Publications

Mortality statistics show that the first three months of a calf's life are pivotal when it comes to overall survival. This Dairy Insight looks at ensuring a healthy start for your calves and explores solutions for you, when things do go wrong.

Fulfilling legal requirements for sufficient slurry storage could facilitate better use of farm nutrients, which could benefit both the environment, and your back pocket. And with various rounds of grant funding in the pipeline – and storage requirements up for review – there's arguably never been a better time to future-proof your storage. This Dairy Insight delves into the minimum slurry storage requirements for farms, discusses storage requirement calculations and key considerations for new stores.

How much sugar is being delivered by your herd's ration? Most UK winter diets are falling well below the target 6 to 8% sugar in the total diet dry matter, meaning there's huge potential for farmers to improve rumen health, dry matter intakes and milk constituents. This Dairy Insight explores recommended sugar levels in the dairy cow diet and what you can feed to achieve them.

Are cows fidgeting during milking? Are liners slipping? Do you have a lot of 'slow milkers'? It's these types of observations that should form part of everyday parlour checks to establish if your set-up is working effectively; to ensure the health and well-being of the dairy herd, the quality of milk produced, and the overall efficiency of the milking process. Including: • Cow Health Monitoring • Milk Quality Assurance • Equipment Maintenance • Hygiene and Sanitation

Having a well-defined vision and focus can provide a roadmap for business success, enhance decision-making, and foster resilience in the face of challenges. Involving the entire farm team in the strategic planning process is a great approach to ensure alignment and commitment. This Dairy Insight provides a step-by-step guide to building a business strategy for your farm.

This publication is the third in the series of three Dairy Insight publications exploring lameness in dairy cows. Lameness in dairy herds remains one of the biggest health costs (estimated at £11,057 per 100 cows), with the implications of a case of lameness reaching far beyond the costs of treatment, time and reduced yield. Prevention is better than cure!

All farmers should take scours prevention seriously considering it accounts for more than half of calf deaths in the UK and is preventable through good hygiene and immunity management. Kingshay Costings show it now costs £1,761 to rear a heifer to calve in at a target 24 months – a 14% increase on December 2021. With this in mind, farmers can ill afford any drop in growth rates caused by a case of scours, which could increase rearing times and associated costs and negatively affect a farm's carbon footprint. Calves that experience scours are also more likely to succumb to other diseases such as pneumonia. This Dairy Insight explores the causes of calf scours and shares practical tips on prevention.

This publication is the second in a series of three Dairy Insight publications exploring lameness in dairy cows. A case of lameness has a significant impact on the wellbeing and the productivity of the cow. Pain causes them to lie down for longer, feeds more infrequently and has reduced oestrus signals. Lame cows are lame because it is painful. This is an important welfare consideration, and it is critical that the lame cow is treated promptly and appropriately once she has been identified.

This publication is the first in a series of three Dairy Insight publications exploring lameness in dairy cows. Lameness in dairy herds remains one of the biggest health costs, with the implications of a case of lameness reaching far beyond the costs of treatment, time and reduced yield. The estimated cost per average herd is £11,057.

The need for business resilience has never been more evident than in the last 18 months, when input prices have rocketed, and milk prices shot up … and then started to fall at the start of 2023. Regularly reviewing business performance and evaluating whether you can strip out unnecessary costs will help to build a business that can weather ongoing volatility.

Blue tongue is a viral disease caused by infection by the blue tongue virus (BTV – a member of the Reoviridae family). The virus is transmitted by biting midges of the Culicoides species, meaning there is no risk from direct contact with infected animals. It can infect all ruminant species; cattle, camelids, deer, goats and sheep. BTV is not a zoonotic disease so poses no threat to human health. This Dairy Insight explores the virus, how it is spread and how you can reduce the risk on your own farm.

The costs of rearing dairy replacements is estimated to be between £1,546 and over £2,170 depending on the age at first calving (see Youngstock Rearing Costs Dairy Insight). This accounts for between 10 to 20% of dairy enterprise costs (according to Kingshay's Profit Manager figures). With these costs ever increasing, it is as important as ever to have a highly efficient rearing system. After all, heifer calves are the future of most dairy herds and you don't get a second chance to get it right. Whilst the impacts of early life nutrition on cow productivity are well understood, the impact of other life experiences is not so well recognised. This Dairy Insight explores the effects of social contact on calves and the lasting effects into adulthood.