20 Feb 2020
49 suckler farms from 16 veterinary practices in England were recruited, which included nine AHDB Strategic Suckler farms. Signed consent forms from all the participating farmers were provided to AHDB previously. Figure 1 illustrates the geographic distribution of both the English and Scottish study farms. Two metabolic profiles (including feed data and forage analysis) from 49 English herds were completed, with a total of 585 cows sampled. Calf blood samples were submitted from all 49 English herds. In total, 654 English calf samples were received. The results from this testing were reported to both the herd’s veterinary surgeon and farm manager. The average number of calves per farm was 13.3 calves/farm. We do not anticipate that this will prevent the project from achieving its objectives.
