After watching Farm Source's Calf Week webinar on 'Hygiene and Biosecurity in the Calf Shed' you may feel the sudden urge to put your feeder through another hot wash after an on-farm field trial uncovered some intriguing results.
Calf Week, held on 15-19 May, is an event organised by the Farm Source team to bring together a range of best practice resources, enable conversations and help support farmer decision-making ahead of the upcoming calving and calf rearing season. Included in this year's Calf Week line-up were a webinar series led by internal and external experts, competitions and a Pie Day Friday in all Farm Source stores.
The 'Hygiene and Biosecurity in the Calf Shed' webinar, presented by Fonterra Senior Veterinary Manager Michael Shallcrass and EpiVets' Emma Cuttance, discussed the importance of equipment, shed and human hygiene, and provided practical tips to get the right environment for calves' health and productivity.
During this webinar, Michael shared video footage and results from a field trial he carried out to test the levels of bacterial growth found on calf feeding equipment after different methods of cleaning.
The trial first saw him swab an unwashed, freshly used calf feeder before it was given a cold water scrub, followed by a hot water scrub and lastly a disinfectant wash, with samples taken after each. He also removed the teats from the feeder and swabbed them before and after cleaning. The feeder was then left to dry in the sun before being swabbed for a final time.
All samples were taken to a lab to be cultured, with some interesting results - including the same amount of bacteria growth present in swabs taken from the unwashed feeder and after the cold water scrub.
"That shows how much bacteria are surviving in that fat lining," says Michael, who emphasised the importance of a hot wash to remove milk fat residue. "Every surface that the milk touches before it gets to the calves is a contamination risk. And that's where I think we really show the value of particularly the hot water but also the disinfectant in cleaning those milk contact surfaces to reduce the bacterial load before the calf drinks the milk," he says.
Congratulations to our Calf Week competition winners
Congratulations to our overall winner Amanda Benson who wins 5x bags of Ancalf from NZAgbiz, 1x 40L sledge frame trough from Performance Products and a tonne of Country Mile calf meal.
Congratulations also to our first 10 entrants, who each received a 1kg bucket of Novolyte courtesy of NZAgbiz.
You can check out the full results of Michael's field trial for yourself as part of the Calf Week webinar series and view other Calf Week information and resources at nzfarmsource.co.nz/calfweek.