This week in our BETTER Farm beef challenge review, we take a look at what turned out to be one of the most important challenges – herd health.

The aim of this challenge was to establish what the main diseases/ailments on suckler farms were, and then to establish a robust herd health plan.

A plan that favoured the targeted use of vaccines as opposed to antibiotics, and optimum herd management and husbandry practices.

Results

The importance of herd health on suckler farms quickly became apparent.

While no farm had huge health issues at the start of the programme, as stocking rates increased and added pressure started to weigh on the system, herd health cracks began to appear. Some farmers learned the hard way, but are in a much stronger position now.

One of the standout learnings was the importance of animal management and husbandry. Tasks such as weaning, castration and even diets were tweaked and delivered huge benefits.

Something as simple as condition scoring dry cows, not over- or under-feeding them during the winter and allocating pre-calving minerals and soya bean meal made marked differences during calving. It really was a matter of doing the simple things well.

And then there was housing. As numbers in sheds increased, a red flag was raised in terms of ventilation on some farms. For most, the changes needed to increase inlet and outlet airflow were straightforward and, when made, they made big differences.

Treatment

Once these simple changes were made, improvements were immediately evident. However, to further shield the herd from infection, many farmers chose to follow a rigid vaccination and dosing regime. An example of a regime that many of the farmers chose is shown in Table 1.

To conclude, as farmers worked alongside their vets and advisers, the consensus was that the full benefit of vaccines and doses could only be obtained once herd management and animal husbandry skills were up to scratch.

The following two case studies feature farmers who benefited more than most from the herd health challenge.

Brian is running a herd of 45 spring-calving suckler cows on 110ac of grassland just outside Carnew, Co Wicklow.

All progeny are taken to beef – 22-month steers and 20-month heifers – and he often buys in 40 to 50 weanlings or stores to finish alongside his own.

The biggest problem on the farm was without doubt scour. And Brian was even vaccinating against scour at the time.

But a culmination of factors was rendering the vaccine useless. Brian says himself that it was a constant fire-fighting exercise running around with antibiotics to calves.

There was a lot of wasted time, not to mention the stress, and when all was said and done, mortality was still high. With the help of his advisers and vet, simple adjustments reaped big rewards.

Much greater emphasis was placed on getting cows and calves out earlier in the spring

For a start, the calving period was tightened up. This meant Brian could clean out sheds more frequently and less bacteria was building up. On top of that, much greater emphasis was placed on getting cows and calves out earlier in the spring. And the secret to that was closing the farm properly in the autumn to have grass available. Smaller adjustments such as improving ventilation and reducing draughts also played their part.

The second issue on the farm was pneumonia, particularly in the autumn, when coughing and snotty noses were far too common. The worst outbreak hit in winter 2017/18 and Brian was forced to blanket treat with antibiotics. And while he didn’t lose any weanlings, he knew thrive had been severely compromised, not to mention the extra cost and stress he had put on the animals, and himself. To tackle the problem, all weanlings are now vaccinated prior to housing.

Brian spent €481 to treat the 40 sick calves in 2017

Two shots are given, eight and four weeks before weaning. They are also vaccinated against IBR at housing. Brian spent €481 to treat the 40 sick calves in 2017 – not to mention the cost of losing thrive. It now costs €480 to vaccinate the weanling twice and the result is zero setbacks at weaning or housing.

Father and son pair John and James Flaherty farm in CastleIsland, Co Kerry. They own 17ha of heavy land and lease a further 24ha nearby.

Beginning the programme, the farm was lightly stocked with 35 suckler cows calving in the spring and weanlings sold in the autumn.

A farm plan was developed to increase output. Suckler cow numbers would increase to 50 while a dairy calf-to-beef system would be added too. Thirty Hereford calves were purchased in spring 2017.

Stocking rate in sheds had been pushed to the limit and then the problems hit

While the initial eight months of the programme had run relatively smoothly, they hit a severe bump in the road in winter 2017/18. Most will vividly remember the bad spring in 2018 which delayed turnout countrywide. By April, the Flahertys had calved the vast majority of the 50-cow herd but they were still indoors, along with the dairy calves. Stocking rate in sheds had been pushed to the limit and then the problems hit.

There was a pneumonia outbreak in the main shed and 14 calves and two cows died.

These cattle were valued at around €13,200 at year end but, while the cull value of the cows that lost calves helped cashflow in the short term, the loss of cash from the calves was felt right into 2019. Added to that, extra veterinary cost for spring 2018 totalled €4,000.

Action

A vaccination plan was put in place from that point on. All calves are vaccinated for RSV, Pi3, and IBR intranasal in the spring. These vaccines are followed by a booster shot at a later date.

Shed ventilation was examined by a vet and the advice given was to lower the height of the walls to 7ft and introduce spaced boarding to improve airflow.

The Flahertys also dropped the calf-to-beef system because it was too risky in the spring, and they will now push towards 60 cows.