Well-placed to weather conflicts
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
In this season we are again asking a lot of our stock.
If we don’t look after them they may suffer flow on effects to their health, wellbeing and performance.
Cows too fat or too thin are at increased risk of metabolic disease and should be managed as higher risk animals.
Feeding stock is a large part of your job. Dry matter intake and quality feed are the most important aspect of stock management.
Often metabolic disease outbreaks can be addressed by increasing the amount of good quality feed which raises the intake of energy, calcium and magnesium. But taking a holistic approach via general good husbandry and good feed and supplementation is shown by research to be more important than ever before.
Intricate links between a cow’s homeostatic processes (the regulation of the cow’s internal environment) and metabolic processes are being continually uncovered.
Homeostasis arises from a natural resistance to change in optimal conditions and acts as an internal regulator to maintain equilibrium (wellbeing) despite changes in an animal’s environment, diet or level of activity.
For a cows’ metabolism to work at maximum efficiency it needs effective homeostatic control to keep things balanced. Without it, a failure of one metabolic process impacts on the efficiency of others and the cow becomes vulnerable to external threats and stresses.
Because of the influence of the homeostatic system, the concept of transition feeding prior to calving has evolved.
Rather than focusing on the control of milk fever alone, the process requires the farmer to take an integrated nutritional approach. This will optimise:
• rumen function
• calcium and bone metabolism
• energy metabolism
• protein metabolism
• immune function.
Developing integrated strategies based on an understanding of the homoeostatic process will greatly benefit a cow’s wellbeing pre- and post-calving. In that brief, important transition period a careful manipulation of a cow’s diet can help her health and productivity.
Managing other factors will also affect a cow’s homeostatic system and consequent ability to absorb and retain nutrients at critical periods. The farmer must manage the stresses caused by:
Lack of shelter in bad weather
Deep pugged soils which make it hard for cows to get to feed, shelter and water
Trucking (do this well before calving).
Like everything, the balance of the hormone system and calcium levels is controlled by the homeostatic system. So optimal conditions and diet are critical to give your cows the best start to the season.
• Julie Wagner is Ravensdown animal health product manager.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.