Vaccines: January is the traditional month to give a number of vaccines, such as scour and IBR vaccine. The scour vaccine protects calves against rota virus scour and should be given three to 12 weeks before the animal is due to calve, meaning early January is the optimum time for most spring-calving herds. Remember that the vaccine is only fully effective when adequate colostrum is given to the calf. The vaccine label states that colostrum from the first six to eight milkings should be pooled, stored and fed to calves at a rate of 2.5-3.5l per day for the first two to three weeks of age.

These finer details can often catch farmers out when they move to milk replacer early in the calf’s life. However, it is probably fair to say that once sufficient colostrum has been given in the first few hours and days of the calf’s life, it should receive the majority of the antibodies. Because it is quite an expensive vaccine at around €10/hd, some farmers choose to vaccinate only a portion of the cows, where colostrum is being pooled. This will reduce the amount of antibodies in the colostrum, which may not be enough to protect calves in the event of an outbreak, but it’s a risk some farmers are willing to take. It’s also worth keeping in mind that pooling colostrum is contrary to best policy for controlling Johne’s disease.

The other common vaccine given in January is IBR. The presence of IBR in a herd can be observed from bulk tank milk, herd health screens or blood tests. The best time to vaccinate spring-calving herds is before calving, as this is the highest risk period. A live vaccine should be used in the face of an outbreak and if vaccinating for the first time.

On leptospirosis, the previous advice was to vaccinate in spring, after calving and before breeding, but an increasing number of farmers are now vaccinating in January, before calving and before turnout to grass. Yearling heifers will need to be vaccinated twice, so check the label for the recommended vaccinating interval.

Calving: With Christmas over, attention is now turning to the upcoming calving season. Take however amount of time is left between now and calving to be as prepared as possible. Calf sheds will need to be ready, but less obvious things like checking up on fencing, water supplies and anything admin related before calving starts will free up time during the busy period. Now is also a good time to be pre-selecting AI bulls for use in the coming season and either taking or analysing soil samples and ordering fertiliser supplies for the first few months.

Slurry: The last day of the closed period for slurry and fertiliser spreading is approaching. It is 12 January for counties in Zone A, 15 January for counties in Zone B and 31 January for counties in Zone C. Farmers in a nitrates derogation must spread all slurry using low emission spreading from now on, while those operating at over 170kg organic N/ha and not in a nitrates derogation have until 15 April to get set up for spreading all slurry with low emission technology.