Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • FREE Email Newsletters
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Magazine Subscriptions
    •  
    Twitter LinkedIn
    Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    • News
      • Arable & Agronomy
      • Dealership News
      • Environmental Land Management Scheme/Policy
      • Event News
      • Health & Safety
      • Machinery
      • People
      • World News
    • Farm Machinery
      • Amenity & Maintenance
      • Cultivations
      • Drilling
      • Grassland Equipment
      • Harvesting
      • Muck & Slurry
      • Sprayers
      • Telehandlers
      • Tractors
      • Tractor of the Year
      • Tyres & Tracks
    • Precision Farming
    • Markets & Policy
    • Profiles
      • Company Profiles
      • Reader Profiles
    • Livestock
      • Beef
      • Dairy
      • Sheep
    • Podcast
    • Events
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    Dairy

    How to mitigate heat stress in cattle

    John SwireBy John SwireAugust 6, 20203 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

    With temperatures forecast to rise above 25°C, cattle producers should be prepared to mitigate the negative effects of heat stress on their beef and dairy animals.

    “Cattle are fairly comfortable when the ambient temperature is between 15°C and 25°C over the summer months but if the thermometer rises significantly, production performance will start to suffer,” warns Jacob Lakin from Azelis Animal Nutrition.

    “This is because both a milk production and growing beef animal will start to divert energy away from production performance towards keeping cool. You’ll notice if a cow is struggling during a summer heatwave because she will start to salivate heavily and pant. These are both mechanisms to increase the amount of body heat lost via evaporation.”

    Mr Lakin adds that rumination may slow too, which will depress feed intake. “Rumen function and the process of fermentation generates a lot of heat, so limiting rumination is an innate response to heat stress. As a result, a cow’s dry matter intake will fall.”

    He says that acidosis is an associated risk too. “This is because the cow will have a preference for less fibrous feed materials and concentrates, to decrease its rumination. Consequently, rumen buffering capacity falls and acidosis can be triggered.”

    Mr Lakin says two of the most effective, practical mitigation measures during a hot spell are to make sure both housed and grazing cattle have access to a constant supply of fresh water. You can also introduce a rumen buffer such as sodium bicarbonate to the available ration.

    Sodium bicarbonate is a simple, well known and cost effective rumen buffer which is helping to counter the loss of CO2 in the lungs and bicarbonate in the blood caused by this increased breathing, and also the loss of sodium, potassium and bicarbonate due to increased sweating.

    It is recommended therefore to add additional sodium bicarbonate to the ration up to around 250-300g/head/day for lactating dairy cows which equates to a cost of around 8-9pence/head/day.

    “Cows can easily drink 100 litres of water daily during warm periods of weather, so make sure plenty is available to them – ideally located to allow them access to it in the shade.

    “Recognise too that the cow may alter her feeding routine – preferring to eat during the evening or at night when temperatures are cooler. Either way, making sure the ration is well buffered will help to boost intakes and offset any drop off in performance,” he advises.

    If the UK starts to experience longer, hotter summers, Mr Lakin says cattle farmers may need to consider installing more fans and sprinklers to keep housed animals cool during the day.

    “Boosting ventilation and spraying cattle with water can help; as can using fibre cement for shed rooves rather than metal sheeting because it will reduce solar radiation into the building. However, these are practical steps for a climate warming trend perhaps rather than simple mitigation measures to be implemented during periodic heatwaves,” he suggests.

     

    Tweet
    Share
    Share
    Pin
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Previous ArticleVaccinate calves against bacterial pneumonia this autumn
    Next Article Project gets funding to develop digital dairy
    John Swire

    Read Similar Stories

    Extensive Massey Ferguson collection sells in Yorkshire

    May 20, 2022

    Dairy producers say that milk prices not keeping up with input costs

    May 6, 2022

    Poultry housing measures to be lifted

    April 27, 2022
    Most Popular Stories

    The Royal Highland Show celebrates its 200th anniversary

    May 24, 2022

    Rapid disease testing helps with high Septoria pressures across UK

    May 24, 2022

    Claas invests in forage harvesting production

    May 24, 2022
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer

    The UK's leading agricultural machinery journal

    Twitter LinkedIn
    © 2022 Lewis Business Media. All Rights Reserved.
    Lewis Business Media, Suite A, Arun House, Office Village, River Way, Uckfield, TN22 1SL

    Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions

    • AA Farmer
    • Farm Business
    • Poultry News
    • Pig World
    • OvertheCounter

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “ACCEPT ALL”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsREJECT ALLAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to store the user consent for cookies in the category "Others".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to store the user consent for cookies in the category "Performance".
    PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    CookieDurationDescription
    _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
    _gat_gtag_UA_31822138_191 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
    _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    CookieDurationDescription
    OAID1 yearThis cookie is set when an AdsWizz website visitor have opted out the collection of information by AdsWizz service or opted to disable the targeted ads by AdsWizz.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    Powered by CookieYes Logo