Fraser Jones from Calcourt Farm, milks 1,000 Holstein Friesians across multiple sites in Welshpool, Powys. He farms in partnership with his father Maurice and is currently installing a new unit to increase herd size to 2,000 in early 2019.
Oliver Hodgkinson joined Trefaldwyn Vets in 2009. He works with 200 beef, sheep and dairy farms in the Powys and Shropshire area. Oliver drives his client base to be proactive with preventative healthcare instead of firefighting problems and provides planning and benchmarking services to support them with this. In 2018 he was named Farmers Weekly Farm Advisor of the Year.
As trade deals are consulted and negotiated over in Westminster, the same message is repeated: the high standards of animal welfare on British farms is part of our unique selling point and we should not compromise on it.
Animal health is a crucial part of animal welfare, as well as productivity.
Disease? Not On My Farm! is a campaign from MSD Animal Health that promotes the importance of proactive, preventative healthcare as it has never been more important for farmers to understand the value of managing disease on-farm.
Working with farmers and vets as they tackle their disease prevention challenges, Disease? Not On My Farm! is championing their successes to share best practice across the industry.
Oliver and Fraser have successfully worked together to eliminate BVD from Fraser’s 1,000-cow dairy herd. As a result, animal health, welfare, fertility and productivity have improved.
Oliver was the driver for tackling BVD in the herd. Due to the large herd size, logistics and cost, the process took four years but the changes are worth it. Fraser comments, ‘We didn’t fully appreciate the massive cost of BVD to our farm until we got rid of it’.
Vaccination
Fraser already vaccinated for IBR, leptospirosis, rotavirus and BVD. However, persistently-infected calves were still being identified through blood sampling. Oliver reviewed Fraser’s vaccination strategy and realised that whilst he was doing the right thing by vaccinating, the booster vaccines (a crucial part of establishing immunity) weren’t always being administered on time, or at all. Oliver used the farm’s regular TB testing as an opportunity to improve vaccination protocols and upskill Fraser’s team. All calves are now vaccinated for BVD at three months old, and any animal over six months old at Christmas is also vaccinated. This means every animal receives the BVD vaccine.
Eliminating persistently-infected calves
Whilst vaccination is a big step towards protecting cattle from BVD, it is also crucial to identify and cull any persistently-infected animals. This is most applicable when buying in-calf heifers or renting bulls.
At Calcourt Farm, Oliver and Fraser’s team test every calf with an on-farm snap test. They receive the results in 20 minutes and can cull the calf immediately and test the dam for the virus. Coupled with bulk milk testing that analyses antibodies, they have a robust system to identify infected animals.
Biosecurity and hygiene
BVD also travels via contaminated objects and dirt, and improvements to biosecurity and hygiene helps control many other diseases beyond BVD. Fraser quarantines any new animals, and now calves everything on one site to reduce movement of cattle. Fraser is currently installing a new dairy parlour, which is optimised for biosecurity – from foot washes, to fertility monitoring systems, to showers for his staff.
They also check cows for bulling rectally now rather than vaginally resulting in less infections. It has also further improved fertility.
Results
- No PI animals identified in 3 years
- Free of BVD for nearly 2 years
- Antibiotic use dropped by 20%
- Improved fertility rates
Oliver explains, ‘By controlling BVD the overall health of the cattle, particularly the calves, has benefitted, and fertility has increased. Recent PD testing showed levels of around 80 per cent, compared to 30 per cent previously. BVD has a significant immunosuppressive effect and is linked with other conditions like mastitis and pneumonia. I’m seeing much healthier animals since Fraser eradicated BVD’.
Fraser adds, ‘Being a Disease? Not On My Farm! ambassador has really focused my mind on disease prevention and brought home the importance of biosecurity. Disease is going to play a big part in farming in the future and we have to do everything possible to minimise risk and be proactive about disease prevention and biosecurity’.
BVD: what you need to know
The BVD virus
Spread by:
- Infected dam to unborn calf,
- Nose-to-nose contact between infected and naïve cattle,
- Semen of infected bulls
- From contact with contaminated objects, e.g gloves, slurry
Transient BVD Infection (temporary)
- Poor fertility, milk drop, immunosuppression
- Short infection: 10–14 days
- Long term antibody response
- Fertility impacts including abortion, deformities and PI calves
Persistent BVD Infection (for life)
- Born, not created
- Sheds virus repeatedly, for life
- Doesn’t produce antibodies
- Usually dead within two years
The cost of BVD
- Increase in pneumonia cases
- Calf mortality increases
- Loss in productivity and yield
- Higher replacement rate
- Increased cost of labour and medicine
Check BVD status at bvdfree.org.uk before buying cattle.
Find out more about controlling BVD and other disease on farm at https://www.msd-animal-health-hub.co.uk/Farmers