DairyNZ: Strong payouts offset high farm costs
The dairy sector is in a relatively stable position, with strong milk price payout forecasts continuing to offset ongoing high farm costs, according to DairyNZ.
Waste milk has traditionally been fed to calves as it can’t be sent for supply. But is this a good idea? DairyNZ senior scientist Jane Lacy-Hulbert investigates.
The increased focus on responsible use of antibiotics has raised a question about waste milk’s value as a feed source for calves, and the risks this practice might pose to the wider environment.
Waste (or ‘red’) milk is produced by lactating cows when they’re sick and receiving antimicrobial treatment for diseases such as mastitis. It also applies to the milk produced in the withholding period, which can be three to four days after treatment.
Exposing a bacterial population (such as the calf’s developing digestive tract) to low concentrations of antibiotics may encourage bacterial growth with existing resistance genes. It could also lead to other bacteria mutating and developing new ways to resist antibiotics.
The risk is that calves consuming this milk will shed antibiotic- resistant faecal bacteria into the environment. This could have unintended consequences for your calves and for the future usefulness of the antibiotic.
This is backed by a substantial review published in the European Union in 2017. The review found that shedding was more pronounced by younger calves (two to three weeks old) than by six- to seven-week-old calves.
Fortunately this shedding wasn’t observed in calves fed colostrum from cows previously treated at dry-off with long- acting dry cow antibiotic products.
Unfortunately pasteurising waste milk won’t deactivate the residues as most antibiotics are heat-stable.
Although there are few studies on this aspect, it’s likely that antibiotic residues would interfere with calves establishing good gut bacteria, or that pathogens and viruses from older, sick cows could infect the young calf. If there were more antibiotic resistant bacteria present in the gut these issues would be harder to control.
Although waste milk may be a convenient feed for calves, is it worth risking the health of the replacement calf or the environment? One thing is certain: it cannot be fed to bobby calves, as the calf’s gut is likely to absorb the antibiotic residues and cause the carcase to be rejected.
• Find out more about calf care at dairynz.co.nz/calves
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.
OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…