Role for Farmers in Global Health Challenge

Role for Farmers in Global Health Challenge

Farmers can do their bit to help combat antibiotic resistance in our national dairy herd. A close eye on individual animals, a committed focus on infection prevention and excellent in-shed practice are three things farmers can do now to help manage the greatest human and animal health challenge of the 21st Century.

Verne Atmore, of Tru-Test Group and Gold sponsor of the New Zealand Veterinarian Association, applauded the public announcement that the Association wants NZ Inc to be non-reliant on antibiotics for the maintenance and treatment of animals by 2030.

“Mastitis and weight loss in dairy cattle are areas where dairy farmers can actively use prevention tools to pick up animal health changes before antibiotic treatments become necessary. Reliable tools are available to support farmers in creating greater on farm efficiency and building healthier herds and Tru-Test Group, a growing force in research and product development for the dairy sector, has two automation modules Walk Over Weighing and Inline Sensors that are specifically noteworthy in the prevention space.”

New Zealand made MilkHub Walk Over Weighing systems measure incremental weight changes of every animal every milking before any weight loss is visible to the eye. Staff can be automatically alerted to the weight change when a cow comes onto the platform for immediate investigation and early intervention.

MilkHub In-line Sensors use a combination of measurements particularly useful for mastitis management. Similar to screening programmes in human health, the Inline Sensors provide a method to determine which cows are in an interest group requiring closer inspection. These animals maybe cows which have a high SCC or may have other issues causing anomalous results from the sensor.

The screening function of information from the MilkHub Inline Sensors is a central element to many farmers’ successful mastitis management programmes. It forms a pragmatic ‘early warning system’ alerting farm management and the team in the shed to cows which may be ‘at risk’ and giving opportunity for general health checks and intervention. A secondary test is recommended in shed to establish a definitive presence of mastitis, typically using a paddle test or even a squirt test. This step adds greater accuracy in the farmer’s mastitis management programme and reduces stripping and treating animals unnecessarily.

The early warning programme based on a regular and systematic ‘watching brief’ is based on real-world pragmatic thinking around how things work in shed and aims to maximise good quality milk production while focusing on preventative animal health management.

ENDS.

© Scoop Media