User Profile

Is your water just water?

WATER IS a basic resource. On a dairy farm it is used to grow feed, provide drinking water to stock, for washing, cleaning and a myriad of other tasks. And water is just water, right? Well, yes, but no! Water sources are many and varied on farms...

Rod Dyson

14 Jun 2019

Animal Health

Tips to reduce mastitis risk at calving

For most cows, the highest risk period for new mastitis infections will be the calving period — we consider this to be from two weeks before she calves until two weeks after she has calved. During this stressful period, cows’ natural defence...

Rod Dyson

17 May 2019

Animal Health

Budgets and compromises

Tough conditions in the dairy industry have seen every farm closely scrutinising costs in an effort to allocate available funds to the most cost-effective options in virtually every area of their operation. The cost of treatment at drying-off is one...

Rod Dyson

19 Apr 2019

Animal Health

Questions and compromises

It is now several years since we had been to John’s* farm. Back then he was milking 600 cows in a rotary dairy and had a significant problem with clinical cases of mastitis, mostly caused by Strep uberis. Some key changes to milking setup, dry-off...

Rod Dyson

19 Mar 2019

Animal Health

Managing the risk of mastitis in hot weather

TWO RECENT discussions were a reminder of how hot weather can significantly influence the risk of mastitis in dairy herds. The first was a farm which uses a mechanical teat scrubber as part of the pre-milking routine to clean teats prior to cups on...

Rod Dyson

15 Feb 2019

Animal Health

No flies on us — eventually

PAUL* HAD made some small but significant changes to both his milking equipment and milking routine after our initial visit had exposed some mastitis risks that he had been unaware of. A change to a different liner, a small change to the system...

Rod Dyson

13 Dec 2018

Animal Health

Is it too hot in the ‘kitchen’?

SUMMER IS almost here, and there will be some consistently high temperatures as well as some very hot days coming, especially in some of our warmer regions. Unfortunately, heat and sunlight can be an enemy of many products used on farms. One of the...

Rod Dyson

16 Nov 2018

Animal Health

An assumption is just an assumption

WE REGULARLY find that our milking time and farm visits are quite illuminating. Not only do they allow us to demonstrate and reinforce procedures that have been discussed both at training courses and on the farm, they also allow us to see firsthand...

Rod Dyson

12 Oct 2018

Animal Health

“Just the person I wanted to talk to”

COFFEE AND a slice on a Saturday morning is a bit of ritual for us these days, and my coffee had just arrived when John entered the café. I have never been to John’s farm, but I had met him a few times over the years at various industry seminars...

Rod Dyson

26 Sep 2018

Animal Health

Every picture tells a story

AT OUR farm visits, we often take photos of key factors that we identify, and also the dairy shed layout — it helps us to quickly and easily recall the details later. But as the collection of images has got larger, finding a specific image has got...

Rod Dyson

20 Aug 2018

Animal Health

An unintended consequence

CAMERON* WAS feeling comfortable. The expansion plan for the family farm had gone well. He had secured a long term lease on the block next door, added another 50 cows (with plans for more), extended the dairy shed, and employed a labour unit to...

Rod Dyson

13 Jul 2018

Animal Health

There was no growth so what went wrong?

“THAT’S REALLY disappointing! What went wrong? How could there be “no growth”? They were all clinical cases! Do we need to re-train the milking staff?” These are not uncommon questions when discussing milk culture results and they arise...

Rod Dyson

15 Jun 2018

Animal Health

No mud but something has changed

“SOMETHING HAS changed. I just can’t figure it out — it’s not wet, and there is no mud.” This was Jeff’s first comment when I returned his phone call couple of months ago. Jeff* and his wife Karen* milk 650 cows through a 60 stand rotary...

Rod Dyson

11 May 2018

Animal Health

Keep an open mind when investigating

DURING THE milking process in any dairy, there are a substantial number of factors which can influence the risk of mastitis infections. The Countdown Farm Guidelines and the supporting Countdown Technotes describe these factors very well, and also...

Rod Dyson

28 Dec 2017

Animal Health

When old becomes new

Split calving and long lactations have become the norm in much of our industry now, so it was a bit of a surprise when we were contacted recently by a farm in Gippsland that is strictly seasonal, meaning the whole herd is dried-off and milking...

Rod Dyson

16 Nov 2017

Animal Health

Are your milking practices “normal”?

Recent milking time visits to a number of different dairy sheds have reminded me that “normal” means different things to different people. Cup removal is always an interesting part of the milking routine to...

Rod Dyson

18 Oct 2017

Animal Health

Herd cell count won’t budge despite culling cows

“I culled the 10 highest cell count cows and the cell count didn’t change — not at all!” Leon* was frustrated — very frustrated! He milks about 300 cows in Northern Victoria with...

Rod Dyson

18 Sep 2017