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WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
Award win for vet with a holistic
approach to herd health
Last autumn, vet Alastair Hayton from Synergy Farm Health
became the 2015 winner of the Farmers Weekly Award for
Farm Adviser of the Year.
In addition to his work as a farm vet, Alastair is
involved in the development of a new TB test,
and also consults with commercial companies
and industry bodies.
At the Synergy practice, Alastair works with 13
dairy clients, providing veterinary advice and
support across all aspects of dairy cow health
including nutrition and youngstock rearing. Four
of his clients are organic producers, and
amongst them is Roger Barrington who farms
with his wife Helen at Staggs Farm, near
Taunton.
Herd plans
Like several of Alastair’s clients, Roger has to
live with a 10% chance of summer flooding,
and the limitations this puts on grassland and
herd management. Despite these challenges,
Roger has expanded his herd over the past
three years, from an original 80 milking cows,
to the current 145.
As the majority of his leys are permanent
pasture, Roger believes the farmland is not
good enough to support a high yielding
Holstein herd. Hence he has opted for an
organic system with Friesian cows. Over the
past two years, he has been introducing some
Montbeliarde genetics into the herd, with the
aim of increasing the size of cow.
Roger explains: ’My larger cows are AI-ed with
Friesian semen, but the smaller ones and the
first lactation cows are put to a Montbeliarde.
It’s still early days, but the Montbeliarde cross
heifers seem to be better milkers.’
The current herd yield averages 6,500 litres/
cow with a butterfat of 4.1% and protein 3.4%.
Benefits of vet support
Five years ago, Roger began working more
closely with Alastair and taking a proactive
approach to herd health. This has included
having fortnightly fertility visits. It resulted in the
calving index falling from 460 days to 380, in
just 18 months.
Roger says: ’You don’t realise how important
these visits are until you see the knock-on effect.
This is a key change which has pushed us
forward – now I’m getting more milk and more
heifers coming through too.’
These regular visits provide the opportunity for
all kinds of herd matters to be discussed. Roger
has also found his vet useful in helping him
source a ‘new’ second-hand parlour and mixer
wagon, and some organic fodder beet!
Time savers
Time is a huge limiting factor for Roger,
however a number of time-saving changes
have been made, and more are planned.
Alastair has helped Roger and Helen to adopt
the use of computer records rather than relying
on paper. 'It’s much easier to regiment and put
systems in place now,' says Alastair.
HERD HEALTH
Veterinary surgeon
Alastair Hayton
XLVets practice
Synergy Farm Health
ALASTAIR HAYTON, SYNERGY FARM HEALTH
Roger has recently started introducing some
Montbeliarde genetics into the Friesian herd
Now that Alastair is more involved on the farm,
all kinds of herd matters are discussed between
them