Farmer Focus: Bovaer fallout shows the struggle we have
Colin Murdoch © Jeff Holmes I can’t believe we’ve reached this stage of the year already – it seems to have flown in. What I also can’t quite get my head around is the fact that we’ve now been milking Jerseys for five years.
It seems no time at all since I was out in Denmark selecting heifers. Have I missed Holsteins?
I’ve never really taken the time to think about it because we’ve been focused on developing the herd and moving forward. Would I change back? Absolutely not.
The last of the youngstock were housed in the first week of December.
November was the driest month of the year, which has proved a godsend in saving straw for the winter, and we should certainly have enough forage.
See also: Editor’s View: Why Bovaer bashers should stop and think
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The fluctuations in temperatures have been pretty extreme though, going at worst from 15C to -5C in the space of half a day.
It’s doing cattle no favours at all, and I’ve recently treated a batch of 30 heifers about 12 weeks old that had started coughing.
The shed where our calf feeder is located has an insulated roof, so temperature changes are minimal, but the rest of our sheds are open on one side.
We get very little trouble with pneumonia, but we’ve now started vaccinating.
I’ve spent the weeks since the Bovaer debacle happened trying to form an opinion about it.
I firmly believe that we need to change the narrative around food production and farming, rather than adding artificial additives.
Agriculture has been the victim of one of the greatest smear campaigns in the history of mankind.
How has the public been brainwashed into thinking that a cow passing gas is bad for the environment, when planes and cars by the million continue to churn out noxious gases?
I think we need to accept that our government spouts nonsense based on whoever is lobbying them the loudest. If we’ve learned something recently, it’s that public opinion is all that matters.
If we want to have a farming industry left in this country, then it’s becoming obvious that we’ve got a fight on our hands.
On that cheerful note, I’d like to wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a new year with lots of good weather, good prices and good fortune.