Search

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is among the most pressing challenges facing humanity. This survey of dairy cow farmers (n=372) was conducted to explore knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding veterinary medicine use and to identify farmer-led solutions to reducing, replacing and refining antimicrobial use. Antimicrobials were the most commonly reported veterinary medicines used. Twenty-two per cent of the antibiotics used by dairy farmers contained a highest priority critically important active ingredient. Mastitis was rated as the most important health and welfare challenge and was the most common reason for medicine use. Frequency of veterinary contact was associated with a decrease in the use of antibiotic footbaths, more 'responsible' treatment choices and increased knowledge of AMR. Purchasing medicine from a vet practice rather than elsewhere was associated with an increased likelihood of disposing of waste milk responsibly. These findings highlight the important role of veterinarians in guiding responsible medicine use. Ninety per cent of participants stated that they were trying to reduce their antimicrobial use. Farmers suggested a wide array of alternative treatments and potential interventions for managing herd health. Findings from this project could be used to target education and training surrounding best practice, supporting the important role that farmers play in protecting public health., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© British Veterinary Association 2018. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The aim of this study was to formally evaluate, qualitatively, the ability of existing recording systems to generate accurate and reliable estimates of the frequency of selected health conditions in the dairy herd of Great Britain. Fifty-nine recording systems were identified, of which 36 had their key characteristics defined through a web-based questionnaire. Nineteen of them were further assessed following the SERVAL, a SuRveillance EVALuation framework against a set of 12 attributes: benefit, bias, communication, coverage, data collection, data management, data analysis, data completeness, flexibility, multiple utility, representativeness and stability/sustainability. The evaluated systems showed considerable differences in their coverage, implementation and objectives. There were overlaps in recorded conditions, with Johne's disease, bovine viral diarrhoea, mastitis and lameness being recorded by most of the systems. Selection bias, data ownership and lack of integration of data from different systems appeared to be a key limitation on the future use of existing systems for nationwide monitoring. The results showed that even though the individual systems can provide reliable estimates of dairy health for individual farmers, none of the systems alone could provide accurate and reliable estimates for any of the conditions of interest at national level., (British Veterinary Association.)

The aim was to assess the association between the somatic cell count of parity 1 cows between 5 and 30 days in milk (SCC1), and subsequent cumulative milk yield over approximately two years for cows in English and Welsh dairy herds. The dataset included records from 43,461 cows in 2111 herds, from 2004 to 2006. Cumulative milk yield was the model outcome, and a random effect was included to account for variation between herds. The model fitted the data well and was used to make predictions of cumulative milk yield, based on SCC1. A unit increase in the natural logarithm of SCC1/1000 was associated with a median decrease in cumulative milk yield of 482 kg, over a median study period of 868 days.

The objective of this study was to validate four key farmer performance indicators (KFPI), identified in a previous study, as indicators of on-farm cattle welfare incidents in Ireland, through comparison of the distribution of these KPFIs in the national herd (n=109,925) and in case herds (n=18), where welfare incidents were previously studied. The KFPIs identified were late registrations, and exits from the herd by on-farm burial, by moves to knackeries and by moves to 'herd unknown'. Data were extracted from two Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine databases for the national herd and the case herds. All four KFPIs differed significantly between the case herds and the national herd, and one further KFPI was identified, namely moves to factories. The data for these KFPIs are routinely stored on national databases, which were established in order to comply with Regulation (EC) 1760/2000. Based on the results obtained in this study, it may be possible in the future to use routine data capture to improve strategy towards on-farm animal welfare. At this point, however, based on calculated specificities and sensitivities, none of these five KFPIs, at the cut-offs investigated and using several combinations, are able to distinguish herds with and without on-farm animal welfare problems at an accuracy suitable for routine national use in Ireland.

Risk factors associated with voluntary and involuntary culling within a Holstein-Friesian dairy cow research herd were identified. Data were studied from 3498 completed lactations from the Langhill Holstein-Friesian dairy herd between January 1990 and June 2008. During this period the cows were based on two different farms in Scotland. The culling rate of the milking herd was approximately 25 per cent per annum. Approximately 68 per cent of cows culled were classified as involuntary. The association between different risk factors and the incidence of culling was investigated using a general linear mixed model. Of the 838 cows culled, 59 per cent were culled before the fourth lactation. Culling was associated with cows that had an assisted calving (P<0.01), aborted (P<0.01) and/or suffered from mastitis (P<0.05). Cows that were culled were also more likely to be older cows (P<0.01), have a low number of milking days (P<0.001) and/or a greater number of days from calving to conception (P<0.01). Culling was also associated with conception failure (r=0.752, P<0.001). Further work might help reduce the number of animals culled involuntarily, by identifying key factors associated with the incidence of an assisted calving, abortion and mastitis, and improving milking and fertility performance using detailed data from the Langhill herd.

Information about the 7238 Danish dairy cows that died or were euthanized in April, May and June of 2008 was obtained from the Danish Cattle Database, and the herd-level factors affecting the risk of being euthanized (as opposed to dying naturally) were evaluated by logistic regression. In total, 16.6 per cent of the dead cows had been euthanized. The odds of euthanasia increased with increasing herd size, increasing herd-level milk yield and increasing morbidity in the herd. The odds ratio (OR) of euthanasia was 1.13 (P<0.0001) for the effect of an increase in herd size of 50 cows, 1.13 (P<0.0001) for an increase in herd-level milk yield of 1000 kg energy-corrected milk per cow per year, and 1.31 (P<0.0001) for an increase in the average number of diseases recorded per cow per year of 0.5. The cows' parity and stage of lactation had no effect on their risk of being euthanized.

A 12-month prospective study of clinical mastitis was conducted in 482 British dairy herds with a bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC) of less than 150,000 cells/ml. The mean proportion of cows in the herd with clinical mastitis was 23.1 per cent (range 0 to 80), with a mean of 1.50 quarter cases per cow. The mean incidence rate of clinical mastitis was 36.7 quarter cases per 100 cow years (range 0 to 208.2). Twelve per cent of the quarter cases showed systemic signs, including inappetence and severe lethargy. Over 22 per cent of quarter cases occurred in the first seven days of lactation and over 50 per cent occurred in the first 90 days of lactation. Cluster analysis indicated that the main difference between herds with a low and average incidence of mastitis was the proportion of clinical cases occurring in the first seven days of lactation, 14 per cent compared with 44 per cent, respectively. The risk of severe clinical mastitis compared with mild clinical mastitis decreased significantly as the individual cow somatic cell count (SCC) in the month before clinical mastitis was diagnosed increased.

The likely impacts of BSE policy on UK milk and beef markets and on livestock numbers between 1997 and 2000 are explored using a dynamic spreadsheet model of UK milk and beef production, and linked demand, price and supply models for alternative meats. Two accelerated slaughter policies are considered--one representing the 'Florence Agreement' and the other involving an additional culling of calves born to confirmed BSE cases. The projections show significant changes to livestock populations over the next few years with implications for veterinary inputs. It is estimated that the BSE crisis will result in a fall in expenditure on veterinary medicines and services of around 10 Pounds million in 1999 (for the Florence Agreement) compared with that projected in the absence of the BSE crisis.

A postal survey of 566 veterinary practices with dairy farms among their clients showed that the majority of the practices were very positive about the benefits of running a herd health scheme. Nevertheless, only a third of them were running a scheme, and most had attracted only a small number of clients. The size of the practice (in terms of the number of veterinarians and the number of dairy farming clients) was the most significant factor determining whether a practice was likely to run a herd health scheme, and the age of the veterinarians did not appear to have any affect.