All things Dairy

[Tonka]

Dafydd keeps telling me their working on it for payment with Bacs.
I keep telling him back if Bradburn Price in Mold can do it anyone can !
A right pita getting paid by cheque. Had the car booked in for an mot after lunch today, so thought I would go early and drop off the cheques off at the bank, they have been sitting in the drawer for 3 weeks ! Bloody place closed due to staff shortages due to covid. Checked hsbcs website, Denbigh branch closed at two, so had to make a trip to Mold (open till 4)
Be less hassle taking the calves to Mold, and them paying by bacs a week later.

Post offices are now more prevalent than banks. Why don't you pay your cheques into your bank account via the post office counter? Couldn't be easier...

 

[Iogijones]

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I was going to go there with the kids tomorrow but its 10 miles away. I wanted to see if i could do the same here

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Free

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I’m imagining them rules being applied here and laughing. No chance

 

[jondear]

Last therms here was 80 and coliform 8

not paid for here....yet!
but its great signalling for where issue may be!
Once a month we get these tested for

Last Therms here 10 and coliforms 1 must be doing something wright!
Good for cheese I guess with good constituents.

 

[som farmer]

Post offices are now more prevalent than banks. Why don't you pay your cheques into your bank account via the post office counter? Couldn't be easier...

12 mls to a bank, post office van 1.5 mls, 4 days a week. We live in somerset, if we need to speak to the bank, have to ring scotland, and, of course, we pay for those privileges.
Highbridge mkt, sell your stock, have your lunch, collect your chq, cross over the road, and pay it into the bank. Sadly the mkt has gone. Frome pay bacs, as do salisbury, but no quicker than a cheque arriving.
There was a thread about mkts going bust, and the buyer debt they carried, so, if you 'pay on the day' for your purchase, and write a cheque, that cheque will not 'clear' for nearly a week, or you pay a week later, or longer, or for a few months, in some cases, the mkt is carrying a huge amount of money, owing, the week, before sending your cheque, basically is 'debt relief', cannot really blame them, stock prices where they are, £100,000 dosen't take long to get to.

 

[pine_guy]

sorting out cows for drying off, nearly done a full circle, a year next week since I secured a contract agreed to buy the cows plunging myself into being a dairy farmer.

So the current debate is do we go selective dry cow based purely on CMT at dry off? Vet not overly keen but think that is from the problems they get from poor hygiene at sealing, herdsman is keen, done a lot of it in NZ. I’m always keen to try things as it’s the only real way to know. Neighbour suggested when he’s seen guys do it, results are sketchy. Anybody on here got first hand experience, would love some views

 

[frederick]

sorting out cows for drying off, nearly done a full circle, a year next week since I secured a contract agreed to buy the cows plunging myself into being a dairy farmer.

So the current debate is do we go selective dry cow based purely on CMT at dry off? Vet not overly keen but think that is from the problems they get from poor hygiene at sealing, herdsman is keen, done a lot of it in NZ. I’m always keen to try things as it’s the only real way to know. Neighbour suggested when he’s seen guys do it, results are sketchy. Anybody on here got first hand experience, would love some views
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Not sure anybody can recommend blanket ab at drying off but if you have no cell count records not sure what alternative you have to CMT. Surely the saving in tubes would have paid for at least one set of samples.

 

[jimmer]

sorting out cows for drying off, nearly done a full circle, a year next week since I secured a contract agreed to buy the cows plunging myself into being a dairy farmer.

So the current debate is do we go selective dry cow based purely on CMT at dry off? Vet not overly keen but think that is from the problems they get from poor hygiene at sealing, herdsman is keen, done a lot of it in NZ. I’m always keen to try things as it’s the only real way to know. Neighbour suggested when he’s seen guys do it, results are sketchy. Anybody on here got first hand experience, would love some views
View attachment 935933

Coffee, biscuits, background music, loads of wipes and steady away
If your confident they are going to stay clean in their dry cow accommodation then only double tube issue cows

 

[pine_guy]

Not sure anybody can recommend blanket ab at drying off but if you have no cell count records not sure what alternative you have to CMT. Surely the saving in tubes would have paid for at least one set of samples.

One set of samples I was told was no better. You need 2-3 over the year to understand a cow. Start of this year I spoke to a testing company intending to test for drying off and they basically said if we tested them once this close to drying off, the results would not give a true picture of the cows performance.

I should point out this is not a financial thing. I’m happy to pay for some testing. We did a a few near the start as tested for johnes, so will have that data. But in the setting up and the unknowns with this heard, more testing has been a management oversight on my part.

 

[frederick]

One set of samples I was told was no better. You need 2-3 over the year to understand a cow. Start of this year I spoke to a testing company intending to test for drying off and they basically said if we tested them once this close to drying off, the results would not give a true picture of the cows performance.

I should point out this is not a financial thing. I’m happy to pay for some testing. We did a a few near the start as tested for johnes, so will have that data. But in the setting up and the unknowns with this heard, more testing has been a management oversight on my part.

When do you dry off. As it's late lactation the number over 200 will be higher but if a cow has a cell count of 96 she won't need ab. This would allow a level of selection.
Plan for next year and put two samples in the diary before drying off.

 

[Tim G]

One set of samples I was told was no better. You need 2-3 over the year to understand a cow. Start of this year I spoke to a testing company intending to test for drying off and they basically said if we tested them once this close to drying off, the results would not give a true picture of the cows performance.

I should point out this is not a financial thing. I’m happy to pay for some testing. We did a a few near the start as tested for johnes, so will have that data. But in the setting up and the unknowns with this heard, more testing has been a management oversight on my part.

Make the resolution to record for next lactation.
We've just started doing ours (a piddly amount, granted) on a DIY monthly sampling, it's another cost but already can see a benifit to it. We might go to 6 week sampling eventually but for now we wanted to build up results/data.

 

[pine_guy]

When do you dry off. As it's late lactation the number over 200 will be higher but if a cow has a cell count of 96 she won't need ab. This would allow a level of selection.
Plan for next year and put two samples in the diary before drying off.

This batch of 25 are scheduled for Tuesday after 5 days on some rougher haylage to knock the milk off them a bit. should have been done 2 weeks ago, but Xmas, COVID and staff meant we where behind shuffling young stock around to make a space for them.
will be another batch close behind these then there was a break in serving. Will aim to get some testing for the later cows and this new season.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Any cows that have had issues this year + any high on either a test or CMT, double tube. My preference would be for a test.

Aim to improve testing next year, information is key with this job.

 

[vantage]

@pine_guy do you do quarterly Johnes testing? Do the cells with that.

 

[Martyn]

I'm going to put my head on a block and say from our experience dry the whole lot off with just a sealer and spend the money have saved on antibiotics and spend it on mineral testing your silage and ensuring the cows minerals are upto scratch and let the cows immunity work. I don't test anything seal the lot, spend a lot on dry cow minerals, we used to have scc often in the 200 now we are running below 100scc and had four cases of mastitis over twelve months.

 

[Sid]

sorting out cows for drying off, nearly done a full circle, a year next week since I secured a contract agreed to buy the cows plunging myself into being a dairy farmer.

So the current debate is do we go selective dry cow based purely on CMT at dry off? Vet not overly keen but think that is from the problems they get from poor hygiene at sealing, herdsman is keen, done a lot of it in NZ. I’m always keen to try things as it’s the only real way to know. Neighbour suggested when he’s seen guys do it, results are sketchy. Anybody on here got first hand experience, would love some views
View attachment 935933

Question,

Does your vet not trust the cows own immune system to cure the infection?

 

[som farmer]

slightly different with a new bought in herd, history unknown. The best way to know, is recording/sample.
not quite brave enough to not a/b any though, but that may come, our vets seem to be having difficulty in actually getting the tubes, choice of 1 milking, and 1 dry cow, orbaseal has gone to ubroseal, and ubrolexin for milk, and ubro red is now orbenin extra dc. Anything under 100, no d/c tubes.

 

[Spudley]

We only record every 2 months and it seems to be working fine. What's your btscc like?

 

[Rossymons]

Make the resolution to record for next lactation.
We've just started doing ours (a piddly amount, granted) on a DIY monthly sampling, it's another cost but already can see a benifit to it. We might go to 6 week sampling eventually but for now we wanted to build up results/data.

Would you be testing for Johnes as well?

 

[Tim G]

Would you be testing for Johnes as well?

Not at the moment. Our vet had some funding available so last year we did them by blood testing.