Prevention is better than cure

Animal Health Ireland and Teagasc in association with Meat Industry Ireland are running a series of events across the country titled Prevention is Better than Cure. The first of these events took place last week on the farm of Mark and Edna Moore, Ballinabracky, Co Meath.

The farm and system

Mark farms 600ac of tillage and 250ac of grass and finishes 1,000 bulls annually for Kepak. While the farm is predominantly tillage, the beef enterprise has been growing over the last number of years, with more cattle finished on an annual basis. Mark said: “We now kill about 20 bulls a week and try and keep the system as simple as possible. We are finishing under-16-month bulls and some older 18-month bulls.”

In the past the farm has concentrated on purchasing Aberdeen Angus X bulls but more recently, due to difficulty sourcing good suckler-bred AAX stock, has moved to purchase some continentals alongside the traditional bulls.

Mark pays close attention to detail when purchasing stock. About 80% of the animals are purchased in livestock marts while 20% are purchased on farm. “We’re finding less problems with the on-farm purchases but it takes time to build a supplier base buying on farm.”

Animal management

Mark insists that animals purchased in marts arrive on the farm that night and aren’t left standing around marts or on lorries for prolonged periods. “It’s all about reducing the stress on the animal as much as possible.”

When the animals arrive on the farm they are put on to a straw/peat bed in the intake shed. Animals always come into the same shed so there is no confusion with lorry drivers at night etc.

This shed is very well ventilated and animals will settle here for a few days and then get their pneumonia vaccine and a levaside pour on.

“We find the levaside is a little easier on the animal and doesn’t give as severe a kill as the ivermectin-type products. Depending on the time of year the animal then goes to grass or on to the growing or finishing shed.”

A number of changes have been made to sheds in recent times, including raising the roof of one shed that had poor ventilation and some pneumonia problems.

The finishing shed has 20 pens that each hold 20 animals. Animals move up one pen each week as finished cattle leave the farm. So if a bull enters pen 20 at 400kg, it has 20 weeks or 140 days to hit the target 720kg. It’s an all-in, all-out policy and even if animals don’t hit target weights they still leave the farm. This avoids mixing animals and more stress. Animals never mix once they enter the finishing shed. Bulls are fed fresh feed twice daily and are fed a homegrown mix of barley, wholecrop, brewers grain, fodder beet and maize. Yeast is also included to avoid digestive upsets.

Silage v weight gain

The only silage that is made on the farm is paddocks that have become too strong for grazing. Mark believes if he can stock two bulls per acre in spring and they can gain 1.2kg/day liveweight, the land is making more to graze with animals than cut silage off. Wholecrop barley makes up the bulk of the diet.

Faecal sampling

Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray explained to farmers the importance of taking care when dosing to avoid wormer resistance building up on farms. He said: “On some farms where overdosing is taking place there is a real risk of anthelmintic resistance becoming a problem. We have already seen this problem developing in some research herds. Dosing needs to vary based on animal type, grazing history, turnout dates and weather conditions. Faecal sampling can lead to a more informed, targeted approach to dosing if used in consultation with your vet.

How to take a faecal sample

1. Discuss with your vet which animals to sample: a. Sample from animals of the same age in the same batch; b. Take the first faecal sample of the grazing season 6-8 weeks after turnout.

2. Use disposable gloves.

3. Take fresh samples (stimulate the calf to pass dung or collect freshly passed dung samples from the ground), place in a clean pot and send to the lab/vet immediately.

What can I find out from a faecal sample?

Antimicrobial resistance

Brian Leonard, vet to the Moore farm explained the importance of antimicrobial resistance developing on farms and how it could render many medicines useless if care is not taken with their use. Excessive, unnecessary or inappropriate use of antibiotics increases the development and spread of resistance. Having healthy cattle stems from a variety of management tools including keeping animals stress-free, vaccination policy, nutrition policy and ventilation in sheds. Good animal husbandry will reduce antibiotic use. Leonard said: “If you do need to use an antibiotic, do it in conjunction with your vet and always make sure you are treating the right animal with the right drug with the right dose for the right duration. Isolating sick animals is also extremely important in preventing the spread of disease.”

Beef healthcheck

Farmers slaughtering cattle in abattoirs have access to beef healthcheck reports via the ICBF website. These detail fluke and liver abscesses in cattle and highlight pneumonia lesions on slaughtered animals. Rebecca Carroll, AHI beef healthcheck manager, said Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal have the highest level of liver fluke damage this year, and farmers in the west need to be vigilant.