Teagasc's beef information evening in GVM Tullamore on Tuesday for local farmers covered cattle health, new regulations surrounding veterinary prescriptions and the positive outlook for the beef market.
The first speaker of the night was Teagasc vet John Donlon discussing the three main diseases that have been very prominent in cattle recently - blackleg, lungworm and pneumonia.
Department of Agriculture labs have seen double the number of cases of blackleg compared to previous years.
The likely cause for this surge in cases has been put down to the poor weather and more turned up ground, providing the ideal habitat for the bacteria to thrive. He recommended farmers vaccinate their animals against blackleg to prevent the disease occurring on their farm.
Lungworm has become a big problem on farms this year, according to Donlon with the damper summer adding to the issue. Donlon said that farmers shouldn’t delay in dosing any calves still at grass that are coughing.
Lung-washing
This will help prevent any long-lasting damage occurring. He also recommended that any farmers with a big lungworm problem should look into the process of lung washing.
This is a veterinary treatment to aid in the treatment of a heavy lungworm infestation.
Pneumonia is a persistent problem each year across the country around housing time and Donlon outlined the importance of having good ventilation and management practices in place on farm.
John Donlon a vet with Teagasc talks about the recent trends in cattle health and the new veterinary prescription regulations.
They can have a massive impact on the number of cases of pneumonia that occur on farms. He also highlighted the importance of the timing of vaccines and that it should be done at least 21-28 days pre-housing, depending on the type of vaccine that is being used.
His recommendation for any farms with a persistent pneumonia problem is that they should take nasal swabs and send them of to the lab to find out the specific strain that they have and this will allow for a more targeted treatment and prevention against that strain.
New rules
The implementation of the new rules regarding veterinary prescriptions coming into play in 2025 was also discussed. Donlon highlighted the impact of anthelmintic resistance on cattle farms and the good management practices that farmers should be following to help slow the progression of anthelmintic resistance.
He also explained that when this new legislation comes into play, farmers will have to consult a vet that has done a proper assessment to get a prescription for animals that are not sick and just need dosing. Prescriptions can be used at any licenced merchant and they don’t have to be bought from that vet.
Beef markets
Attendees also heard from Bord Bia’s Seamus McMenamin on the positive outlook for the Irish beef market. This positivity is driven by a number of key factors: the large increase in live exports being driven by the effect of bluetongue on the continent, the reduced overall carcase weight of Irish beef due to higher numbers of dairy bred cattle entering the food chain. He also highlighted a smaller number of cattle being killed in Ireland due to the high levels of exports and falling numbers of the UK's national herd as a positive. McMenamin forecasts the strong demand to remain on into 2025.
Live demo of cattle
The last talk of the evening was a live demo with Eamon Phelan from Kepak, Eimear Claffey a nutritionist with Teagasc and Gordon Cobbe the auctioneer at GVM Tullamore.
In this talk, they showcased a number of cattle with different body condition scores and they talked about how each animal would kill out if it was to be killed in the factory in the morning. They also discussed the costs of keeping on the different types of cattle until they are ready and the prices they would receive in the ring for these types of cattle.
John Donlon a vet with Teagasc talks about the recent trends in cattle health and the new veterinary prescription regulations.
Teagasc's beef information evening in GVM Tullamore on Tuesday for local farmers covered cattle health, new regulations surrounding veterinary prescriptions and the positive outlook for the beef market.
The first speaker of the night was Teagasc vet John Donlon discussing the three main diseases that have been very prominent in cattle recently - blackleg, lungworm and pneumonia.
Department of Agriculture labs have seen double the number of cases of blackleg compared to previous years.
The likely cause for this surge in cases has been put down to the poor weather and more turned up ground, providing the ideal habitat for the bacteria to thrive. He recommended farmers vaccinate their animals against blackleg to prevent the disease occurring on their farm.
Lungworm has become a big problem on farms this year, according to Donlon with the damper summer adding to the issue. Donlon said that farmers shouldn’t delay in dosing any calves still at grass that are coughing.
Lung-washing
This will help prevent any long-lasting damage occurring. He also recommended that any farmers with a big lungworm problem should look into the process of lung washing.
This is a veterinary treatment to aid in the treatment of a heavy lungworm infestation.
Pneumonia is a persistent problem each year across the country around housing time and Donlon outlined the importance of having good ventilation and management practices in place on farm.
John Donlon a vet with Teagasc talks about the recent trends in cattle health and the new veterinary prescription regulations.
They can have a massive impact on the number of cases of pneumonia that occur on farms. He also highlighted the importance of the timing of vaccines and that it should be done at least 21-28 days pre-housing, depending on the type of vaccine that is being used.
His recommendation for any farms with a persistent pneumonia problem is that they should take nasal swabs and send them of to the lab to find out the specific strain that they have and this will allow for a more targeted treatment and prevention against that strain.
New rules
The implementation of the new rules regarding veterinary prescriptions coming into play in 2025 was also discussed. Donlon highlighted the impact of anthelmintic resistance on cattle farms and the good management practices that farmers should be following to help slow the progression of anthelmintic resistance.
He also explained that when this new legislation comes into play, farmers will have to consult a vet that has done a proper assessment to get a prescription for animals that are not sick and just need dosing. Prescriptions can be used at any licenced merchant and they don’t have to be bought from that vet.
Beef markets
Attendees also heard from Bord Bia’s Seamus McMenamin on the positive outlook for the Irish beef market. This positivity is driven by a number of key factors: the large increase in live exports being driven by the effect of bluetongue on the continent, the reduced overall carcase weight of Irish beef due to higher numbers of dairy bred cattle entering the food chain. He also highlighted a smaller number of cattle being killed in Ireland due to the high levels of exports and falling numbers of the UK's national herd as a positive. McMenamin forecasts the strong demand to remain on into 2025.
Live demo of cattle
The last talk of the evening was a live demo with Eamon Phelan from Kepak, Eimear Claffey a nutritionist with Teagasc and Gordon Cobbe the auctioneer at GVM Tullamore.
In this talk, they showcased a number of cattle with different body condition scores and they talked about how each animal would kill out if it was to be killed in the factory in the morning. They also discussed the costs of keeping on the different types of cattle until they are ready and the prices they would receive in the ring for these types of cattle.
John Donlon a vet with Teagasc talks about the recent trends in cattle health and the new veterinary prescription regulations.
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