Animal Health Awareness Event

Slaney Foods International in conjunction with Animal Health Ireland, Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture recently held an animal health awareness event at the farm of James & Ger Rochford Bridgetown in Co. Wexford.  The two brothers farm in partnership and are calving 90 suckler cows, finishing all progeny as Steers & Heifers under 30 months of age.  They also have 70 dairy bred bull calves and are finishing these animals again as Steers under 30 months of age. Alongside their beef enterprise, the Rochfords run a tillage enterprise, as well as, a tillage contracting business.  In recent years they have also started to farm sheep.The aim of the event, which was attended by over 120 people, was to highlight and discuss prominent animal health issues in relation to calving and calf rearing on Irish farms. Following an introductory message by Ger Rochford, Grainne Dwyer (AHI), Pierce Kelly (Teagasc) and Denis Brennan (Slaney Foods) discussed the Rochfords farm enterprise.Information was also given on how to prevent Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) from becoming an issue in the beef sector, as well as, what Irish farmers can do to prevent Anthelmintic resistance on their farms.  During the event, we discussed the interpretation of the Beef Health Check sheets which the farmer receives with their cattle payment. The information on the Beef Health Check sheets is collected by veterinary surgeons at Slaney Foods on the day of slaughter.  The Beef Health Check sheets include details regarding Pneumonia, Liver Fluke and Liver Abscesses as well as other health issues such as, Timber Tongue. This information is very important to the farmers as it allows them to address problems which are occurring on their farm.Pierece Kelly Head of Drystock at Teagasc then explained, how the collection and testing of dung samples, as well as, rotational grazing and alternating products, can help reduce the instances of anthelmintic resistance at farm level.Finally, Denis Brennan of Slaney Foods and Bernadette Early of Teagasc hosted the farmer interaction stand, where attendees had the opportunity to discuss with Ger and James Rochford, past lessons learnt, current practices and potential future changes to their farming system.Slaney Foods International would like to thank all those who attended and the Rochford family for kindly hosting this event at their farm.