As the 2025 season comes to an end, it is worth considering developing a herd health plan for 2026 to see where things can be improved.

Developing a herd health plan involves reflecting on how the year has gone and being critical of any mistakes made in an attempt to avoid any costly slip-ups in the year ahead.

Consider how calving; mastitis control; lameness control; vaccination protocols; and metabolic issues went; as well as any other herd health issues on the farm.

Consider environmental factors such as housing, roadways, grazing infrastructure, and the parlour, in terms of what worked well versus what did not this year.

With spring 2026 looking pretty bleak in terms of milk prices, honestly evaluating any mistakes made this year will largely help save costs during an already financially tight period.

Herd health plan

Analysing your herd's milk records will help you identify any previous issues on the farm when developing a herd health plan for 2026.

When doing this, bear in mind how busy the calving season will be getting in a month's time.

It might be worth considering scheduling your first milk recording in advance to try and get your first recording within the first six weeks, as availability might get scarce the longer you leave it.

It is easy to think milk recording within the first six weeks of calving is useless as you will not get the whole herd recorded.

However, the early data will be invaluable in assessing the dry period performance and getting the year off to a good start.

By aiming for at least six or seven milk recordings in the year, the data can be used to create a tailored herd health plan, helping to make the year ahead run smoothly.

Farmers ideally need to speak to their vet to discuss vaccination and dosing protocols and consider which medicines are needed in 2026 while trying to avoid antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Implement measures on the best colostrum management and consider how well calves thrived in 2025.

From this ask yourself: do their diets or environment need to be changed in 2026?

Review the farm's standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all sorts of farm tasks, including the milking routine, washing the milking parlour, calf feeding, and many other tasks that dairy farmers perform daily.

These can be combined with the herd health plan to maximise animal health and welfare for the year ahead.