Are your buildings fit for a healthy herd?

Dairy farmers can see for themselves how the design and maintenance of buildings that house livestock can affect the health of the herd in a new video on the DairyCo website.

The design, layout and management of buildings can have a significant effect on many areas of milk production, explains DairyCo extension officer, Richard Davies. Weve made the video to show how straight forward it is to make some simple observations that will highlight any areas for improvement.

One of the things demonstrated in the video is the need for good ventilation, continues Richard. At this time of the year the weather is often damp and foggy which results in still and stagnant air. If the air doesnt circulate around the building efficiently the animals can be more prone to catching air borne illnesses such as pneumonia.

In the video you can see me let off a smoke bomb in a building where young stock is housed and it is really obvious that the smoke does not leave the building as quickly as it should.

Now is the ideal time for farmers to take some time to assess their buildings and see what changes could be made that would benefit the health of their herd, whether this is the effect of ventilation on disease control, cubicle design for cow comfort and mastitis control, or footbath design to reduce lameness, says Richard.

There are lots of quick fixes that can be implemented at any time, and the video explains these, as well as more significant longer term improvements that farmers factor into their plans for the future, concludes Richard.

The video can be viewed on the Buildings page which is in the Farming Information Centre area of the website – www.dairyco.org.uk/farming-info-centre/buildings.

This video is part of a series that have been uploaded to the website as part of DairyCos commitment to providing tools and resources for dairy farmers.

DairyCos aim is to promote world class knowledge to British dairy farmers so they can profit from a sustainable future.

To achieve this DairyCo aims to: 

• Ensure farmers have access to world class information needed to improve competitiveness, GHG reduction and productivity
• Ensure farmers have access to direct and indirect support to help them improve their profitability through better business management
• Ensure that dairy farming is reducing its impact on the environment
• Ensure farmers understand the benefits of breeding and use the related tools

DairyCo is funded entirely by milk producers, via a statutory levy on all milk sold off-farm, at the rate of 0.06p per litre.  This provides an annual income of around 6.5m.

DairyCo is a division of the statutory levy board, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).