Dairy

Nowadays most dairy farmers understand good colostrum management is key, but exactly what that entails is more often a point of debate.

Getting the optimum quantity and quality of colostrum is key for new born calves – but making the right choice when it comes to following on from colostrum onto milk replacers is also vital.

For Mark and Susie Mottershead, who farm at The Brook, Wrexham, the 2020 lockdown prompted a focus on calves within their pedigree Holstein herd which were not performing as well as they wanted them to.

South Caernarfon Creameries has bounced back from the Covid-19 pandemic, reporting profits of £4.1 million and a 17 per cent increase in sales to a £71.5m in the year to March 2022.

When rearing all your own replacement heifers within a closed herd, the team at the University of Edinburgh’s Langhill Farm says it is particularly important calves get off to a good start.

Dairy, beef and sheep farmers are being encouraged to record their on-farm antibiotic use via Medicine Hub, either via their vet or individually.

With the aim of making their ice cream the ‘greenest in the world’, producing a highly efficient milking herd is a top priority for the team at Mackie’s, in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.

Through better calf rearing facilities and the initiation of early life vaccination against pneumonia, the Hann family has seen significant improvements in the health and well-being of the calves in their pedigree Holstein herd at Rodden Down, Frome, Somerset.

With rising costs and the need to be carbon conscious, breeding productive, efficient and profitable dairy cattle has never been so paramount.

An 867-mile spin bike cycle has been organised in honour of former Holstein UK chief executive Sue Cope to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.