Farmers are feeding milk replacement rather than whole milk as the price per litre for milk replacer is 17 cent while while milk is 18 cent. It's still favourable to use milk replacer. Also farmers find it more convienent and there are less digestove...

Visited a pedigree Angus herd recently in Cork using AI as the sole method of breeding. A Major issue with heat detection is associated with cows on concrete slatts using tail paint as an aid in heat detection. However, too much tail paint applied to...

Visited 2 farms recently in County Down. Animals injected for control of fluke had large abcess's on the side of where the injection had been given, Is this a local reaction or associated with dirty needles ? It needs to be addressed as all of the...

On a farm today using a vaccination program involving IBR, Lepto, and BVD. A high incidence of infertility. The vaccination program for BVD entails a twice yearly rather than once a year vaccination. The client in question was only vaccinating once a...

In a recent case study , the cows retaining the afterbirths could be seen chewing the cud. No evidence of ill health for the first 48 hours after birth but then cows became seriously ill. www.cows365.com

visited a farm recently where over 60% of cows had retained foetal membranes, Bloods taken pre calving and post calving to investiage same. Cows are loosing extensive body condition. Silage quality is poor and cows on stand off pads experienced severe...

Scanned a herd of Pedigree Angus in County Tipperary. The fertility in these Red Angus mature cows is excellent as all cows presented in calf with a first service. Pregnancy rate in excess of 70%. Further evaluation of this breed should take place, especially...

Yet again, it seems like it has been a while since i last blogged! All has been quiet with the farm which has allowed me to crack on with some young farmers things ready for our up and coming rally which our club is hosting. The usual day to day stuff...

Well done the BBC.!? The programme has given a wonderful insight into the work that farmers do to bring the food to our table. It has shown that farmers are not money grabbers sponging off the single farm payment, but that they are caring people who whilst...

Visited a farm recently in the Midlands in Ireland with embryos implanted. Pregnancy rate was 70% for 20 embryos implanted and the frozen embryos from another batch of 20 was down to 40%. The Simmental cross heifer is an excellent recipient. They do not...

A very small focus of active yellow rust has been found at the Lincoln site (see photograph). The variety infected is Vuka which is one of the UKCPVS set. Vuka is very susceptible to all UK races and provides an early warning that rust is in the area...

Can hear them chewing under the floor, middle of the night, The very board bed stands on, a hole right through not quite, There cannot be many houses these days that have mice in the house, but in the old houses where the floor boards are creaky with...

On farms today, having fodder beet & sugar beet fed to cows. Severe problem with fodder beet because of the severe frost, high proportion of the fodder beet has rotted. Feeding this poor quality fodder beet is causing severe problems with appetite...

The recent frosty weather seems to be having an impact on active yellow rust in some areas. Early sightings on Oakely in Yorkshire have, in some cases, been hard to verify - possibly due to the loss of lower leaves from the bad weather. It is likely that...

On farms here in West Cork today, an issue arising with freshly calved cows, a high incidence of E Coli Mastitis arising from cows indoors in cubicles and stand off pads. The incidence of E Coli Mastitis is 5% and causes severs toxemia in cows with a...