Last week, we were delighted to hold our Autumn Calf Roadshow: Setting Up Calves for Success; bringing together farmers and industry experts for a day focused on calf health, performance, and best practice.
The event proved to be a great success, with plenty of engagement from attendees throughout the day. It provided a valuable opportunity for farmers to step away from their day-to-day routines, connect with fellow farmers, and gain insights from some of the industry’s leading voices.
A key highlight of the event was our impressive line-up of guest speakers, who shared their expertise on a range of topics affecting calf rearing. From animal health and nutrition to optimising the environment, each presentation offered practical advice and thought-provoking ideas that attendees could take back to their own farms.
The first day was held at Grange Farm, home to the Yeatman family. We started the day hearing about James’s impressive CowRecovery bucket system. Groups then moved around the farm to visit 5 stations. Here are some of the key takeaways:
·- Georgina Thomas from Trouw talked about the importance of feeding fat to aid development, the benefits of feeding more milk and what success looks like in early life.
·- Dr Ryan Davies from SCCL stressed how the first feed of colostrum should provide 300g of IgG and the scenarios where farmers should be supplementing maternal colostrum with SCCL.
·- Ellen Taylor from Synergy Farm Health spoke on how cleanliness on farm is paramount, giving real life examples from some of her farms. She also talked about managing Crypto on farm and how farmers can improve resilience to this disease.
· –Grace Kitching from Galebreaker gave a great demonstration of how air behaved in the calf shed with a smoke bomb. She spoke about tests that farmers can do at home to assess their calf sheds environment, such as the kneel test.
· –Dr Sion Richards from Balchem talked about how supplementing dry cow diets with choline will improve colostrum quality and quantity, as well as decreasing risk of metabolic disorders in early lactation. He went on to state that feeding choline in the first 100 days of milk has been shown to increase yield by 2l/head/day.
The second day of the roadshow was held at Puxton Court farm, owned by the Mead family and managed by Richard Smith. This day was in partnership with the George Vet Group; it was great to work together and see new faces. Here were some of the main messages from the day’s speakers:
· –Zoe Williams from The George Vet Group opened the day talking about the journey that Puxton have been on in the last year, focusing on improving calf health and performance. It was great to see that pneumonia cases have reduced by 54% in the last year.
· –Georgina Thomas and Nacia Bonnick from Trouw talked about the relationship between early life nutrition and sustainability. Nacia ran through real life examples to see where replacements are lost from a system and how this equates to your carbon footprint. Georgina gave an update on KPI’s that farmers should be targeting.
·- Dr Ryan Davies from SCCL spoke about some of the factors that affect absorption of colostrum. He also talked about how the BRIX target has moved from 22% to 25%, it was refreshing to hear Ryan talk about how farmers should constantly be pushing targets to better their herd.
· –Dr Sion Richards from Balchem talked about how choline interacts with the liver and what that means in terms of performance for the cow. He stressed that not all choline products are the same and farmers must be wary of those that are not rumen protected.
· –Louise Hall from Virbac gave a very interactive talk (helped with chocolate) about using Multimin in times of stress for the calf such as weaning and dehorning. She spoke about how this injectable will help protect the calf when demand for trace minerals is high to prevent slumps in performance.
In addition to the informative presentations, it was great to see attendees contributing their own experiences and perspectives. These conversations are an important part of events like these, helping to encourage knowledge sharing with industry representatives and fellow farmers.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of the speakers who generously shared their knowledge and expertise, as well as to everyone who attended and contributed to the success of the event. A massive thanks goes to James and Harry at Grange Farm and Rich and Lucy at Puxton Court for hosting these days, without them these events wouldn’t be possible. The enthusiasm, engagement, and willingness to share experiences created a fantastic atmosphere from start to finish. We look forward to continuing the important conversations that began last week.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the days such a success.
written by Mollie Freeston
T: 07777 153819
E: Mollie@tbagri.co.uk
W: www.tbagri.co.uk
Unit 3 Pulham Business Park
Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 7DX
United Kingdom