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WINTER 2016/17 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
6
DA I RY EF F I C I ENC I ES
Breeding strategies
At the same time as his move to Shropshire
Farm Vets, John also changed his herd’s
breeding plan. John explains: ‘There were
some underlying problems – feet, fertility and
durability. I needed a smaller cow, suitable
for a grazing system.‘
In order to accelerate change, he crossed all
heifers and cows with Jersey genetics for one
generation. At first using a bull, and then
switching to AI. The next generation will be
put back to Holstein genetics more
specifically suited to grazing systems.
The herd’s calving pattern has also been
altered. There had been some problems with
calf health, due to limitations of the buildings.
So now breeding is organised so that no
calves are born between early December
and end of February, to minimise pressure on
housing. John manages his culling to ensure
sufficient milk for his contract.
‘Ideally I would like to block-calve over a
6-12 week period,’ says John, ‘but it’s not
currently possible on my milk contract.‘
James adds: ‘The farm’s heifers are reared
off-site making heat observations difficult. So
heifers are now synchronised so that they
calve in April and August, which helps John
with his milk profile. It also helps ensure first
calvings take place around the optimum age
of 24 months.‘
Heat detection in the main herd has been
improved with the introduction of activity
collars.
Fertility factors
Metabolic profiling was carried out to
identify any nutritional factors that were
limiting fertility, health or productivity. The
results revealed a shortfall in selenium levels.
This would have been having a negative
impact on fertility. So selenium is now being
supplemented in the form of a liquid minerals
product, added to the water troughs.
The herd receives fortnightly fertility visits from
the practice. James explains: ‘As vets, we
can sometimes look back at a farm’s records
and see times of the year where fertility has
slipped. This can often be a consequence of
our visits being postponed because farm staff
are busy with seasonal jobs.‘
John admits this has been the case at the
farm in the past, and is now giving the
fertility visits the priority, even if busy with
silaging.
Benefits of better fertility
Today, thanks to a holistic approach and a
number of changes made across the board,
both fertility and performance have improved
even further: pregnancy rate has increased to
28% (from 20%) and submission rates 65%
(from 50%).
The number of cows served by 100 days in
milk has increased from 86% to 92%, and
the number in-calf has increased from 41% to
64%. The farm is also running with 4% fewer
involuntary culls.
With more cows getting back in-calf more
quickly, John now has a surplus of heifers to
sell. He adds: ‘The herd’s replacement rate is
22%. But with no shortage of heifers coming
through, I’ve now got the luxury of only
serving cows to dairy straws once, and then
switching to beef so we can produce more
beef calves.
‘However TB is a continual worry, and we
are not set up to keep a lot of calves on.
We’ve been shut down once, 2 years ago,
so we always consider it’s a possibility.‘
The grazed Holstein herd used to average a
yield of around 8,000 litres/cow but with
the Jersey-crossing it has dropped by around
1,000 litres/cow.
John adds: ‘As we feed to yield in the
parlour, then we are feeding fewer
concentrates now.
‘And since cows are now getting back
in-calf more quickly, we can afford to make
less milk per lactation. So our annual milk
production is not down as much as milk
yield per se.‘
Protocols and Systems
John believes management is even more
important in larger herds: ‘We needed a
system, and we didn’t have one. So we
were fire-fighting all the time.’
James and his Shropshire Farm Vets
colleagues have created written protocols for
John and his team of three staff, making jobs
process-driven with less room for error.
Vet Sean Hughes adds: ‘Fertility here has
pretty much been nailed! Going forward,
we can analyse the data and look to see
where we can reduce costs further.
‘One area to focus on next is selective dry
cow therapy. A lot of cows will be dried off
in February and this would be the time to
teach those working in the milking parlour
the appropriate hygiene procedures and
cow selection. It’s another area that requires
a written protocol so that everyone follows
the process consistently.’
Jersey genetics have been added into the herd to
create a smaller cow suitable for grazing
Breeding is planned so that no calves are born
for 3 months of the winter
Going forward
John adds: ‘When milk price is down, it’s
fundamental to focus on feeding, fertility
and hoof care. We need to be consistent
and keep plodding away. And we need
to be working with the right vets with the
right attitude.’
James adds: ‘As vets, we always want to
work with our clients in a partnership, like
we do with John. We all need this farm
to be profitable! And for that we need
efficiency in the herd.’
Working in partnership to improve herd efficiency and ultimately farm profitability