In this issue: Red Tractor Standards compliance Worm control in young stock The Glebewin Herd of South Hellescott VetTech Tales www.penbodevets.co.uk Find us on Facebook @penbodefarmvets
Once again Penbode Farm Vets are looking forward to attending the region s country shows and to catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Join us on our stand for a cup of tea, a cupcake and to rest your legs! Show Date Our involvement (stands at all shows except for Royal Cornwall) Royal Cornwall Show 7-9 June Sponsors of the Young Handlers Cattle and Sheep Classes Liskeard Show 14 July Sponsors of Young Handler Cattle Classes Launceston Show 26 July Sponsors of Young Handler Cattle Classes Woolsery Show 30 July Sponsors of Dairy Marquee North Devon Show 1 August Sponsors of Junior Showman - Cattle Classes Camelford Show 8 August Sponsors of Young Handler Beef and Dairy Classes Okehampton Show 9 August Sponsors of Junior Showman - Beef and Dairy Classes Ashwater Show 18 August Sponsors of Young Handler Beef, Dairy and Sheep Classes Holsworthy & Stratton Show 23 August Sponsors of Young Handler Cattle and Sheep Classes Bradworthy 01409 241241 Camelford 01840 212229 Holsworthy 01409 253418 Stratton 01288 353766 farm@penbodevets.co.uk www.penbodevets.co.uk Find us on Facebook @penbodefarmvets
Infection of animals with both lungworm and intestinal worms can cause scour, poor performance and poor growth rates. Choosing the appropriate treatment is essential to ensure all animals only receive wormers when required and to prevent their over use - saving money and reducing resistance. Cattle develop a good immunity to roundworms with age, so worming is usually necessary in weaned to yearling age groups and possibly bulling heifers, but rarely needed in adult cows. Adult cows with immunity will also clean the pasture of infective larvae/eggs, hence reducing the risk for cograzing young stock. Most worm larvae will survive on pasture over winter, but die during the summer. This means early in the grazing season any pasture that had young stock the previous year is a risk of infection to the latest batch of young stock. Lungworm larvae can survive longer, so late season pasture and silage aftermath can still pose a risk. Worming either with a pulsatile release bolus, or regular worming with a short acting wormer can be effective at killing worms while still allowing enough exposure for immunity development. This can be an expensive way to control worms if the pasture is clean and worming is not necessary at all, or not necessary that frequently. A more cost effective way to worm is to monitor worm burden with regular faecal worm egg counts to assess the infection level and worm only when required. Grazing youngstock are more susceptible to worms, but cattle develop a good immunity, so worming is usually more effective in weaned to yearling age groups.
Avoiding worming towards the end of the grazing season will ensure the animals are exposed to small amounts of worms and hence build an immunity. Worming after housing will then ensure that any infection is cleared and any negative effects from the short term, low level worm burden are minimised. What we see under the microscope When worming cattle it is essential to have an accurate weight of the animals to ensure correct dose rate. Underestimating the weight will result in underdosing, not killing all the worms and increasing the chance of worm resistance to wormers. The best way to get weights is with correctly calibrated scales on a crush, but a weightape can also give a reliable estimate. There are also vaccines available to help control lungworm, but more on that next month. Accurate Easy to use, self-adhesive Stays in place in rain, snow or heat 45 for 50* Please ensure you always ring in advance of ordering prescription drugs, so you can discuss your requirements and protocols with a vet. *DD price. VAT not included. Price valid until 30/6/2018
Name: José Muñoz Diaz Age: 29 Hometown: I now live in Bude but was born in Córdoba, Spain where the weather is dry and sunny most of the year...a bit like Bude!! How do you usually start your day? I start my day with toast and a cup of coffee to wake me up. Over the past month I ve also been taking our new puppy out for a walk first thing in the morning. Brex - the puppy What does a typical day involve? Visits on farms, TB testing and spending time at the Stratton branch. What are your favourite aspects of the job? Generally I like being outdoors on different farms and I enjoy every single aspect of been a farm vet. Probably successful calvings and caesareans would be the most rewarding things. Anything you re not so fond of? Not really Climbing and cycling near Cordoba What do you do in your spare time? Anything outdoors will do it for me; cycling, running, hiking and now a lot of dog walking. Not the (typical) activities for Spanish like drinking sangria, having a siesta and partying as some of the farmers were disappointed to discover! But I m keen on some of those too! Especially in the summer. What is your greatest achievement? Feeling at home in a different country, thanks to the support and patience received over the years from all the Penbode team, farmers and Silvia my fiancée. Describe yourself in three words. Positive. Friendly. Team Player. Next month we speak to Stratton Vet Lauren Medland The Sierras Subbéticas mountain range north of Cordoba
Some important changes to Red Tractor Assurance standards will come into effect from 1 June 2018. Penbode Farm Vets are keen to help you comply with these new regulations with minimal disruption to your business, whilst maintaining animal health and welfare. Please visit bit.ly/penrtas to view the four new standards relating to Responsible Use of Antibiotics on Red Tractor Farms. In brief they are: Standard 1: Medicine records must provide an annual collation of total antibiotic used for the unit Penbode can provide you with a collation of what you have purchased from the practice over the last 12 months. Standard 2: An annual review of antibiotics used must be undertaken by the vet We will review your antibiotic usage at your herd health review. We then produce a spreadsheet and graphs which flags up high use of CIAs or at risk drugs. Standard 3: Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics must only be used as a last resort under veterinary direction Following is a list of the Critically Important Antibiotics which are only to be used as a last resort. From now on they will carry this logo: Naxcel Cevaxel/Readycef/Excenel Cobactan tubes and injection Cephaguard Dry Cow Cefimam Milking Cow and Dry Cow tubes Marbocyl/Forcyl Baytril Max Advocin 180 Their use must be supported by sensitivity testing which proves that no other antibiotics will work. Whilst this is extremely unlikely to be the case, we can conduct the testing for you. All Penbode Farm Vets are able to recommend alternative treatment options for you.
Standard 4: It is recommended that at least one member of staff responsible for administering medicines has undertaken training and holds a certificate of competence. Training courses include but are not limited to MilkSure and veterinary-run training courses. Penbode has run MilkSure courses for our dairy farmers in the past and will continue to do so. Even if you have attended a MilkSure course we would recommend you book one of our mastering medicines courses as the subject matter will be very different. At Penbode Farm Vets, North Road, Holsworthy EX22 6HB Choose from the following dates: Tues 26 June 9:30am-1pm Thurs 28 June 1:30-5pm Thurs 2 Aug 1:30-5pm Peace of mind for 60 inc. light refreshments *ex. VAT Fri 3 August 9:30am-1pm Book today and make sure your farm complies with the new standards.
The Smale family have been farming at South Hellescott since the early 50s. We talk to Mike, Caroline and Gemma Smale about their love of, and commitment to, breeding high pedigree Holsteins. Tell us about your farm Gemma: We breed and milk high pedigree Holsteins. We have 350 acres mainly laid to grass, with 60 acres of cereals and whole-crop. Why Holsteins? Mike: My father bought his first Holstein in the 1950s when he bought the farm and I m proud to represent the Far Western counties on the board of Holstein UK. Although they re know as the Formula 1 of dairy cows, you know where you are with them. They do need careful and correct management, but all in all they re very efficient animals, with better mobility and a greater lifetime yield. Breeding high pedigree Holsteins is made more effective and efficient via the breed society s own CIS website. This provides you with data so you can manage your herd. You can go back through multiple generations of high pedigree Holsteins and find the family with the right KPIs for you - such as inbreeding coefficiency, fertility, SCC, milk composition (good butterfats and protein for our milk buyers Dairy Crest). It s all about traceability. Genomic bulls are used for 95% of the AI. We always keep one bull in the system for ourselves but sell three or four bulls a year to other Holstein breeders. We wouldn t keep a bull unless we would be happy to use it ourselves. Young stock are continually monitored on growth and health. Growth rates are recorded to ensure that only the best calves go forward to join the herd. The family are passionate about their cows
What s unique about your system? Gemma: It s not about being unique. It s all about having a management plan in place rather than firefighting. We re fastidious about health and maintaining a healthy herd. I work closely with Steph Prior [Penbode Stratton vet] in the development of our herd health plans. We test BVD tissue, vaccinate against IBR and Leptospirosis and test for Johne s four times a year. We also culture all our mastitis samples. We re constantly looking to flush out disease to drive efficiency. After all, high herd health leads to a good PLI. Gemma and her healthy Holsteins What roles do you each play? Mike: Gemma and I make the decisions on breeding. We calve all year round and Caroline looks after the young stock. We always like our calves to receive their dam s colostrum, but it s got to be of the best quality. So we always test the colostrum before allowing the calves to feed; if it s not up to scratch we use quality colostrum which we have previously frozen. The calves then have milk powder up to 8-10 weeks and then start on our own special mix which is fed ad lib to help with sustained growth and weaning. It s a special blend which we created and is made up by Harpers. What s your favourite thing about working on the farm? Gemma: Farming offers a good and profitable career choice along with a great way of life. You need to surround yourself with high quality professionals to enhance your business and ensure you get the results you re looking for. I have a great working relationship with Steph, who really knows our herd due to her regular routine visits. We work together on developing a more preventative approach to the herd s health. South Hellescott What do you think the future brings? Gemma: Well, in the short term future we have our showing and herd promotion to look forward to. Matthew [Gemma s 11 year old son] really enjoys his showing and will be competing in the Royal Cornwall Show Young Handler classes. I will be competing in the Milking Animals classes. I do think farming has a strong future; we re entering an exciting time in the industry and it s important that we grasp it and make the most of this opportunity. We should be promoting what we do well, such as producing some of the best dairy products in the world made following the highest standards of welfare Mike: I think farming is a really good industry and things have changed a lot. The next generation has got a lot of challenges to face. But it s the progression of time. Things move on.
Did you see a small increase in abortions in 2018? This could be a warning sign! Abortions storms often follow a year when there have been only a small number of ewes that slip lamb. Topics to be covered: Maximising your next season s scanning percentage Increasing lamb viability and birth weight How to use vaccines to improve your flock s productivity Thursday 14 June, Holsworthy Golf Club 6:30pm - 9:30pm Call 01409 253418 to book your place Annual Membership includes: FABBL approved Flock Health Plan and Annual Review 6 monthly Flock Prescription Checks Unlimited mob Faecal Egg Counting (FEC) Represents better value than previous 10 for 70 worm egg count offer. Annual Membership for just 10*/month for clients who pay their bill via Direct Debit or one off payment of 135*. Other benefits for DD payment include 15% discount off drug sales. # *Ex Vat # Terms and conditions apply We will be running an Artificial Insemination (AI) course, aimed at enabling you to perform DIY AI for your own herd. The LANTRA accredited course will run over three days, with the final two day sessions taking place on farm. Please contact Sally Ashford on 01409 253418 if you are interested.
Our VetTechs Megan Brooking and Lisa Honey are qualified to provide our clients with a wide range of services at a discounted price. Here, VetTech Lisa Honey tells us about their recent work. The recent warm spell we ve been having means I can start to look forward to working on-farm in the sunshine! In reality I m happy being outside whatever the weather and we ve been really busy these past few months visiting our clients and carrying out locomotive scoring, disbudding or supporting our vets on-farm with vaccinations at TB Testing and helping out with surgeries. Now May is here and we re expecting to see far more of our sheep clients. Especially as it s the best time to blood test sheep for barren ewe checks - a service we offer in ample time before the tups go in. And of course there s the worm egg counting to look forward to in our lab in Holsworthy; we recently attended a fascinating CPD course on sheep worming control and are really keen to remind sheep farmers that this is a prime time to check for Nematodirus. Members of the Penbode Flock Health Club can get unlimited mob FEC throughout the year (it s normally 15 per sample!). Don t forget you can also drop off fresh samples at the Penbode Hut at Holsworthy Market every Wednesday morning. With the Red Tractor Assurance guidelines changing on June 1, we ve already started to help farmers comply with the new standards by calculating how many antibiotics they have used over the last year. We expect to see a lot more too in the coming few months! Contact your local branch or visit http://bit.ly/penvettechs for more information on our VetTech services.
Important news about the Stratton branch Penbode Vets are committed to the local community and are here for the long term. So we are delighted to announce that we are investing in building a brand new combined Farm and Pets surgery in Stratton. As a result of this, the Farm branch have temporarily moved to Bude Self Storage, Stratton View Business Park, Holsworthy Road, Bude EX23 9NR (on the A3072) for about 12 months, during the works. All contact numbers (01288 353766) and opening hours will remain the same and all lambings will still be held at the original Stratton address. We will continue to run the Saturday Farm service from the Stratton Pets branch. However if you do need drugs on a Saturday, you will need to call us by 10am so we can get them to the original Pets building by 1pm. Overnight drugs If you want drugs to go in the box overnight please call us by 4pm so we can get them dropped off to the box on the side of the original Pets building. Please bear with us and if in doubt please call first!