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RECENT COOL temperatures may have kept a lid on the start to the facial eczema (FE) season, but that's no reason to let down your guard, says farm nutrition specialist Altum.
It has launched an all-in-one zinc product to prevent the painful, and often hidden, disease.
Zincmax+ has organic copper added to overcome the reduced copper absorption associated with dosing with zinc and consequent depletion of liver copper levels, plus a peppermint flavour to counter the palatability problems of straight zinc products.
Altum's animal nutrition manager Jackie Aveling warns just a few cows showing signs of FE can mean a large proportion of the herd are affected subclinically.
"Not only can milk production in these cows be depressed by up to half, but slow wasting or sudden death may also occur in cows that have shown no prior symptoms when they are put under stress, often after calving," she points out.
Reduced drinking with traditional zinc sulphate treatments also impacts production, and there's the risk stock don't get enough zinc to combat the FE, which is the whole reason the zinc's put in the water.
"Zinc treatment can also have a negative impact on young stock, impacting their copper reserves, which are a key requirement for healthy growth," she says.
Zincmax+ is metered into the water system in the same way as other zinc products, except at 28g/cow/day rather than 25g/cow/day to allow for the added ingredients.
Late last month cool temperatures were keeping a lid on spore counts nationwide but Aveling says it is important farmers keep monitoring counts, and have a plan in place to start treatment early before spore counts become high.
Zincmax+ is part of Altum's OptiMAX range of regionally specific animal nutrition products designed to work in harmony with a complete nutrition programme by filling the micro-nutrient gaps.
Scanning is a great time to start identifying and managing groups of ewes based on feeding priorities. Wormwise's Mary Bowron discusses some of the possible reasons ewes lose condition in early winter - and it's not necessarily internal parasites.
The Eliminating Facial Eczema Impacts programme recently hosted a webinar about the progress the sheep poo study has made in helping understand facial eczema (FE).
Recent rainfall has made for a fantastic growing season in many regions, but farmers are also reporting a proliferation in pests and diseases such as facial eczema, flystrike, porina and internal parasites.
As we move towards the warmer, more humid months, farmers across New Zealand are already preparing for the annual challenge of facial eczema (FE).
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.
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson says his party – NZ First - isn’t opposed to the “trade element” of a free trade deal with India.
The managing director of a company seeking to build a solar farm in Canterbury says receiving fast-track approval is a “really positive outcome”.
Retiring MP and dairy farmer Mark Cameron is blasting the Green Party for proposing to ban the use of synthetic fertiliser and cutting cow numbers.
A huge reduction in ACC claims from on-farm accidents over the last five years is due to thousands of small, practical decisions being made in sheds, yards, paddocks and around kitchen tables across the country, says Safer Farms ambassador Lindy Nelson.
Wayne and Ange Moxham of Horowhenua have just been named as Fonterra's top organic performer for milksolids. As well as providing organic milk to Fonterra, the couple also sell Udderly Organic milk to more than 100 outlets in the region and are embarking on another exciting venture producing organic gelato. Reporter Peter Burke went along to see their farming operation.
Certainty and a clear understanding of the needs of rural communities is a critical outcome in the series of government reforms that are taking place at present.
