CellCheck On-Farm Events
Animal Health Ireland in partnership with Teagasc and in conjunction with the dairy processors and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are running a series of on-farm events in October.
What is CellCheck?
CellCheck is the national mastitis control programme. It is developed and delivered by Animal Health Ireland in partnership with industry bodies representing farmers, processors, service providers and government. We do not need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to mastitis control; we do, however, need to make sure that all the wheels run smoothly and in the same direction. This is where CellCheck has a role to play.
The objectives of CellCheck are:
- Building awareness
- Building capacity
- Evaluating change
- Establishing best practice
- Setting goals
Why is mastitis control important?
Mastitis can result in significant losses on farm. When prevalent, it can significantly reduce farm profits. Mastitis reduces milk yield and leads to poor quality milk. Together, these factors erode the milk income received by farmers and processors.
CellCheck dry-cow strategy 2022
Antibiotics are essential medicines, both for humans and animals, but their ongoing use contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, antibiotics must be used with care to protect public health into the future.
Prior to 2022, it has been common practice to treat all quarters of all cows with an antibiotic tube at drying-off. This is known as a blanket dry-cow strategy. However, new veterinary medicine legislation (2019/6) is now in place, requiring a different approach to the prescribing of veterinary medicines. Under this new legislation only those animals with diagnostic evidence or a clinical diagnosis of infection at drying off should receive an antibiotic. This is known as a selective dry-cow strategy.
The CellCheck Technical Working Group (TWG) of Animal Health Ireland have prepared detailed science-based guidelines to assist in the move to a selective dry-cow strategy on Irish farms. With selective dry-cow therapy, the selection of cows suitable to be administered either teat sealant alone at drying-off, or teat sealant and antibiotics, should be based on both individual animal- and farm-level information, which your prescribing veterinary practitioner will need to review.
CellCheck on-farm events
Animal Health Ireland in partnership with Teagasc and in conjunction with the dairy processors and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are running a series of on-farm events in October.
Most spring calving dairy cows are dried off between October and mid-December. The purpose of these events is to showcase best practice around drying off and assist farmers with selective drying off strategies in light of changes to the legislation with regard to the use of antibiotics.
Topics to be discussed include:
- The latest on Selective Dry Cow Therapy
- Steps to identify cows suitable for selective dry off
- Nutrition of the cow around the time of drying off
- What the changes in legislation mean for you
- Details of how to apply for a free dry cow consult