.png){kind=logo}
“ We had a test mob that had approximately 40 days before they were due to calve, so we introduced StayDry Pre Drop, fed it to them every day, and saw some amazing results.”
“ We had a test mob that had approximately 40 days before they were due to calve, so we introduced StayDry Pre Drop, fed it to them every day, and saw some amazing results.”
Ask Kerry Miller to define a successful season on ‘Glen Alvie’ in northernNSW, and the answer is simple – maximise the number of healthy calves on the ground,while allowing the cattle to re-present for another breeding programme as soonas possible.
Kerry works for Stone Axe Pastoral Company on the 2,200-hectare‘Glen Alvie’, which is just outside of Armidale, in the New England area.
They use sires for the full-blood Wagyu market to breed their owncattle, which eventually wind up in feedlotsafter backgrounding on a separateproperty within the business.
They use EmbryoTransfer (ET) technology for approximately 70 per cent of their stock, Artificially Inseminate(AI) 10 per cent and the remaining 20 per centare naturally mated.
“We actually try to set our programmes up to have twomain calving periods a year,in autumn and spring, as they are our best grazing times to getcalving going ahead quickly,” Kerry explains.
“Our greatest loss during calving would be in our heifers walkingoff on calves after a difficult labour,retained placentas and the drain that has on us actually being able tore-utilize any of our stock going back into a future programme.”
“It became clearthat we neededto optimise cattle health so there’s ease of calvingand the cows are available to come back in a good conditionand in a timely fashion - ideally we would like to have a zero calving assist rate.”
After encountering some issues in the farming operation the ‘Glen Alvie’ team engaged with aGrow Livestock Agronomist, who visited the property to provide some advice. This resulted in the establishment of a test mobto see if StayDry Pre Drop, a nutritional lick powder supplement, woulddeliver benefits to the systemin the lead-up to calving.
StayDry Pre Drop is designed to reducebirth difficulties in heifers and maidens, optimiseimmune system function and improve colostrum quality,all of which combines to increase survival and growth rates in offspring.
“We had a test mob that had approximately 40 daysbefore they were due to calve, so we introduced StayDry Pre Drop, fed it to them every day, and sawsome amazing results,” Kerry says.
While the productwas easy to use, the real test comesin the in-field performance, with Kerry reporting they were very happy with theresults in the test mob.
“Moving forward we’ll be using StayDry Pre Drop in the lead-up times for all our calving heifers becausewe don’t want setbacks for our heifers, and we also need the calves to have good colostrum intake.”
“We had two calves to pull out of the entire 295 headthemob we supplemented with StayDry Pre Drop, no retainedplacentas and no walk-offs - everyone was healthy and happy,” she says.
“We had a mob of 350 from the same purchase group which didn’t receive the product, and I ended up with 14poddy calves to rear when mothers had obviously walked off after a troubledlabour, and we had severalretained placentas that we had to also sort out in that mob.”
As a powder in a 20-kilogram bag, Kerry says she found the StayDry Pre Drop very easy tofeed out and it handled wet conditions well.
Kerry says the extent of the successof the StayDry Pre Drop inthe test mob was a pleasant surprise, and has made the decision to continue using the productmoving forward an easy one.
“We were really grateful that we had decided to try the product, reducingthe time we have to spend dealing with those kinds of situations,”she explains.
“Moving forward we’ll be using StayDry Pre Drop in the lead-up times for all our calving heifersbecause we don’t want setbacksfor our heifers, and we also need the calves to have good colostrumintake.”
Kerry says the Grow Livestock Agronomist also played a critical role in the success of StayDry Pre Drop in the2018 season.
“We are going to continue to use the Grow Livestock Agronomyservices for all production areas based on the information and support we got with StayDry Pre Drop,”she says.
“We would like to continueto utilise their products and their knowledge to make sure that weget the best production outcomes for all levels of the business.”
StayDry is a waterproof lick powder supplement that provides essential nutrients for livestock.
