cured with antibiotic treatment.

To minimise the risk of mastitis or high SCC during dry off or the following spring, the message is clear and simple - start preparing now.