MAY EDITION 2017
CellCheck ANIMAL HEALTH IRELAND NEWSLETTER Contributing to a profitable and sustainable farming and agri-food sector through improved animal health
www.AnimalHealthIreland.ie
CELLCHECK PROGRAMME NEWS
P3
CELLCHECK TIP OF THE MONTH P4
DO THE TWIST!
P6
SERVICE PROVIDER NOTES
NATIONAL MASTITIS CONTROL PROGRAMME
CellCheck AnimalHealthIreland.ie Animal Health Ireland, 4-5 The Archways, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, N41 WN27
AHI gratefully acknowledges the financial and other contributions of our stakeholders to the CellCheck programme.
NATIONAL MASTITIS CONTROL PROGRAMME
CellCheck AnimalHealthIreland.ie Animal Health Ireland, 4-5 The Archways, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, N41 WN27
CELLCHECK PROGRAMME
May News
Finola McCoy, Programme Manager
I n this month’s edition of the CellCheck newsletter, our monthly article provides a reminder about the importance of aspects of the milking routine when it comes to producing high quality milk. Cluster removal technique in particular, can have a significant impact not just on the cow’s teat health but also on the milker’s health, as a poor technique carried out repeatedly can cause strain and long term injury. To learn more about best practice in milking routines, consider signing up for the ‘Best Practice in Milking’ Course, delivered by Farm Relief Services and developed in partnership with AHI and Teagasc. This 2-day training course, followed by assessment, focuses on the skills and practices essential to develop an efficient milking routine and ensure cow and milker health when producing top quality milk. For more information contact info@frstraining.com or call 1809 201000. The next phase of the CellCheck Farmer Workshops as part of the Dairy Knowledge Transfer programme has commenced, with group facilitators currently scheduling workshops for their discussion groups. For more details, see the Service Provider News section.
improve your own milking skills and the skills of your workers and bring milking efficiencies back to your farm best practice in milking course
BOOK YOUR PLACE 1890 20 1000 www.frstraining.com/milkingcourse
Approved Training Course Provider
PAGE 3
CELLCHECK NEWSLETTER • MAY EDITION 2017
CELLCHECK TIP OF THE MONTH Do the twist T he twist……it may not always be in fashion on the dance floor, but it should always be practised in the parlour.
[Click here] for previously published tips
‘Break, wait, twist and drop’………the key steps in taking clusters off cows. It’s crucial that clusters are not pulled off under vacuum, as this creates air impacts. Air impacts contribute to teat-end damage, and can drive potentially bug-laden milk up the teat canal, leading to new cases of mastitis.
Figure 1. Air entering the cup can cause vacuum fluctuations and create air impacts at the teat end
Be patient - don’t yank off the clusters!
1. Break -Use the button on the claw bowl, or kink the long milk tube to break the vacuum 2. Wait! 1-2 secs 3. Twist- Gently twist the cluster 30-60⁰ -this helps to make sure that all 4 liners release at the same time 4. Drop- Clusters should then drop freely off the teats
PAGE 4
CELLCHECK NEWSLETTER MAY EDITION 2017
CELLCHECK TIP OF THE MONTH
Clusters that are hard to remove, or are not releasing correctly, are a sign that the equipment is not working properly. If this is happening, make sure that buttons on the claws are working correctly. Check air admission holes regularly. Cluster handling is given very little attention, considering the important role is has to play in milking efficiency, mastitis prevention and cow comfort. But don’t just think about cow health......consider your own health too. Too many milkers suffer repetitive strain injuries (RSI) such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, from years of putting on and taking off clusters incorrectly. How you ever stopped to think how many times in your milking career you will put clusters on cows? And how many times you’ll take them off? If you’re milking 90 cows, twice a day, with an average lactation length of 280 days, you’ll put those clusters on over 50,000 times a year. Over a lifetime of milking that repetitive action adds up. After 40 years, you’ll have put on over 2 million clusters.......and taken them off over 2 million times too!
When cupping cows, remember to:
• minimise air admission • alternate hands for both sides of a herringbone to avoid RSI and muscle/tendon over-use • hold the cluster in one hand and apply all the cups in a “round-the-circle” fashion. This is an efficient and milker-friendly way of cupping cows.
“Round-the-circle” cluster attachment
Use the right hand to put the cups on the right hand side row of cows (facing the exit) because it is easier to reach through the back legs. 1. Holding the clawbowl in your left hand, 2. reach over the left arm with your right hand, to put on the left back cup,
3. then left front, 4. then right front, 5. and finally right back.
When cupping the right hand row of cows, hold the cluster in your left and start with the left back cup
For more information on recommended milking techniques, see Guideline 5 in the Lactation section of the CellCheck Farm Guidelines for Mastitis Control
PAGE 5
CELLCHECK NEWSLETTER • MAY EDITION 2017
Service Provider Notes
Next phase of CellCheck Farmer Workshops T he next phase of the CellCheck Farmer Workshops as part of the Dairy Knowledge Transfer programme has commenced, with group facilitators currently scheduling workshops for their discussion groups. This is being done via an online portal developed by AHI, which went live on April 24 th . All Dairy KT group facilitators have a dedicated portal account, for which they will have received log-in details directly from AHI. This account must be activated, before available workshop dates can be selected for each of their discussion groups. Workshop delivery will run nationally from the middle of June until early November. Dates are limited and available on a first-come-first-served basis, so all facilitators are advised to log in now to select their preferred dates. The booking portal will remain open until May 12 th , after which the remaining available dates will be assigned to groups whose facilitators have not selected their preferred dates. The second step in the process is for facilitators to organise and confirm the speaking team and attendees for the workshop; this must be completed at least three weeks prior to the workshop date. KT group facilitators will be making contact with CellCheck-trained service providers, to determine availability and interest in participating in delivery teams. CellCheck-trained service providers that are interested in workshop delivery should ensure that the contact details for them listed on the AHI website are current-these can checked by clicking here . Any trained service providers that wish to edit their contact details should contact the AHI office (071 9671928). If you have completed CellCheck service provider training and haven’t participated in workshop delivery to date, but are interested in doing so, you are advised to contact your nearest CellCheck Regional Coordinator, or any KT group facilitators in your area to express your interest in participation. If people don’t know about you, they are less likely to call you! Group facilitators that have not yet competed CellCheck Stage 2 training as part of the DAFM-required CPD can do so on June 19 th in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise. Booking is essential Contact the AHI office for more information. This will be the final Stage 2 training event held in 2017.
April 24 th - May 12 th
AHI portal open for workshop date reservation.
Workshop dates confirmed and instructions issued to Group Facilitators, by email. Remaining available workshop dates will be offered by AHI to facilitators who have not selected preferred dates for their discussion groups.
Mid-May
June 19 th June 19 th
Farmer Workshops begin across the country
CellCheck Stage 2 training, Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise
PAGE 6
CELLCHECK NEWSLETTER • MAY EDITION 2017
CELLCHECK REGIONAL COORDINATORS
A Resource and Point of Contact for CellCheck Activities in your Area
6
1
Tom Starr 087 6697010
Mícheal Guinan 086 3511852 micheal.guinan@aurivo.ie Mayo/Sligo Aurivo
tstarr@arrabawn.ie Tipperary/Limerick National Co-op
7
2
4
1
John Fitzpatrick 086 0426567
Sean McCarthy 066 7163200 sean.mccarthy@kerry.ie Kerry/Clare Kerry Agribusiness
fitzpatrickj@glanbia.ie Kilkenny/Laois/Carlow/ Kildare/Dublin Glanbia
3
7
8
6
8
5
Sinead Treanor streanor@carbery.com 023 8822369 West Cork Carbery Group
9
Andrew O’Neill 086 1836505 aoneill@tipperary-coop.ie Tipperary Tipperary Co-Op
2
3
4
9
5
Tom Downes 087 2564669
Denis Guiry 086 8098639 dguiry@dairygold.ie Dairygold
downest@lakeland.ie Longford/Monaghan Lakeland Dairies
Brendan Dillon 087 2626851 BrDillon@glanbia.ie
Cork/Waterford/ Wexford/Wicklow Glanbia
PAGE 7
CELLCHECK NEWSLETTER • MAY EDITION 2017
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs