Early zinc prevention key as farmers prepare for Facial Eczema season
As we move towards the warmer, more humid months, farmers across New Zealand are already preparing for the annual challenge of facial eczema (FE).
Richie Martinovich, a lower order sharemilker on the 700 cow 258ha farm, says he has a two-pronged approach to protecting his herd and young stock from FE.
“It’s relatively easy to dose your cows with zinc on the milking platform via a Dosatron inline dispenser and we vary the dose according to the spore count. We also administer zinc in the troughs, with an additive to make it palatable. This system works provided the cows drink enough water to get the required dose.
“It’s not so easy on the run-off however.”
All young stock are grazed on a 178ha runoff block 10km from the farm.
“We monitor their progress regularly, but because that care is remote, ie they’re not in yards every day, we needed a way to administer zinc to protect them from FE and give us peace of mind.
“Trough treatments weren’t an option as young stock don’t drink as much water as milking cows which inhibits the amount of zinc they receive so you can never be sure they’re protected…. You can’t afford one clinical case of FE because statistics suggest where there’s one, there are 40 or 50 sub-clinical.”
Martinovich says in 2007 the farm lost eight calves to FE and he couldn’t afford that continuing, “so in 2008 [he] began using Time Capsule, a zinc bolus administered at five weekly intervals, slowly releasing a steady supply of zinc.”
The Martinovich crossbred-herd has split calving, milking year round, so young stock on the runoff range from calves to rising two-year-olds.
“We begin measuring spore counts in December, taking grass samples to our vet. We start administering Time Capsule to the young stock in February with a second in mid-March. And if the vets recommend it we give a third dose.
“Administering the bolus isn’t an extra job; we simply add Time Capsule to the five week drench for B12, copper, worms, pour-on, etc. Generally two doses a season are enough… at around $6 per dose that’s $12 to protect an asset worth $2000-plus.”
He says that since 2008 he has had a couple of cows with clinical FE but they may not have been drinking a lot of water, which would inhibit the amount of zinc. “However, in the same time period, we haven’t had one case of FE in our young stock.”
The Time Capsule was developed at AgResearch in the 1980s. Agritrade owns the intellectual property and the product is made at its Hamilton plant.
