Till the Cows Come Home – event summary

We held a FAS open day on behalf of the Scottish Government on 7th February 2017.

There was an excellent representation of local Caithness farmers and crofters, with over 80 people present for the event.

The host farmer gave the attendee a brief introduction to the farm before they were split into groups to visit four different stations.

The Event covered four topics, each at a different station as follows:

• Farm walk on building design for health and productivity
• Immucol platinum calf colostrum
• Vaccination science and good practise
• ScotMoves

Building design for health and productivity was discussed by Jamie Robertson, highlighting the good and bad points of building design and their effect on cattle health and productivity.

Clare Walsh of Vetsonic explained what is in calf colostrum, why it is important and when to feed it.  The differences between top-up and replacer colostrum and knowing the situation and when to feed it.

Representatives from the local veterinary surgeons, D S MacGregor & Partners, explained how different cattle vaccines work.  And showed how having an understanding of this would help with choosing the right vaccination policy for a given situation.

A presentation on the change requirements with Scotmoves was given to those who are impacted by the changes.  These are the cattle keepers who previously had linked holdings with BCMS or those who have additional holdings, or are planning rented seasonal grazings or buildings.   Which can be accessed through the link below:

Till the Cows Come Home – Scot Moves