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Veterinary Surgeon
John Cammack
XLVets Practice
Glenthorne Veterinary
Group
AR LA AWARD WINNER
Attention to herd health and welfare
has helped dairy farmer Adam Ball,
of The Spond Farm, near Alton in
north Staffordshire to win this year’s
Arla Foods Milk Partnership’s Farmer
of the Year.
Over the past five years, Adam, and his
father Peter, have been working more
closely with their vet John Cammack of
Glenthorne Veterinary Practice to
improve herd fertility and welfare.
In 2007, the herd was expanded
from 120 to 200 cows. This involved
some significant changes and
investments including silage clamps
and a new parlour with improvements
to cow housing. Systems have now
been adopted to ensure good herd
fertility with a particular focus on cow
management in the transition period.
Strategies to control incidence of
lameness and keep mastitis under
control are also in place. Together,
these changes have enabled a
five-fold increase in profit.
Herd fertility
Previously, John visited Spond Farm to check
cow fertility on an irregular basis - sometimes
it could be up to six weeks between visits.
The calving interval stretched out to
435 days.
But now visits are regular and monthly - John
PD’s cows from 30 days post service, and
examines any cows not seen bulling by 50
days, or not served by 60 days.
John explains: ‘Adam now has good PD results
with usually more than 80% of cows being
positive, so we can get away with a monthly
frequency, rather than the recommended
fortnightly visit for a herd of this size.
‘Making a regular visit to examine a group
of cows is a far more efficient use of time
than just coming round to look at one problem
cow. It also cuts the number of fire-brigade
call-outs and presents a good opportunity
to discuss other aspects of herd health
and management.’
Two years ago, Adam installed Heatime heat
detection, he explains: ‘When we get very
busy, or when the silage was poor, we were
struggling to see cows bulling. For silent
heats, it’s also a great tool. We now have a
really good submsission rate.’
The calving index at The Spond Farm is
currently running at 395 days, although it
has been as low as 385 days. The 100-day
in-calf rate is 45%. As a consequence, the
milk sold per cow per year has risen from
7,800 litres to 8,266 litres. High yielders
are kept in at night with access to feed, and
by day, have access to both feed troughs
and grazing.
Culling rate is on target at 20%. Adam adds:
We have had some cows culled for TB but
at least with cows getting in-calf we are not
losing many cows through infertility.’
Adam Ball, Arla
Farmer of the Year
Attention to cow welfare and herd
performance
has led to Staffordshire
farmer Adam Ball winning the Arla
Foods Milk Partnership’s Farmer
of the Year 2011.
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
The Spond Farm Team
Adam Ball