Most North Island dairy farmers will be familiar with FE – one of the biggest animal health risks over summer. Caused by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum growing on dead plant material, particularly ryegrass, FE causes toxic liver injury in animals, and hot spots and lesions to appear on skin that is exposed to the sun (ultraviolet light) meaning the animal has clinical FE.
Often by the time a lesion has appeared, the damage has already been done internally and not all animals will show signs. It is estimated that for every clinical case of FE (where a cow shows signs of distress), there will be 10 cows with sub-clinical FE (not showing signs).
Left undetected, FE can severely impact milk production, and in acute cases, lead to culls. There is no cure for FE so prevention is the key.
Best practice
Zinc is the best measure to fortify your herd against FE. Best practice is to dose your herd at least two to three weeks before the spore growth danger period.
DairyNZ recommends weighing a representative sample of your herd (at least 20 cows) to calculate the dose of zinc required. Then fully dose cows either by an intraruminal bolus such as a Time Capsule, drenching with zinc oxide, or administer via feed or water. Farm Source has a range of products available to suit.
Note, zinc is toxic in high doses so care should be taken in calculating dose rates.
Easy monitoring with ZincCheck
Farm Source’s exclusive milk test product ZincCheck offers farmers a non-invasive and cost effective way of monitoring herds. A bulk milk sample is tested to determine if at least 70% of the herd has enough zinc in their blood to have an impact against FE. It offers an alternative to having vets undertaking blood tests on animals and is simple to organise:
- Request a ZincCheck test online (bookings open mid-December)
- Once your booking date arrives your bulk milk sample is tested
- Results are emailed within 10 days of the test, showing you how confident you can be that your zinc dosing is achieving optimal risk mitigation.
- We recommend testing once you start your full zinc dosing regime and then test again following any corrective actions.
"I definitely recommend it."
- Sue Bruce, Waikato Farmer
Waikato farmer Sue Bruce has been farming for more than 40 years and is acutely aware of the dangers of facial eczema. The Bruce family’s 100 hectare farm in Walton has upwards of 310 cows milked daily and they have found Farm Source’s ZincCheck a great addition to their on farm management toolkit.
"To replace a cow is a very expensive exercise nowadays so you don’t want to be losing any to facial eczema if you can avoid it. Having Farm Source’s ZincCheck facility has been great. I definitely recommend it. It was such a painless exercise," she says.
"You need to know what is going into your cows. If you look after them, they look after you. You can put in the recommended amount of zinc to your cows but you need to know exactly how its impacting them. ZincCheck gives you confirmation that it’s working."
Book your free ZincCheck test now or contact your local TSR to find out more.