An evaluation of milk recording, somatic cell counts and reproductive performance in a large cohort of dairy herds in England and Wales

Milk recording consists in the regular, usually monthly, collection of a milk sample from all the lactating cows of a dairy herd. A large sample of milk recording data collected in England and Wales between 2004 and 2006 was used in this thesis. A sample of 8,211,988 recordings in 2,128 herds, representing 16 % of the dairy herds in activity in December 2006, were described and analysed. Calvings followed a seasonal pattern with 80 % more calving in September than in May. Milk production was highest in May (26.5 kg) and lowest in October (24.1 kg). Butterfat was stable, close to 4 % from October to March and reached a minimum at 3.7 % in June and July. Protein stayed between 3.2 and 3.3 % all the year. Geometric mean somatic cell count was between 177 and 180 between October and March and reached 205,000 cells/mL in July and August. At the individual cow level, the mean milk yield, percentage of butterfat, percentage of protein, fat to protein ratio and somatic cell count (geometric mean) were 26.4 kg, 3.96 %, 3.29 %, 1.21 and 90,000 cells/mL, between 5 and 305 days in milk. Changes in individual cow somatic cell counts around a threshold of 200,000 cells/mL between consecutive recording dates were used to predict bulk milk somatic cell count at both the herd-year and test-day levels. The main contributors to bulk milk somatic cell counts were cows staying above the threshold for 2 consecutive test-days. Milk yields and composition at the start of lactation were used to predict the calving to conception interval. Higher milk yield, lower percentage of protein, lower percentage of lactose, higher somatic cell count and higher percentage of butterfat were associated with lower probabilities of conception before 145 days in milk

Perceptions of French private veterinary practitioners’ on their role inorganic dairy farms and opportunities to improve their advisoryservices for organic dairy farmers

Veterinarians could be the expected sparring partners of organic dairy farmers in promoting animal health which is one of the main organic principles. However, in the past organic dairy farmers did not always consider veterinarians to be pertinent advisors for them. The objectives of this study are – from private veterinary practitioners’ point of views- i) to describe the roles of veterinarians today in organic dairy farmers’ animal health promotion strategies, ii) to identify factors related to organic farming which determine their role on organic dairy farms, and, iii) to identify opportunities for improvement of veterinarians’ advisory services for organic dairy herds. Fourteen veterinarians, providing herd health advisory services to dairy farmers, were interviewed using qualitative semi-structured research interviews. A modified approach to Grounded Theory was used for data collection and analysis. Most often veterinarians had only contact with the organic dairy farmers in cases of individual ill animals or acute herd health problems. Even though certain veterinarians experienced situations and approaches of animal health and welfare on organic dairy farms not meeting their standards, they were not always able to establish themselves an advisory role supporting farmers in improving this. Indeed, organic production principles, regulations and farmers’ health approaches challenged veterinarians’ values on animal health and welfare and their perceptions of ‘good veterinary practices’. Also, some veterinarians considered that there was no direct economic interest for them in the organic dairy sector and that could diminish their willingness to invest in this sector. Possible opportunities for improvement were identified; for example proposing more proactively advice via existing organisations, by making adaptations to advisory services for the organic sector and/or by dissociating veterinarians’ curative role from their advisory role in disease prevention

How can veterinarians be interesting partners for organic dairy farmers? French farmers’ point of views

Organic dairy farmers must live up to the organic goal of ‘good health’ in respect the organic principles and regulation. Veterinarians could be the organic dairy farmers’ expected sparring partners in reaching this goal but have found difficulties to establish advisory relationships with them. The objectives of this study are −from organic dairy farmers’ points of view- (i) to describe farmers’ objectives and strategies regarding herd health, (ii) to describe private veterinarians’ roles in farmers’ animal health promotion strategies and (iii) to identify farmers’ reasons for accepting veterinarians in an advisory role. Fourteen organic dairy farmers were interviewed using qualitative research interviews. Data collection and analysis was performed using a modified approach to Grounded Theory. Organic dairy farmers had animal health management strategies focusing on animal health promotion. Veterinarians had most often solely the role of therapist in farmers’ animal health management strategies. Reasons explaining that veterinarians were not able to establish advisory roles were found in the differences between veterinarians and farmers regarding their animal health strategies and solutions to disease problems. Furthermore, veterinarians did not always share farmers’ (organic) objectives, values and priorities and this could lead to disagreement on the best choice in animal health management practices. This might be further amplified in situations where there exists a lack of dialogue and mutual interest in other

An evaluation of milk recording, somatic cell counts and reproductive performance in a large cohort of dairy herds in England and Wales

Milk recording consists in the regular, usually monthly, collection of a milk sample from all the lactating cows of a dairy herd. A large sample of milk recording data collected in England and Wales between 2004 and 2006 was used in this thesis. A sample of 8,211,988 recordings in 2,128 herds, representing 16 % of the dairy herds in activity in December 2006, were described and analysed. Calvings followed a seasonal pattern with 80 % more calving in September than in May. Milk production was highest in May (26.5 kg) and lowest in October (24.1 kg). Butterfat was stable, close to 4 % from October to March and reached a minimum at 3.7 % in June and July. Protein stayed between 3.2 and 3.3 % all the year. Geometric mean somatic cell count was between 177 and 180 between October and March and reached 205,000 cells/mL in July and August. At the individual cow level, the mean milk yield, percentage of butterfat, percentage of protein, fat to protein ratio and somatic cell count (geometric mean) were 26.4 kg, 3.96 %, 3.29 %, 1.21 and 90,000 cells/mL, between 5 and 305 days in milk. Changes in individual cow somatic cell counts around a threshold of 200,000 cells/mL between consecutive recording dates were used to predict bulk milk somatic cell count at both the herd-year and test-day levels. The main contributors to bulk milk somatic cell counts were cows staying above the threshold for 2 consecutive test-days. Milk yields and composition at the start of lactation were used to predict the calving to conception interval. Higher milk yield, lower percentage of protein, lower percentage of lactose, higher somatic cell count and higher percentage of butterfat were associated with lower probabilities of conception before 145 days in milk

A participatory approach to design monitoring indicators of production diseases in organic dairy farms

Production diseases have an important negative effect on the health and welfare of dairy cows. Although organic animal production systems aim for high animal health levels, compliance with European organic farming regulations does not guarantee that this is achieved. Herd health and production management (HHPM) programs aim at optimizing herd health by preventing disease and production problems, but as yet they have not been consistently implemented by farmers. We hypothesize that one reason is the mismatch between what scientists propose as indicators for herd health monitoring and what farmers would like to use. Herd health monitoring is a key element in HHPM programs as it permits a regular assessment of the functioning of the different components of the production process. Planned observations or measurements of these components are indispensable for this monitoring. In this study, a participatory approach was used to create an environment in which farmers could adapt the indicators proposed by scientists for monitoring the five main production diseases on dairy cattle farms. The adaptations of the indicators were characterized and the farmers’ explanations for the changes made were described. The study was conducted in France and Sweden, which differ in terms of their national organic regulations and existing advisory services. In both countries, twenty certified organic dairy farmers and their animal health management advisors participated in the study. All of the farmers adapted the initial monitoring plan proposed by scientists to specific production and animal health situation on their farm. This resulted in forty unique and farm-specific combinations of indicators for herd health monitoring. All but three farmers intended to monitor five health topics simultaneously using the constructed indicators. The qualitative analysis of the explanations given by farmers for their choices enabled an understanding of farmers’ reasons for selecting and adapting indicators. This is valuable information for scientists involved in the design of HHPM programs. Advisors in the field also can benefit from this participatory approach because it transforms monitoring tools provided by scientists into farm-specific tools

Evaluation of the impact of a Herd Health and Production Management programme in organic dairy cattle farms: a process evaluation approach

Animal health planning activities are not always providing a satisfactory positive impact on herd health and welfare. Moreover, evaluating the impact of advisory programmes is complex due to multiple interacting elements that influence its outcome. Therefore, measuring solely health outcomes is not sufficient: the whole process of the implementation and use of such programmes should be evaluated. In order to evaluate the impact of an intervention with a Herd Health and Production Management (HHPM) programme a process evaluation framework was designed and used. The intervention involved 20 organic dairy cattle farmers and their advisors, in both France and Sweden. In both countries 20 organic dairy farms were selected as control herds. The evaluation of the HHPM programme was based on: (a) the compliance to the programme; (b) the programme’s functions influencing herd health management practices and stimulating dialogue between farmers and advisors; (c) its effectiveness in terms of improving herd health compared with control farms. Complete compliance to the programme was fulfilled by 21 out of 40 farmers–advisors. Results from a questionnaire showed that the programme functioned as intended (e.g. by allowing early identification of herd health problems), stimulated change in farmers’ herd health management practices and farmer–advisor dialogue. Even though the majority of the users perceived that the programme contributed to herd health improvements, no significant differences in health outcomes were found when compared with control farms 12 months after the start of the intervention. The programme allowed creating an environment promoting the exchange of information between farmers and advisors, necessary to define pertinent advice in a farm-specific situation. Future research should aim at improving methods for the evaluation of the effect of advisory programmes, by identifying early indicators for effective advice and developing methods to evaluate the quality of advisory situations without interfering with them

Time-budget and location of activities in the paddock can be estimated from GPS-data

Time-budget and location of activities in the paddock can be estimated from GPS-data. 10. International Symposium on the Nutrition of Herbivores (ISNH

Can routinely recorded reproductive events be used as indicators of disease emergence in dairy cattle? An evaluation of 5 indicators during the emergence of bluetongue virus in France in 2007 and 2008

AbstractIn response to increasing risks of emerging infectious diseases, syndromic surveillance can be a suitable approach to detect outbreaks of such diseases across a large territory in an early phase. To implement a syndromic surveillance system, the primary challenge is to find appropriate health-related data. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether routinely collected dates of reproductive events in dairy cattle could be used to build indicators of health anomalies for syndromic surveillance. The evaluation was performed on data collected in France between 2003 and 2009. First, a set of 5 indicators was proposed to assess several types of reproductive disorders. For each indicator, the demographic coverage over the total number of cattle at risk was analyzed in time and space. Second, the ability to detect an emerging disease in an early phase was retrospectively evaluated during epidemics of bluetongue serotypes 1 and 8 (BTV-1, BTV-8) in France in 2007 and 2008. Reproductive indicators were analyzed weekly during these epidemics for each indicator in each infected French district (16 in 2007 and 50 in 2008 out of 94 districts). The indicators were able to detect the BTV epidemics despite their low demographic coverage on a weekly basis relatively to total number of cattle (median=1.21%; range=0–11.7%). Four indicators related to abortions, late embryonic death, and short gestations were abnormally elevated during both BTV epidemics. Median times to abnormal elevations in these indicators were 20 to 71 d after the first notification of clinical signs of BTV by veterinarians. These results demonstrate that reproduction data can be used as indicators of disease emergences, whereas in the specific case of these BTV epidemics, detection via these indicators was later than clinical detection by veterinarians. The emergence of bluetongue in 2007 in France was associated with gestations that were a few days shorter than expected. A short gestation indicator underwent high elevations relative to prior random fluctuations and was the earliest (out of the 4 indicators) to show abnormal elevations, making it possible to detect this emergence

Standardizing output-based surveillance to control non-regulated cattle diseases:Aspiring for a single general regulatory framework in the European Union

Several European countries have implemented country specific programmes to control cattle diseases with little or no regulation in the European Union (EU). These control programmes vary between member states, impairing a confident comparison of freedom from disease when cattle originate from different countries. In order to facilitate safe trade, there is a need to support the development of transparent methods that enable comparison of outputs of surveillance, control or eradication programmes. The aim of the COST Action (CA 17110), Standardizing OUtput-based surveillance to control Non-regulated Diseases in the EU (SOUND control), is the development of a generic and joint understanding of the requirements and characteristics needed for a flexible output-based framework. This framework should be able to substantiate the confidence of disease freedom and cost-effectiveness of heterogeneous surveillance, control or eradication programmes for cattle diseases in the EU. This project supports other initiatives in the development of an output-based framework which will subsequently facilitate safe trade and support the improvement of disease control measures, which is of great importance as the cattle sector contributes to one third of the total gross production value of EU agriculture