Ruminant Management Limited

03/02/2023

Improving comfort is critical to improving performance in all livestock.

01/10/2018

Penalty on price may not set in until the milk somatic cell counts (SCC) rose above 500,000 with some milk contract. However, in order to optimise performances and improve farm profitability, it is important for every dairy farmer to aim for SCC lower than 250. And, as you can see in the article from dairyherd.com, 200,000 SCC isn't good enough!

For every 100,000 cells/mL increase in bulk tank SCC, milk yield declines 5.5 lb.

24/09/2018

The prevalence of new type of mastitis that is more difficult to treat only emphasis the fact that we are only scratching the surface when it comes to our understanding of mastitis in dairy cows. This has made management of mastitis very difficult and reiterates the need to have a farm specific strategy as well as a pragmatic approach to mastitis management.

Lactococcus infections are often difficult to differentiate from environmental steps.

22/08/2018

The art and science of silage making is now well developed that i sometime wonder why some farmers still get it wrong. On many farms, silage is the only feed a farmer has full control over and silage is arguably the cheapest feed they will also have on the farm. I am therefore amazed to see that most farmers still leave silage making to mother nature.

Ever pull back the plastic and know immediately just by the smell that greets you that something has gone terribly wrong with your silage fermentation? We’ll examine what that smell means and what may have happened.

27/07/2018

Spontaneous combustion is very common in haylage, hay and straw. The story below from dairyherd.com is a timely reminder to farmers and farm managers alike.

While water is typically used to extinguish a fire, moisture is likely the cause of the flames at Holt Dairy in Newcastle, Utah.

09/07/2018

How to manage calf milk replacer (CMR)?

This is a question that I have been repeatedly asked. For the benefit of all the followers of ruminant management limited, I have decided to post a response here.

The first thing to note is that all CMR will come with manufacturer's feeding or dilution recommendation. My first and most important advice is that you should follow the manufacturers recommendation on how to manage/ feed their product.

On rare occasion where the manufacturers recommendation may be vague or missing, as long as the CMR has not expire, it can still be fed.

My general guide or rule of thumb to feeding CMR (irrespective of the type) is to aim to achieve 12.75% total solid (TS) after dilution. The range could be anything between 12.5 to 13.5% TS depending on the feeding condition, calf health, type of CMR etc.

MBS

01/07/2018

A big thank you to all those that have shown interest and liked Ruminant Management page. Can you also remember to follow us to get regular update and to, hopefully, contribute to any topical issues. MBS

28/06/2018

Very challenging silaging condition in UK this week because of the high temperature.

Given that the best grass silage is usually within DM range of 25 to 35%, I have been advising some of the farmers I am working with to limit wilting to not longer than 4 hours and if the grass is already starting to wilt before cutting because of dry soil, the advise would be to cut and harvest without any wilting.

Wilting for longer than 8 hours is not advise in most part of UK if farmers don't want to end up with haylage or hay.

Increasing the application volume of silage additives to 3 or even 4 litre per tonne is not a bad idea to help improve consolidation if harvested grass DM is over 50%.

I have also been asked if water can be added to the grass to help improve consolidation. This is a common practice in crimped cereals so I can't see any reason why it cannot be done on grass other than that if they add too much water it will run out as effluent.

This in essence mean that we are in for at best a below average quality 2nd cut grass silage on some farms this year.

MBS

27/06/2018

Dr. Mustapha Salawu (PhD) - Ruminant Specialist and Nutritionist

27/06/2018