Postcards from Spain: A Spanish Study Tour..

In March, I was lucky enough to be invited to go on the Abbey Farmer’s annual study tour. This year, the group chose to travel to Northern Spain, where we visited a total of twelve farms in Galicia.

Many of the farms we visited were recently developed on greenfield sites within the last 10 years and it was clear to see that housing was designed with cow comfort in mind. Most cow housing consisted of deep sand bedded cubicles which have been researched to be one of the most comfortable and clean ways to house cows, therefore reducing lameness and mastitis within the herd.

Figure 2 An example of a cow shed designed with comfort in mind – light, well-ventilated and spacious

Wide passageways and no dead ends in the shed made for good cow flow and a low stress environment, and the cows clearly enjoyed the rotating brushes we saw installed in most sheds. Cow comfort was definitely a key factor in the impressive yields a lot of the farms were achieving.

Figure 1 Rotating brushes and fans made for high welfare cow sheds

In Northern Spain, temperatures can rise to 30°C in the summer months and fall to just above 0°C in the winter months. However, this didn’t seem to be an issue for the Galician farmers as sheds were designed with the varying temperatures in mind. Insulated roofs were installed to prevent temperatures rising within sheds and shed ventilation was kept optimal, with many sheds having off-set or open pitches and roofs at a 20° angle to allow for good airflow. Fans and sprinkler systems linked to Temperature Humidity Index (THI) meters were also seen as ways to actively cool cows. With rising temperatures in the UK, it is worth considering prevention techniques when designing sheds, as heat stress has multiple detrimental effects on the herd – reduced fertility, increased disease incidence, reduced calf birthweights and reduced short- and long-term milk yield. Even heifers born to heat-stressed cows have been shown to have significant reductions in milk production during their first three lactations, with decreases of 2.2 kg/day, 2.3 kg/day, and 6.5 kg/day respectively. ²

Figure 3 Stainless steel surfaces swept just before feeding.

Feed and water presentation in Spain was brilliant. Nearly every farm had a smooth feed face surface allowing for easy cleaning and reduced feed spoilage. With this, higher intakes, and therefore higher milk yields, were achieved. The feeding system at one farm was particularly impressive – they used an automatic robot feeder which weighed and mixed TMR components before distributing it along the feed fence. The robot ran six times a day meaning that feeding was always constant and consistent, preventing acidosis and, again, promoting good milk yields.

Figure 4 A very hygienic calf shed with smooth floors and easily cleanable plastic pens. There was even a dishwasher in the calf shed!

With my particular interest in youngstock health, seeing the calf housing was one of the highlights of the trip. The most effective calf housing considered ventilation, drainage and cleanliness throughout – drains were installed in front of pens and under automatic calf feeders, pens were made from easy cleanable plastic with smooth concrete walls and floors which could be easily steam cleaned, and roofs were lower than that of the cow shed with good outlets to help facilitate the stack effect in youngstock. Feeding equipment was washed after every feed and clever storage allowed for great drying, which is one of the most important steps in feeder cleaning as it prevents biofilm formation.

One of the most important principles in calf rearing is consistency; to achieve the best growth rates consistency needs to be achieved in every feeding routine. Many farms used calibrated milk mixers to ensure milk powder was provided at the same volume, concentration and temperature at every single feed. Bottles of colostrum/transition milk were labelled in fridges and warmed to 39°C using a water bath before feeding. The benefits of extended colostrum feeding were seen on multiple farms. One farm was achieving excellent growth rates by feeding adlib milk via an automatic calf feeder, taking full advantage of the 50% feed conversion efficiency pre-weaning. With a slow and steady decline in milk volume whilst weaning, and the choice to delay group/housing changes until at least one week post weaning, the post weaning growth rate check was also avoided. Therefore, along with other factors, this particular farm was able to achieve an impressive average age at first calving of 22 months!

Although a lot of the farms we visited were new enterprises with new equipment and investment, there was still plenty of things that could easily be implemented in every calf shed without significant investment. Communication within the team is paramount and whiteboards can be used to clearly display individual numbered calf pens and record vital information such as colostrum intakes and sick animals. One farm displayed this on each pen by writing on tape and sticking it to the side of the pen – a simple but effective tool to ensure that all the team is kept up to date with every calf’s wellbeing.

However, it wasn’t just the Spanish farmers I learnt a lot from on my trip. Spending time with a group of such productive and motivated British farmers was so inspiring and I learnt so much from everyone. I saw the benefit of group discussion, constructive criticism and open conversations to help drive progress on each individual farm. Farming groups like Abbey Farmers are so valuable within the farming community to ensure that we continuously progress in the agricultural industry and I am very grateful to have got the opportunity to spend some time with a wonderful group of people!

 

References:

2. Laporta, J., Ferreira, F. C., Ouellet, V., Dado-Senn, B., Almeida, A. K., De Vries, A., & Dahl, G. E. (2020). Late-gestation heat stress impairs daughter and granddaughter lifetime performance. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(8), 7555–7568. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2020-18154