Taking the time now to plan your dry-off will help later in the season and beyond.
Autumn is the time spring calvers dry off cows ahead of mating.
For farmers the dry period is a chance to have some much-needed time off milking and focus on other areas of the farm (or have some time off the farm). Taking the time to plan your dry-off can help maintain, and even, improve your milk quality over the season.
Why dry off cows?
Drying off cows is an essential part of dairy animal health and wellbeing.
The dry allows the udder to time off to allow tissue to remodel and rejuvenate, and to clear any sub-clinical infection from the previous lactation.
The optimum duration of a dry period is around 60 days. Anything shorter than 40 days can adversely impact production in the next lactation.
Plan ahead
Cows do not stop producing milk immediately after their last milking, and the way they are managed post-dry off can have a big impact on their mastitis risk over the dry period. It’s a complicated time biologically for cows – cortisol levels can rise and ducts can engorge with residual milk, increasing the risk of infection.
Understanding your cows’ production rates is essential to mitigating infection and making the dry-off period relatively stress free.
“Decisions need to be made on an individual cow basis, informed by testing data. You want to know who your high-producing and your low-producing cows are because you should be treating them differently,” says Fonterra Veterinary Programme Manager Mike Shallcrass.
“Your low-producing cows, doing less than five litres a day, need to be dried off ASAP as they’ll already be in the process of drying themselves off, and you might miss your chance to give them some protection over the dry period,” he says.
“Drying off low producers gives you a change to redistribute feed to the higher producers, potentially allowing them to milk longer. When you do decide to dry them off though, they need to be producing less than 12 litres a day to minimise the risk of dry period mastitis. If you reduce their feed intake down to maintenance in the week prior to dry-off that should be enough to lower their production down to that 5-12 litre range that we should be aiming for.”
Mike says planning should involve an assessment of:
- Individual calving dates – this will determine when you need to dry off each cow in your herd
- Data – know your cows’ production data and whether you need to separate mobs
- Feed – determine the maintenance feed level to lower milk production
- Treatment options – every cow should have some protection over the dry period, talk to your vet about the best options for your animals
- Staff numbers – it requires attention to detail to dry cows off well, which can drop off as we get tired. Try to have enough people present that the herd can be dried off within a couple of hours, and make sure everyone involved has been trained in correct, hygiene techniques
- Weather – freshly dried off cows should be kept on clean pasture for at least the first week. If the weather is looking marginal, consider postponing dry-off for a day or two.
- Vet support.
“Involve your vet in your dry-off planning, particularly around the use of dry cow therapy antibiotics. The agricultural sector is very aware of antimicrobial resistance and the New Zealand Vet Council have introduced new guidelines around antibiotic prescribing. This may mean you need to take a more individualised approach to dry cow therapy antibiotic use on your farm this season,” Mike says.
Book a Milk Quality Improvement Visit
Farm Source offers free, independent milk quality improvement visits to help make the best decisions during drying off. For more information and advice on your milk quality, talk to your local Farm Source Team or book a Milk Quality Service Visit today.