Spring is upon us. The daffodils are out and the birds are letting us know that it’s breeding season.
Outside my office window, two magpies and a crow have been having an argument that’s lasted for weeks. The crow appears to have the upper hand, but the magpies are persistent. I am grateful that the crow is keeping them occupied with something other than me!
I recently read an article in the Cattle Vets journal, where instead of the usual ‘How I treat ...’ column, vets were invited to contribute to ‘What I enjoy ...’ about cattle practice.
On a particularly cold, damp and muddy day, I enjoyed reading the positive thoughts, and there were three common themes that stood out to me.
Firstly, the beauty and stoicism of cows. If you’re a cow person like me, I’m sure you’ll agree that cows are just more beautiful than any other animal.
I can still remember meeting my first dairy cows on work experience, and being amazed at how quiet they were compared to the beef cattle I was used to. Their ability to come to work day-in, day-out, without complaint, is remarkable.
The second theme was the satisfaction that comes from delivering a healthy newborn calf. We farmers are spoilt with seeing many more healthy births than vets do, so it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of the miracle that a new life is.
I’m sure every farmer can identify with the days when it just seems to rain calves. When you turn your back for five minutes and three more are born. When they pop out on the cow yard, and on the platform, too.
I wish I could have bottled the look on the face of a visitor to our dairy who witnessed a cow going round the platform with two small feet poking out the back.
When it rains calves and they are all heifers, the calf sheds fill quickly. From nothing to full in about four weeks these days.
We have had a good run with calving this year, except for some early teething issues with the new shed and milk fever as a result. We’ve hardly assisted a cow and had almost all happy and healthy calves.
When Simon and I first ventured out sharefarming, 50 heifer calves was all we would get and it took us a couple of months to collect them. We treated calves with scours and heifers with mastitis.
We had lots of practice at pulling milk fever cows out of creeks and fences, and the smell of retained membranes was in the dairy all through calving. We had surprise calves in the dry cow mob, and some massive calves from the mop-up bulls.
Calf scours vaccine, colostrum management and teat sealant have been game changers. Heat detection collars and AI have eliminated mop-up bulls, (most of) the surprise calvings and big calves.
And finally this year, we have a dairy that can effectively lead feed cows without back-breaking physical effort.
Maybe our good run this year is a result of a good season. Or maybe it’s the result of 15 years of continuous investment and improvement. We’ve come a long way in that time, almost without realising it.
And the third thing that the cattle vets enjoyed? Their relationships and conversations with the farmers.
So next time you have the vet out, take the opportunity to share your thoughts about the next game changer for your farm, and listen to some of the great ideas they have seen in their travels.
With exotic diseases on our doorstep, the relationship with our vets is as important as ever.
Lauren Finger
GippsDairy chair