Sustainability has long been a concern for farmers and this is increasingly being pushed to the fore, with many milk buyers now carrying out sustainability (carbon footprint) audits of their suppliers. The advent of these audits has meant practical steps for improvements right now are very much in demand.
The good news is that keeping on top of the basics of animal health can pay some real dividends in terms of sustainability.
Infectious diseases will all reduce the efficiency of a productive animal, so disease control plans are essential to keeping a good carbon footprint. Biosecurity and vaccination programmes can prevent the introduction of infectious diseases or mitigate the consequences if they are introduced – for example, a case of BVD will increase the carbon emissions of an unvaccinated dairy cow by nearly 20%, whereas a vaccinated animal will suffer only a 2% increase.
A recent study showed that parasitism (worms) can reduce the productive efficiency of an animal by up to 1/3, so an effective parasite control plan can also improve sustainability. As the ‘emissions intensity’ figure usually calculated represents a measure of efficiency, this improvement in sustainability will also be an improvement in economic efficiency.
Youngstock can often be overlooked on a busy dairy farm, but a young animal contributes about as much as a milking cow to a farm’s carbon footprint on a per year basis. This means that effective heifer rearing and a low age at first calving can really help improve carbon footprint. Good colostrum management and vaccinations to reduce calf disease can have a big impact on the growth potential, and so sustainability performance, of heifers.
The use of carbon foot printing as a tool to evaluate farms is relatively new but a lot of the ways to improve in this metric will be very familiar. Get in touch with your routine vet to start planning the best ways to improve sustainability on your farm.
Written by: Nick Britten, Veterinary Surgeon
