Welcome to our Spring newsletter We want to bring to you up to date information on any changes that will be occurring, whether it be vaccines and medicines, funding for testing or upcoming courses. Firstly for those who may not be aware, our phone number has changed recently to 01392 347240, out of hours the […]
News
Join our cattle Artificial Insemination course
Molecare Farm Vets will be running a three-day cattle Artificial Insemination (AI) course from Tuesday 26th – 28th July, 9am – 3pm. The course, led by our vets, teaches the skills involved in performing AI and will cover: Dairy/suckler cows’ cycles, bulling and when to serveAnatomy of a cow’s reproductive tract – the vets will conduct a […]
7 steps for improving business resilience in challenging times
By Duncan Williams, Vet Nutritionist for MoleCare Vets As dairy farm businesses face unpredictable commodity prices due to Brexit, Covid-19 and war in Eastern Europe there are various steps they can take to ensure they come through this current episode in as strong a position as possible: Understand how your costs are related to your […]
Vet nutritionist joins Mole Valley Farmers to help farmers with climate change challenge
A Vet Nutritionist has joined Mole Valley Farmers in a new role specifically designed to help farmers navigate the climate change challenges ahead. Duncan Williams will assist farmers in establishing their farm’s carbon footprint, benchmark performance and provide a farm-specific roadmap to help them hit net zero targets. He’ll also look at ways to increase […]
Government reveals financial help to improve animal welfare
Mole Valley Farmers has welcomed a government move to fund improvements to the health and welfare of livestock, including annual vet visits and grants to improve livestock conditions. Speaking at the recent NFU annual conference, Environment Secretary George Eustice revealed details of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway – a programme of financial support for […]
Reducing antibiotics at lambing
Our Molecare Farm Vet Stephanie Patel has been looking at how you could reduce the use of antibiotics as the lambing season gets underway. The pros and cons of antibiotic use during the busy lambing season can easily be forgotten when it’s all kicking off. As many of you know, Spectam™ has been discontinued and […]
Dairy Bull Calf Policy Change
Johanna Marsden BVSc MRCVS From the 1st of January 2021 Arla bought in a new policy stipulating that no animal should be slaughtered before eight weeks old. This new policy will also be included as part of the new farm assurance measures from Autumn 2021, with an expected 12-month period given to put the new […]
Vets and Nutritionists – What is the role of a vet in relation to on farm nutrition?
Charlotte Reid BSc BVSc MRCVS What and how a cow is fed directly affects her productivity, health, fertility and much more. Furthermore, purchased feeds are generally the single biggest cost on farm – it is therefore vital that vets work together with farmers and nutritionists to optimise our patients’ diets, and in doing so the […]
The importance of clean water on farm and how to achieve it
Chris Gregory BVSc MRCVS Provision of clean water on farm is often overlooked as one of the most important nutrients for the health and productivity of our livestock. As a gross simplification, about 65% of the mass of a cow is made up of water. It takes about 3 litres of water to produce 1 […]
Heifer Rearing
Andy Adler BVM&S MBA PGCert Vet Ed MRCVS Whether you calve all year round or seasonally, rearing heifers so that they calve successfully and have a healthy start to their productive life is essential to ensure good herd fertility. From an economical perspective, if the age at first calving (AFC) is 24 months, this will […]