The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Calf production efficiency talk of conference
Results of two-year study into process across 14 farms shown at meetings organised by SAC Consulting
Efficient beef production requires cows to produce live calves, with minimal calving assistance from farmers.
This was one of the key messages given to producers during a recent series of meetings, held across Scotland, focusing on how to maximise the country’s 2020 calf crop.
Organised by SAC Consulting, part of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), the meetings highlighted findings from a two-year Livestock Health Scotland project which looked at where calf losses typically occurred in suckler herds.
Based on 14 farms and involving a total of 1,850 animals, the study recorded calf losses from pregnancy diagnosis through to weaning in the 2018 and 2019 calving seasons. Results showed that 92.2% calves were conceived in 2018 compared to 90.5% in 2019, with the average weaned calf rate across all 14 herds being 82.4% in 2018 and 83% in 2019.
Post-mortem results on all calves lost during the project showed abortion as a major factor, with losses of 3% in both 2018 and 2019. This was due mainly to infection from feed-borne bacteria, resulting from cattle being fed mouldy silage or drinking from dirty water courses.
Stillbirths, neonatal deaths and older calf deaths were all studied, with key factors in the causes of deaths including hard or complicated calvings, inadequate uptake of colostrum and pneumonia.
Urging farmers to do their own recording of calf losses during 2020’s calving season, Timothy Geraghty, from SRUC Veterinary Services, said that by gathering such data, farmers would be able to look at where improvements could be made and discuss results with family, workers and vets in order to improve calf crop figures in future years.
Glasgow University veterinary specialist Jayne Orr added that farmers should, ideally, not be personally involved in the calving process at all.
She urged meeting delegates not to reach immediately for the calving jack, suggesting that the first point of call should be to try and pull the calf off with their own strength.
If, in such circumstances, there was no movement, they should consider whether veterinary assistance may be required straight away.
SAC Consulting’s Robert Ramsay concluded that while there are always calf losses which cannot be avoided, if farmers wean one extra calf this year as a result of learning new advice from the meetings, it would be a worthwhile step in the right direction.