Beef Suckler Herd Health

Beef Suckler and Rearer Herd Health

Over the past few years, the world of Suckler farming has begun to change dramatically. As a country we face an uncertain future, and there is no one more aware of that than the British farmers. In todays England with the stability of subsidies diminishing we must turn our attention to making Beef production as efficient and profitable as possible.

  • Detailed Farm Analysis

    At NorCal Veterinary services we work closely with farmers to maximise profitability by minimising losses from disease, maximising reproductive efficiency and maximising kg of calf sold per cow per year. To do this, the business must be looked at as a whole, analysing everything from the acres of grassland, number and quality of buildings, that’s before we start on the livestock!

  • Herd Health Plans

    Our experienced vets will look at your business as an individual designing a Herd Health plan that is practical to implant and designed to make lasting improvements which is reviewed annually. We will talk you through the cost benefits and relivance of a vaccination protocol and disease surveillance.

  • Bull Breeding Soundness and Semen Evaluation

    Don’t forget the Bull! All of our vets are trained in bull breeding soundness and semen evaluation. More and more farmers are routinely checking the fertility of their Bulls today- there aren’t many things as disheartening as only having 40% of your cows in calf.

  • Suckler Herd Discussion Group

    The aim of the group is for farmers to learn from each other about different types of suckler systems, focusing on maximising profits and minimising losses. We aim as a group to have 2 meetings a year. One in the summer which will take place on a farm for a walk round to look at stock and forage and possibly involve a talk with an outside speaker and the second in January/February time where we will look at the anonymous fertility data from the different farms and compare and discuss the results. Group members will be sent out a sheet to collect data from this spring calving time and we will also be looking for volunteers to host the first summer meeting. Please let us know if you would like to sign up - We have had a great response so far 😊

  • TBAS Visits (click for link to website)

    The TB advisory service offers free visits to discuss TB risk on farm, and offers four simple cost effective, practical recommendations based on the risks identified. The TB Advisory Service has been running for 4 years, funded by the rural development program for England (RDPE) 98% of farmers that had a free farm visit said the recommendations at the end were useful and 90% rated the service as excellent. The top 5 recommendations from previous visits include using badger proof water and feed troughs, fencing off badger setts from cattle, using the website www.ibTB.co.uk to look up a sellers TB history prior to purchase and putting up wildlife cameras to identify what badger activity is in the farm yard and where to prioritise badger proofing measures. If you would like to access the service either contact the practice or contact TBAS directly. For hints and tips on TB biosecurity you can also follow TBAS on social media.

  • DEFRA Animal Health & Welfare Review (click for link to website)

    This a funded annual farm visit, and initially only BPS (Basic Payment Scheme) eligible farmers will be able to register. To be eligible for a review a farm must have one of the following: 11 or more beef or dairy cattle, 21 or more sheep, and/or 51 or more pigs. This will not replace your annual red tractor review, but can be used in addition to focus on any particular areas you would like to improve by funding vet visits, time and testing. At the moment this involves testing for BVD in cattle and faecal egg counts in sheep. This is a chance for you to have a vet out to talk/look at anything you are concerned about or would like to improve on and the cost is covered! For those of you who are Red Tractor Assured this funding provides the perfect opportunity to meet the new requirements relating to BVD testing which were released in October 2022. If interested famers need to head to https://apply-for-an-annual-health-and-welfare-review.defra.gov.uk/apply where you will find further information and be able to apply to the scheme. Please speak to one of us before registering to maximise timings as the review must be done within 6 months of registering. Any questions please get in touch with the office/any of the vets.