Facial eczema should be at the forefront of your mind now with current counts up to 55,000 around Te Awamutu and Hamilton. Keep an eye on the regional trends from our monitor farms, but better still, weekly spore-counting of grass samples from your own farm will give you a much more accurate picture of what’s going on. Remember that giving cows zinc through the water is an unreliable method to prevent facial eczema.
Our Vetora App gives you instant access to spore counts, newsletters and other useful resources. Contact Denise denise.adamson@vetora.nz to sign up.
Plan for maize harvesting & storage – remember there are losses in feed value that occur before the stack is fully sealed, so communication with everyone to lock it in is important.
Autumn calving is just around the corner: remember Rotavec/Scourguard boosters, draft up your springers, start the magnesium supplementation, get your calving gear ready…
Think about body condition at calving now – With the prolonged dry we have been experiencing; you need to plan your once-a-day milking vs dry-off timing strategy to make sure all cows are at 5 (or 5.5 for the 2- & 3-year-olds) at calving. Remember that Vetora have DairyNZ- accredited body condition scorers who can give you a hand with this important information.
Take some milk samples from RMT positive, high SCC cows – this helps us to advise on the appropriate treatments for next season & allows us to prescribe your dry cow appropriately.
Animal health plans will soon be up for their annual review, so it’s worth tallying up the mastitis, mortality and lameness numbers so this information is available.
Pregnancy testing is well underway. If you have any questions or concerns about your results, it is worthwhile sitting down with your vet to start planning for next season.
Monitor trough levelsTwo troughs per paddock is ideal This may involve giving cows access to two paddocks
If you are planning an earlier than usual dry off please book in your Milk Quality Consult and RVM Meeting with your vet.
Heifers:
Pregnancy testing is now underway. Scanning close to five weeks after the bull is removed gives us more information on conception patterns to help with planning for calving - and also helps if we need to drill down on a problem.
Zinc, usually in the form of a Faceguard bolus, should be underway for them now.
Keep weighing the heifers particularly during periods of lean pasture growth, so that you know they are on track to meet growth targets.
Calves/R1s:
Zinc, usually in the form of a Faceguard bolus, should be underway for them now.
Keep the feed up so you’re achieving top growth rates. Even a couple of weeks short can make a difference to their first year’s milk production & ability to get back in calf, so keep in good communication with your grazier.
