The Importance of the Drying Off Period

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Most dairy farms are currently undergoing their dry off period. The purpose of the drying off period is to give lactating animals a period of rest. This will give a cow the ability to calve at correct body condition and the ability to produce high quality milk during the next lactation season. A minimum of a 60-day dry cow rest period is recommended.

The risk of infection during the dry period is up to seven times higher than during lactation. This suggests how important it is to dry off cows correctly.

Tips When Drying Off Cows:

  • Plan: Drying off cows should be planned a few days in advance (The Herdwatch “due to Dry-Off” view can help you with this).
  • Help: Drying off does not need to be a one-person job. (Many hands make light work)
  • Groups: Where possible Dry off cows in smaller groups to avoid animals getting distressed and any complacency taking place. (Herdwatch will help you manage this too)
  • Milk: Carry out once a day milking prior to the dry off period.
  • Hygiene: Cleanliness is of the upmost importance- wash and disinfect the parlor.
  • Sterilise: Wipe each teat individually with either a wipe or cotton wool and surgical spirit.
  • Use: A teat sealer should be used correctly to ensure that the teat  remains closed until the cow is calved and the sealer removed.
  • Gloves: Should be worn at all time during the drying off process.
  • Mark: Each cow that has been dried off so that she is clearly visible.
  • Discuss: with your vet whether selective dry cow therapy is suitable for your herd.
  • Record: each tag number, the tube used and the date of drying off. (This can be recorded in Herdwatch in order to keep you compliant with Bord Bia and Cross-compliance)

Recording a dry off in Herdwatch:

It couldn’t be easier to record a dry off using Herdwatch.

Dry Offs can be recorded easily by following these steps…

>Tap Orange Plus Button (+) in the bottom right hand corner

>Tap Record a Remedy

>Tap Cattle Treatment

>Select the remedy

>Select treatment date

>Select administered by

>Tap Next top right hand corner

>Select animals

>Tap Save

By recording dry-offs in Herdwatch all records will be sent directly to ICBF/CIS and farmers have the peace of mind knowing that they are fully complaint with Bord Bia/Red Tractor and/or Quality Assurance standards.

Try the App for Free

The new Free-Plan which allows farmers to:

  • Download their Herd from APHIS (NI), BCMS (UK) or Agfood (IRL)
  • Record 10 calf registrations
  • Record their medicine purchases
  • Record Heat detection and general tasks

Calf Care- Tagging Guidelines

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Tagging calves is carried out as part of the Bovine Animal Identification System. The aim is to guarantee the safety of beef and beef products by the operation of an effective animal identification and tracing system.

When Should Calves Be Tagged?

The tagging system requires the application of two identically numbered yellow plastic ear tags to calves born on a holding within 20 days of birth. However, to avoid confusion calves should be tagged as soon as the animal is dry.

Correct application of cattle tags is fundamental to any operation. Properly placed tags will minimise discomfort for the animal, decrease risk of injury to personnel and last longer in the ear.

How to Tag a Calf?

1. Ensure the calf is securely restrained.

2. Squeeze the handles of the tagger to check that the pin slides easily into the hole on the opposite end of the tagger.

3. Place the male component of the tag on the tagger pin and the female component on the opposite side.

4. Make sure the female tag part is correctly aligned with it’s male counterpart and squeeze the taggers.

5. Remove the tagger and ensure the tag halves are interlocked and placed both securely and comfortably.

 TOP TIP: The ideal location for a tag is in the middle one-third of the ear, between the rises in auricular cartilage.

Tags placed too close to the head will fit too tightly due to the thicker cartilage, and may cause tissue necrosis. Tags placed too far towards the top or bottom of the ear are easily torn out.

How Do You Order Replacement Tags?

Herdwatch has partnered with all three approved cattle tag providers in Ireland, Cormac Tagging, Datamars Agri and Mullinahone Co-Op to help farmers counteract a major cross-compliance issue by allowing our members to record and order missing tags directly from the Herdwatch app on their phone.

All the farmer has to do is select the missing tag numbers and place the order with their tag company of choice through the Herdwatch App.

Order replacement tags on the spot with the Herdwatch App.

Try Herdwatch for Free

Herdwatch is fully compliant with Bord Bia and EU quality assurance standards, and allows farmers to register calves and manage cattle movements on their phone. It is fully integrated with ICBF so farmers can see their breeding, milk records and EBI/Eurostar information on Herdwatch.

You too can join over 10,000 happy farmers saving time on farm paperwork and managing their farms more efficiently for FREE.

The Free-Plan allows farmers to:

  • Download their Herd from APHIS (NI), BCMS (UK) or Agfood (IRL)
  • Record 5 calf registrations
  • Record their medicine purchases
  • Record Heat detection and general tasks

Calf Care – Best Practice Tips for Good Health & Welfare

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From the middle of March to early April is the time when calves are at the highest risk of developing health problems. It is during this time that calves are at peak, which puts everything on the farm under pressure. It is important to take some time to review everything around calf rearing on the farm.

It is important to have a checklist for your calf rearing programme.

Best practice tips for calf health and welfare

So, what are the things we need to take into consideration to ensure calves are in good health at this time of year?

  • Allow sufficient space for calves to reduce the risk of disease.
  • Ensure access to clean fresh water.
  • Routine is very important with calves – form one and try to stick to it
  • Maintain clean bedding for calves at all times– preferably in the form of straw.
  • If you are tight on space,do not add more calves to the already settled pens.
  • Plan ahead of the calving season, to allow for extra space like new shed or hutches.
  • Weather permitting opt to get some early born calves to grass.
  • Do not mix younger and older calves in the same area.
  • Ensure all pens, are cleaned and disinfected before bringing in a second crop of calves.
  • Keep all calf registrations up to date.
  • Move out any calves you are selling as soon as possible.
  • Ensure your later born calves are getting enough colostrum.
  • Clean and disinfect dump buckets, calf feeding bottles and other equipment, these tend to accumulate dirt and are the primary carrier of disease over the busy period.
  • As the calving season progresses calving pens become a major source for cryptosporidium scour infection for newborn calves. Clean and disinfect these or move them to a new calving area.

Sick calves lead to more work and more stress which is the last thing a farmer needs during a busy calving season. Keeping in check with the above guidelines can help make a big difference to the health and welfare of the calf.

Quick and easy calf registration with Herdwatch

Farmers will be all too familiar with the compliance requirements around calving, such as the necessity to tag and register calves within 27 days of their birth. This can be done in seconds and on the go with the Herdwatch App.

Learn more about quick and easy calf registration

Herdwatch is fully compliant with Bord Bia and EU quality assurance standards, and allows farmers to register calves and manage cattle movements on their phone. It is fully integrated with ICBF so farmers can see their breeding, milk records and EBI/Eurostar information on Herdwatch.

You too can join over 10,000 happy farmers saving time on farm paperwork and managing their farms more efficiently for FREE.

The Free-Plan allows farmers to:

  • Download their Herd from APHIS (NI), BCMS (UK) or Agfood (IRL)
  • Record 5 calf registrations
  • Record their medicine purchases
  • Record Heat detection and general tasks

Dosing Cattle: Are You Doing It Right?

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Housing is one of the best times of the year for treating cattle against some of the more common internal and external parasites, according to Teagasc.

When it comes to dosing cattle, an accurate way of finding out the recommended rate at which they should be dosed is by finding the average weight of your bigger animals using a tool such as Herdwatch.

Simply pick the animal, enter the weight, and click “Save”. You will see a summary of the Weight record, including Average Daily Gain.

For the next animal, just type the last few digits of the tag or freeze-brand, enter the weight, click “Save”. It’s that simple.

Once you record a weight in Herdwatch it will automatically calculate the ADG of that animal giving you more knowledge of their performance.

If the weight range is such that the lightest animal might receive more than a double dose, divide the group in two and calculate a dose rate for each, based on the heaviest animal in each sub-group. Always use the full dose rate, even where two products are being administered at the same time e.g. for a quarantine treatment.

Dosing Handling facilities that restrain the animal should be in place to enable the operator to administer medicine with minimum risk or injury to the animal.

It is recommended that:

  • The dosing equipment used is appropriate for the size of the animal
  • Dosing guns should be properly calibrated
  • Care is taken to avoid injuring the animal’s throat
  • Consider the use of alternative suitable product formulations e.g. “pour on” treatments to minimise handling stress

Delivery Methods

Injectables

  • Ensure that animals are handled and restrained in a manner that seeks to minimise stress
  • Adhere to manufacturer recommendations for dosage rates and injection procedures
  • Avoid injecting animals in the loin, hindquarter or other high value meat cut areas
  • Maintain strict hygiene standards during injection
  • Use single use (disposable) needles and syringes
  • In the rare event that a needle breaks when administering an injection, the broken needle should be removed in a safe hygienic manner under veterinary supervision if necessary. Failure to remove a broken needle can give rise to animal welfare and potential food safety problems
  • Dispose of needle and syringe in appropriate clinical waste and sharps containers.

Pour-ons
Apply along the length of the flattest part of the back, from the withers to the tail head. In general do not treat when the hair is wet, or rain is anticipated within two hours of treatment. NB some products are waterproof and can be used on wet animals. Avoid damaged skin and areas covered with mud or manure.

Boluses

Boluses should be administered with the correct applicator. The animal must be restrained and great care taken not to damage the throat or cause choking.

  • Load the pill or pills into the bolus gun
  • Insert the applicator from the front of the mouth over the back of the tongue, with no more than gentle firm pressure.
  • As the animal begins to swallow, passage into the throat becomes easier. Once in the throat the plunger should be pressed to release the bolus.
  • Keep the head elevated until they swallows the pill(s).
  • The applicator is then gently removed while checking that the bolus has been swallowed.

Oral drenches

Oral drenching guns are designed to deliver over the back of the tongue so that the entire dose is swallowed into the rumen. Bad dosing technique may allow the product to by-pass the rumen which will reduce its potency. Drenching equipment must be correctly calibrated and in good working order. Test it with product just before treatment starts by delivering two or more doses into a graduated measuring cylinder. Do not use water as this will give a false result. Faulty equipment, or attempting to dose too quickly, may mean the barrel of the gun does not fill properly, or that the liquid is full of bubbles.

Risking resistance

Under-dosing, using faulty dosing equipment, or treating in inappropriate conditions, can encourage wormer resistance to develop.

This is because worms with some resistance to the product can survive a lower dose treatment, where a full dose would have killed them.

Storage

Wormers should be stored securely, away from direct sunlight at 4–25C. Check the ‘use by’ date, and once open use within the period shown on the packaging.

Remedy purchase and recording treatments in Herdwatch 

Full Bord Bia compliance

Record Remedies on the spot

As Herdwatch works offline all your remedy purchases and usages can be recorded on the spot as it happens.

Remedy Stock Tracker

Herdwatch will also keep track of how much remedy you have used so you know what’s in your remedy cabinet at all times.

Replace your Bord Bia and Blue Book

Herdwatch is fully compliant with Bord bia and the Department of Agriculture. So once you record your Remedy Purchases, Remedy usages and Feed Purchases in Herdwatch there’s no need to write them into any book!

Capturing, Storing and Retrieving data made easy

Herdwatch comes fully stocked with the 800+ remedies approved by the VPA so recording a remedy purchase or treatment couldn’t be easier.

 

Automatically Calculates Withdrawal Periods

Once a cattle treatment has been recorded in Herdwatch it will automatically calculate the withdrawal period for you so you know which animals are in meat withdrawal at all times.

Group Dosing

Beef Farmers tend to dose in large batches of animals. Using Herdwatch you can create a group treatment. This means you only have to create one remedy treatment for multiple animals.

Reports at your Finger Tips

No need to worry about compliance inspections once you have entered your data correctly. In the event of a remedy inspection or audit, you can get a report from Herdwatch which you can print off and show the inspector/auditor on the spot.

Expert Guide to Calf Immunity

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As a new addition to Herdwatch’s Farm Smart series, we are partnering with leaders from the agriculture industry to provide expert advice to Herdwatch members, with timely and relevant articles that will help you manage your herd more efficiently & effectively.

In the first of this series, Kevin O’Sullivan from Glasslyn Veterinary Clinic, part of the XL Vets Network provides a guide to ensuring optimal calf immunity:

Kevin begins with “colostrum is key to the success or failure of calf rearing as all calves are born with an undeveloped immune system. The colostral antibodies that the calf absorbs in the immediate hours following birth are therefore vital to prevent disease.

The success of AHI Calf-care campaign has ensured that most farmers are well aware of the 3-2-1 message on colostrum management but to remind ourselves:

will give the calf the best chance of absorbing the antibodies required for it to survive while the calf’s own immune system develops. Excellent management is critical for the 3-2-1 protocol to work and this habit should be engrained within your calving operation.

Colostrum quality can vary greatly and this can depend on many management and genetic factors. Here are a couple of tips to help you maximise the efficient delivery of colostrum:

  • Strengthen – vaccinated cows will produce colostrum higher in antibodies against E Coli, Rotavirus, and Coronavirus.
  • Pre-calving leaks – cows that are leaking milk prior to calving may lose colostrum which can be diluted or replaced by milk. You should save this colostrum pre-calving and store it by refrigerating for 24 hours or freezing (thaw gradually in warm water) until the calf is born.
  • Hygiene – “dirty” colostrum spoils quickly due to bacterial replication and exposes the calf to potentially dangerous bacteria. This can be prevented by cleaning the cow’s teats prior to milking and using clean gloves, buckets, stomach tubes and bottles when feeding.
  • Diet – cows on low dry matter digestibility fodder or low protein silage are at risk of producing lower quality colostrum. These cows will need concentrate supplementation for two to three weeks before calving to improve the quality of their colostrum.
  • Dairy cows – tend to produce more dilute colostrum and quickly switch from producing colostrum pre-calving to milk immediately after calving. In these instances, calves may need a larger volume in its first meal to receive enough antibodies to protect it.
  • Quality – all colostrum of suspect quality should be checked to ensure there is at least 50g per litre of antibodies before feeding or freezing.

Feeding within the first two hours of life ensures maximum absorption of the antibodies across the calf’s digestive tract. The calf’s ability to absorb antibodies reduces for every hour older the calf gets.
Lastly, it is worth bearing in mind that colostrum contains more than just antibodies – it is rich in protein and high quality easily digested fats, supplying the newborn calf with the energy to keep itself warm. It also supplies hormones and vitamins that stimulate growth and immunity in calves.”

We hope that you found this article useful so please stay tuned, we’ll have another article next week which will focus on calf disease prevention and treatment. You can find more articles from our Farm Smart series on the Herdwatch blog – https://blog.herdwatch.com/
Our thanks to Kevin O’Sullivan from XL Vets for preparing this guide.

Kevin O’Sullivan is a partner in Glasslyn Veterinary Clinic, a mainly dairy practice based in Cork, Ireland which is part of the XL Vets network. XL Vets is a network of independently owned, progressive veterinary practices across Ireland & the UK, committed to the future of the livestock industry.

COVID-19: Farm Supports Available to Farmers

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To continue our efforts to support Herdwatch members and the wider farming community during this crisis, David Leydon, Head of Food and AgriBusiness with ifac has provided advice to Herdwatch members outlining that sound financial management and managing your cash-flow is now a critical priority for many farming businesses. This is particularly applicable to those involved in SME agri-businesses.

Firstly, acting now to slow down the spread of Covid 19 is all our responsibility and protecting your family, community and any farm team is uppermost in everyone’s mind. However, the economic impact is starting to be felt by farm, food & agri businesses across the country, whether that is in the restrictions in the marts affecting movements or changes to feed prices. Here are some steps which farmers should be considering right now in the knowledge that managing cash-flow in the short term is a critical priority.

1. Speak to your bank manager now if you have a potential cash-flow challenge, not enough farmers are communicating with their bank. Inform them of your situation and how you see this crisis impacting you in the short term. Put them on notice that you may need a loan deferral, you may need increased overdraft facilities or that you may need increased banking facilities.

2. Examine State supports which may help you, get your paperwork in for BPS before May 15th. If you use a farm adviser then you will have to book a phone appointment instead of calling in to their office. If you only summer grazing, make sure you have the minimum stock purchased before the May 1st in order to meeting your stocking rate requirements.

With some marts re-opening under restriction, you can still source cattle using websites such as the Covid Cattle Exchange here.

3. Get in touch with Revenue if your situation has changed adversely. Keep your liabilities to Revenue under review and remember, if you meet the criteria, you will be able to enter into a phased payment arrangement in due course. At this moment, interest on late VAT payments is suspended for both  January/February VAT and February and March PAYE liabilities. This is likely to evolve over coming weeks.

4. Increase cash inflow where possible. Follow up on all debtors as a matter of priority. Make sure your invoice is top of their list. Reduce inventory and this will free up cash for your farm business. However, don’t miss opportunities to acquire in supplies and inputs at low cost if you are in a good enough cash position.

5. If you are in a tightening cash position use as many ways as possible to reduce spend in the short term including considering pausing any capital investment, cutting all discretionary spending now and leasing rather than buying equipment. Renegotiate payment terms with your suppliers and think of more ways to save your cash in the short term.

6. Staffing decisions are the most difficult decisions for any business owner in an SME or farm. In the scenario where the farm is under acute stress then there are some options which must be considered. Acting with integrity and fairness at this exceptionally difficult time is vital for farmer and farm workers:
a. Reduce hours not salary For example, 2 or 3 day weeks are a real option for a period of time
b. If salary cuts are necessary, look at reducing wages for higher paid farm workers first
c. If you have to reduce numbers, try and do it once and not have the constant threat of redundancies. Your team will struggle with multiple changes.

7. It is vital to be well informed of the various Department of Social Welfare supports that are available to your farm workers and employees. These too are evolving, Illness Benefit has increased from 203 per week to 350 per week for Covid 19 patients and this applicable to the self employed, farmers and PAYE workers.  Additionally a Covid 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of 350 per week is now available while the Covid 19 Refund Scheme is in operation to speed this process up for staff.

8. Mind your best customers add more value, don’t increase your cost to them and make it easy for them to continue buying from you.

9. Create a new budget. If you do prepare a yearly budget, the budget you did towards the end of your last financial year is no longer fit for purpose. A revised budget and cash-flow with a new forecast is vital to help you manage through this period. Importantly, examine how much of the new forecast belongs to guaranteed or as close to sure income. If you don’t do a yearly budget, now is the time to do one and sanity check both your farm income and outgoings.

This is a critical time for farmers and agri-businesses to show their real worth to society and maintaining your farm business is critical to maintaining the food supply chain in the fight against Covid-19.

Should you wish to seek further advice on SME or farm supports available to you over the coming weeks and months, please go to www.ifac.ie or contact the author, David Leydon from ifac by email at davidleydon@ifac.ie.

We will be adding to this blog on support available to farmers as new information becomes available so please keep an eye out for updates.

What Do Farmers Be Doing on That Phone Anyways?

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“Does anyone buy a paper anymore?” “Is the internet all things to all farmers?” “Why are they always stuck in their phone?” These are just a couple of the questions that a recent survey by Herdwatch, the leading farm management software company, conducted to show how farmers interact with print, digital and social media.

The Herdwatch survey of 1,100 farmers revealed that farmers are very hungry for news & information and they are active across multiple media platforms with 97% using online websites for news & information, 92% using social media and 87% still buying newspapers.

When it comes to online, AgriLand is the most popular website in Ireland for farmers with 87% using the site to access news & information. Beyond that, there is an even spread of the engagement with other websites that include That’s Farming, Farmers Journal and the Farming Independent. It is also interesting to see that farmers are turning to Facebook groups and YouTube to access farming news. 87% of the farmers who use the web said they access it every day or multiple times a day showing that they are highly engaged with content on the internet.

The Herdwatch survey also provided insight that 92% use social media with 62% of those telling Herdwatch they are never off it or on it all the time. But what are they doing on their phones all the time, you ask? 81% use the WhatsApp messaging app to communicate to family & friends but are also involved in farmer groups where they can ask for and receive advice. After that, more than half use Facebook to stay connected with friends and half use YouTube to watch videos. 1 in 3 use Snapchat which is not just for teenagers anymore, as 54% of farmers using Snapchat are over 35 years of age. Twitter and Instagram are also popular with 1 in 4 using these.

On newspapers, 13% said they don’t buy or read newspapers anymore but it is clear that print media is still relevant to farmers with 74% buying a newspaper weekly or every other week. 77% buy the Farmers Journal and 45% buy the Farming Independent. 16% also said they still buy a local newspaper.

Mervyn Harvey from Herdwatch commented “The results of this survey clearly show that anyone who thinks that farmers are a little bit behind the curve is completely wrong.

Their engagement with online news and social media is very high and can help to reduce rural isolation, especially during this current crisis. Farmers are doing an amazing job to keep our food supply chains going right now and we are very grateful to them for that.

We continue to do our bit to help with our Herdwatch Covid Cattle Exchange which has already helped hundreds of farmers buy or sell animals while marts are severely constrained.”

From Farming Simulator to YouTube Farming Superstar

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Philip Stewart, otherwise known as ‘Farmer Phil’, has been using an app to simplify and speed up certain jobs on the farm that in times gone by would have taken an age to do.

Philip, who farms alongside his father and uncle in Killashee, Co. Longford, runs a dairy calf-to-beef system, as well as running an agricultural contracting business.

The Stewarts normally buy in 400 calves every year and at any one time on the farm, there could be 500-700 head of cattle. The trio also sow about 200ac of crops as well.

The Stewarts have been working as agricultural contractors since back when Philips’s grandfather was running the farm in the 1930s.

Philip says that they “pretty much do everything except for hedge-cutting”. Besides the farm, Philip has become widely known for his YouTube channel, which originally started up five years ago in 2015.

Talking about his YouTube channel, Philip said: “It had just come up in conversation with one of my friends about how other people were making money off of YouTube.

“I was playing farming simulator every other night when I had nothing else to be at and I said to myself if I start recording myself now I might be able to make something out of it.

“However, the videos of me playing farming simulator never really took off. So, in 2017 I started uploading videos of what we were doing on the farm.

“They were desperate hard videos to watch but it started getting more hits [the videos] and as time went on I gradually became better at taking the videos.

“After 2018, when I got my GoPro, the channel just took off. Currently, I have over 29,500 subscribers. I upload videos every week on a Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

“I typically get 500,000-800,000 views a month, with people watching from over 120 different countries; although, the majority of the views are from Ireland and the UK.”

Making Life Easy and Simple

Philip said that shooting videos for his channel can be time-consuming and in times gone by, it got in the way of getting jobs done quickly around the farm.

However, since going down the route of keeping farm records on the phone instead of on a “piece of paper or a lump of cardboard”, Philip has been able to shoot videos for his channel, while also getting important jobs on the farm done quickly and efficiently.

He explained: “The Herdwatch app has been invaluable in the day-to-day running of the farm.

“While working with cattle in the yard, I can record whatever it is I’m doing into the phone, whether it be weighing cattle, and I can also video what I’m doing as well at the same time.

“The Herdwatch app has been invaluable in the sense that I can be recording what I need into the app in one hand and have my GoPro in the other hand – which is great.

“I use the app for a number of different things, such as recording the weights of cattle and medicines that we have bought.

“Long gone are the days when we would be writing down important figures or whatever it may be on a piece of cardboard, because, in most cases, it would get lost.

“With the Herdwatch app, the hassle of keeping records on paper is gone. It’s a simple and easy-to-use app that has saved us a lot of time that would have been wasted previously using our old methods of recording.”

Further Information

For more information on the Herdwatch app, just click here 

For those looking to subscribe to Farmer Phil’s YouTube channel, just click here.

Farm Smart: Getting the Most Out of Your Farm Business by Introducing Technology

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Father & Son team, Pat & Padraic Kennedy run a dual Beef & Dairy operation in Templemore, Co. Tipperary. Padraic mainly looks after the dairy side of things and Pat looks after the beef. Padraic said “we have been breeding Herefords for the past 25 years and we’ve been milking here since well before I was born.” Padraic is farming full-time but also finds a bit or time to work with Farm Relief Services (FRS) occasionally along with some soil sampling work at the end of the year when the cows have dried off.

Pat & Padraic are currently milking 90 cows and have 140 cattle in the beef herd on a 250-acre platform that includes owned and rented land. Pat explained how they manage it as two separate herds: “Padraic transfers all the calves over to me when they are 6 weeks old and we look to finish most before 30 months.”

On why they favour the Hereford breed for beef, Padraic said “The reason we went with the Hereford breed is simple – easy calving, better live weight gain and a quicker finish, being a beef breed compared to a black and white for example. They can be 30-40 kilos more in dead weight which makes a big difference.”

“Our priorities when raising beef cattle are to sell them at the right time and get a good price!”

Farm improvements.

Padraic has been kept busy in the past few years keeping the farm up to date, “we built a 100-cow cubicle shed last year and put in a new milking parlour 3 years ago. The beef end of the operation is up to date and I could go on about what makes my farm business successful all day but really it comes down to hard work and dedication at the end of it all. Farming is advancing quicker than ever before so staying ahead is very important for us.”

It’s not all new sheds and parlours though with the Kennedys having turned to technology to help improve farm efficiency and make the day-to-day running easier a few years ago: “I was at an IFA meeting in Killea back in 2016 and heard of the Herdwatch app from one of the farmers there and I knew straight away this could be a game changer when it comes to simplifying our farm paperwork and compliance. There were a good few of them who were using Herdwatch and all of them said that it was saving them hours every week along with taking the hassle out of maintaining paperwork and getting ready for farm inspections.”

“We were fed up with writing in books and writing on bits of paper and Herdwatch has everything to help us on both the beef and dairy side of things – breeding, calf registration, remedies, it even has special features for weighing & finishing cattle” Padraic explained. “I went home the night I heard about it first and had the app downloaded and my herd on my phone in a few minutes, it couldn’t have been any easier and I haven’t looked back since.”

Recording remedies on the spot.

“Herdwatch just makes getting paperwork ready for farm inspections so easy with what took hours previously now done in minutes, if not less. The reports are there ready for you on your phone at all times. When I buy a bottle of medicine, I just scan it into the Herdwatch app and it’s done, no worrying about it after and it’s there ready for me when I need to record a treatment”. Padraic explained that “the withdrawal period is also recorded, and the given timeframe will be assigned to the specific animal.”

“We were fed up with writing in books and writing on bits of paper and Herdwatch has everything to help us on both the beef and dairy side of things – breeding, calf registration, remedies, it even has special features for weighing & finishing cattle.”

Removing the Stress & Human Error.

“Before using Herdwatch, I used to record all our serves on a sheet of paper and hoping I wouldn’t lose it, and too often I did, same with registering calves. It was too easy to make a mistake but with Herdwatch, there’s none of that messing about and it cuts out human error. We do our own AI so I record the serves in Herdwatch as I go which in turn shares them with ICBF. The Watchboard in the app will then give me a reminder for each cow 3 weeks on to keep an eye out for a repeat.”

“The app is very smart and will then tell me when a cow is due to calf the following spring or how many days since she calved, so if she comes back into heat after a month, I know not to AI her because she’s not long enough calved”.

“When it comes to registering calves, I just scan the tag with the app and enter the Dam and Herdwatch automatically fills in the breed of the calf and the Sire or AI bull that was used as all that information was gathered from the breeding. For me, the calf registration in Herdwatch is the bit I love the most, it just couldn’t be any quicker or easier and the cards are then sent out in the post automatically”.

“One of the handiest compliance features on the app is ordering missing tags. If I spot that an animal is missing a tag, I just pull out the phone there and then, and Herdwatch will send the order for a replacement tag to our supplier for me, I just sit back and receive it a few days later.”

Reports at your Fingertips.

Padraic has no need to worry about compliance inspections as the Herdwatch app helps him ensure all records are captured accurately “My Bord Bia inspections since I started using Herdwatch have been over 95%, it’s all there for the inspector when he arrives, remedy purchases, feed purchases, movements in and out, calf registrations, it’s absolutely brilliant”.

“All in all, Herdwatch has really made farming easier for us, just knowing that all our information is there in one place and the more you put into Herdwatch, the more you will get out of it – simple as!”

Looking to the future

Padraic and Pat were asked by Irish Hereford Prime to participate in a pilot welfare programme which is looking at potential changes to animal husbandry and medicine usage that may be relevant in the future. Padraic explained “we were asked to participate last year and it has been really interesting to see what the future might hold for raising livestock in a more sustainable way that is better for the farmer and better for the animal.”

“The programme is all about reducing any potential stress factors on an animal. Monitoring from birth through to finish by regular weighing helps to ensure they are performing as they should. It was a double win for us when we found out that Herdwatch were helping out with the programme as we were able to provide all the information required by simply sharing the information we already had in the Herdwatch app.”

Download Herdwatch today

Herdwatch is fully compliant with Bord Bia and EU quality assurance standards and allows farmers to register calves and manage cattle movements on their phone. It is fully integrated with ICBF so farmers can see their breeding, milk records and EBI/Eurostar information on Herdwatch.

You too can join Padraic and over 14,000 other happy farmers saving time on farm paperwork and managing their farms more efficiently, just download the Herdwatch app.

Improving your Cow Performance with Herdwatch

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2022 will see big changes for Dairy farmers: Mastitis remains one of the most biggest challenges for dairy farmers that can affect cow performance and production. Currently, the practice of blanket dry-cow therapy is the most common method used prevent mastitis. This is where intramammary (IM) antimicrobials (AMs) are given to all cows at dry-off in order to treat infected cows and prevent against infection on uninfected cows.

From January 2022, under the new Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products, the blanket use of antibiotic dry cow therapy will be prohibited. The new legislation will take effect from January 28th, 2022 which means we will no longer be allowed to administer dry cow tubes to all cows in the herd by default (blanket dry cow therapy). This is part of a targeted global action plan to reduce the use on anti-biotics in food chains, which have been increasing the levels of anti-biotic resistance in humans.

Metaphylaxis (treating animals with an antibiotic in advance of an expected outbreak of disease) e.g. putting weanlings into a shed and treating them all, and prophylaxis (treating animals with an antibiotic to prevent a disease) will both be prohibited and may be prescribed only in exceptional circumstances such as diagnostics or veterinary advice but general antibiotic use on healthy animals will not be permitted.

The highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HP-CIAs) such as your 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins and your fluoroquinolones will be restricted use from January 2022.

What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and why must we change how we use antibiotics?        

Anti microbial resistance (AMR) is a real concern in both human & animal medicine. It occurs when micro-organisms that cause infections adapt and prevent an antimicrobial from working against it. As a result the antimicrobials used to treat infections are no longer effective, limiting the treatment options available and therefore making the most common infections more difficult to treat.

AMR related deaths are greater than 25,000 a year in the EU and the WHO is estimating that 10 million deaths will occur by the year 2050 as bacteria are able to mutate to become “Super Bugs”. AMR is here but we need to do everything as a society as a whole to stop it.

Selective dry cow therapy is the future of drying off.

Mastitis is NOT caused by a deficiency of intramammary antibiotic! Hygiene is the main thing that causes mastitis and no antibiotic should be used to take over from poor hygiene. Dairy farmers can combat mastitis by using your data, keeping hygiene good and keeping your records in check so you can pick out the cows the cows that you don’t need to use antibiotics in.

Selective dry cow therapy (SDCT), as opposed to blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT), employs a specific strategy to avoid treating every cow with antibiotics at dry off.

On a recent Herdwatch webinar, Hazell Mullins, Clinical Director at Highfield Veterinary Group was on hand to outline how to successfully implement Selective Dry Cow Therapy on your farm as well as talking about the the benefits of Milk Recording.

Key criteria for success of SDCT

  • Identifying the infected cow at point of dry off.
  • Avoid infection during the drying off process.
  • Keeping the cow uninfected throughout the dry period.
  • Keeping the cow uninfected at calving.

Key = Hygiene & Hygiene + Hygiene

Example Criteria for SDCT

Herd Selection 

  1. Bulk Tank SCC consistently <200,000 cells/ml
  2. Milk recording: ideally monthly
  3. Records of clinical cases and outcomes
  4. < 2% clinical case rate in the last 3 months of lactation

Cow selection

  1. SCC consistently <200,000 – last 4 recordings
  2. No clinical case throughout the lactation (important to record all cases as sometimes will not be reflected in the milk recordings)
  3. No skin lesions

Milk Recording & Cow Performance

Milk Recording is the key to achieving successful safer Selective Dry Cow Therapy. It is essential to record one month before dry off or 60 days before the start of calving to assess the SCC of the herd, which allows you to monitor cure rates over the dry period.

Working with your Vet or advisor, you should be aiming for > 85% cure rate and Dry period new infection rates of < 10%. Milk recording should be carried out least 4 times a year – the more you do, the more information you have and in turn the safer the SDCT is for your cows.

Along with SCC management, improving udder health and reducing the usage of antibiotics, milk recording provides excellent detail on cow performance that can be easily accessed and interpreted within Herwdatch.

Interpretation of milk recording data and the information that it provides will have a critical role to play in the development of breeding plans on farm in the future. The number of herds milk recording in Ireland is low relative to our international counterparts and needs to increase significantly. Its importance will become even more critical as blanket dry cow therapy is phased out.

Using the milk recording and performance dashboards in Herdwatch you will be able to easily select best cows for dairy replacements improving EBI overall on the farm, selecting culls and making sure problem cows are not being bred and in turn reducing SCC. Selective breeding will increase your EBI, solids, milk reduction, fertility as well as having a SDCT process. Combining and analysing milk recording information in Herdwatch can easily be done and help to make better on-farm decisions.

Hazell Mullins Top Tips for SDCT

  • Eat breakfast – Don’t be hangry!
  • Be organised – lay out everything on a table or other side of herring bone
  • Spotless parlour before starting
  • Gloves – if possible new gloves for each SDCT cow
  • Teat score – make sure surface of the teat is smooth
  • Bucket of cotton pads in surgical spirts or else remove wipes from packets and place in surgical spirit
  • Do not place sealers in warm water to soften – Pseudomonas risk
  • Stand in clean yard for 30 mins
  • Remember – treat your cows like surgical patients – embrace your inner surgeon!

Dry Off/SDCT Management in Herdwatch

By using Herdwatch, you will be able to access all of the information needed to select cows to be dried off, within the Dry Off Management feature in Herdwatch which gives you a detailed dashboard which includes cows in herd, average herd SCC, cows suitable for SDCT, cows to dry, cows dried, milk record and more.

A simplified list of what cows Herdwatch suitable for SDCT (always check with your Vet) as below:

These lists are all customisable with the use of filters, so you can change highest SCC threshold to 50,000 and latest SCC threshold to 50,000 and expected calving date to 15 of February 2022 to just have a list of cows with this criteria.

Herdwatch is fully compliant with all quality assurance standards in Ireland & the UK and allows farmers to record all remedy usage, register calves, cattle movements, breeding records, map your farm and more on a simple to use app.

You too can join Hazell and over 15,000 other happy farmers saving time on farm paperwork and managing their farms more efficiently by downloading the Herdwatch app today.