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Farm Animal November Newsletter

Two important meetings took place last month both of which were very well attended so I apologise if I am repeating information that you are aware of.

Rural Development Programme is, at last, about to get under way. Officially it should start on November 16th as this is the date that Lantra will issue a list of veterinary surgeons who are on its panel for carrying out herd health plans leading to grants for farm improvements. The scheme will depend on a farm health plan showing a need for an improvement and to monitor the financial benefit of that improvement. The herd plan will be a full proactive plan (rather than the tick box exercise for farm assurance). We will need access to some financial information (ie price per litre) so that we can come up will reliable costings. You will pay for part of the plan (£160) while the rest will be paid for by Lantra. We have already looked at many ways of getting information from BCMS, NMR etc as we are aware that many farmers do not have good records about disease on their farms. Assuming we find a need (and I cannot imagine that we will not!) then the farmer will be to apply for a 40% grant up to a spend of £155,000. New builds are not eligible but high welfare cattle handling systems, cluster flushing, heat detectors, grooving, cow mats, improvements in ventilation etc are eligible.

Once the case has been made for a grant, this should be submitted to Hereford County Council. If approved you will then need to get quotes for the work, pay for it and then show Hereford CC your bank statement that the money has been paid out and you will be reimbursed. It is not necessary to spend all the money at one time and it may be that you put in for a number of improvements which you wish to carry out over a period of time.

I am writing as if this grant is only available for dairy clients but that is not the case, any livestock farmer can apply and Lantra is keen that the grants should be spread over all sectors.

Badger Vaccine Deployment Project. Anyone in the Eccleshall area should have received a letter from FERA inviting you to join the badger vaccination scheme. I would encourage everyone to join the scheme. I would not necessarily say it was a “win;win” scheme but I am sure it is a “no loss;no loss” situation. The research work shows that vaccinating badgers will reduce the incidence of TB in badgers and we all know that badgers can spread TB to cattle. The great unknown question is whether enough badgers will be caught to make vaccination affective in the whole population. I say it is a “no loss” situation because while FERA will be committed to five years of vaccination on your holding if you sign up, you can pull out at any time. At the moment there is no political will for a badger cull so I believe this is the best hope that we have to reduce TB in cattle and I strongly believe as many farmers as possible should sign up.

Just as a warning unfortunately we have seen a lot of new breakdowns on farms this autumn so we should all try something to reduce the spread.

Eprinex. There are some real benefits from treating all your cows with Eprinex at housing. During the last two years we have carried out a lot of MOO testing looking for round worm in cows. Nearly all the samples have shown high levels of worms in cows and the herds have benefited from the treatment which has resulted in an increased food intake and therefore an increased milk production.

Some slight confusion over the use of Closamectin. This new pour on wormer will treat worms AND liver fluke but has a milk withhold time. If you have liver fluke on the farm (we can check this through a bulk milk sample) then we suggest you use Closamectin or Ivomec Super injection at drying off instead of Eprinex.

If in any doubt please phone the surgery or discuss this with us when we are on the farm.