PAN Livestock Services Ltd Director, Dr James Hanks, and Livestock Information Analyst, Dr Emma Taylor, presented research at the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) Congress 2023 on 19^th October 2023.

Dr Hanks described a series of practical experiences in using milk ELISA data to promote farmer and vet engagement in Johne’s Disease (JD) control. An analysis of milk ELISA data from approximately 250 herds was used to demonstrate how farmers and vets can use JD parameters, such as priority culls and the likelihood of a J5 (high risk) cow being served, to reduce on-farm JD prevalence. Crucially, Dr Hanks highlighted that JD infected cows are disproportionately located in the bottom quartile of herds and suggested that these herds should be the focus of future research. The recently established JD National Tracker Database, which consists of milk ELISA data from all herds which milk record with National Milk Records or Cattle Information Service, could be used to answer these research questions.

PAN Livestock Services Ltd conduct annual benchmarking of key performance indicators (KPIs) for 500 Holstein/Friesian UK dairy herds. Dr Taylor described how fertility, production and health parameters have changed in the national dairy herd since 2010. KPIs relating to fertility, milk production and somatic cell count have improved. For example, the median average somatic cell count (SCC) has reduced dramatically by 21%, from 210,000 cells/ml to 166,000 cells/ml. However, the demographic of UK dairy herds has noticeably changed. The median herd size has increased by 36%, from 129 to 176 cows, and the productive lifetime of cows has decreased by 10%, indicating that older cattle are more readily replaced for replacement heifers. The key performance indicator report for 2023, will be published shortly.

To access the BCVA conference proceedings, please click HERE.

To access previous key performance indicator (KPI) reports, please click HERE