It’s that time of year again, where the farmers turn their focus to preparing for the dry-cow period. This period can be a high-risk time for mastitis-causing infections, which can lead to damaging consequences in the subsequent lactation.

Wexford dairy farmer, Patrick Banville, discusses the steps he takes when drying off cows to ensure they have an adequate dry period to rest and recuperate leading to a productive lactation next year.

“It pays dividends to have a good dry-cow management programme in place. Treating one sick cow can be just as time consuming as looking after a full herd of healthy cows. On top of that, you have the associated treatment costs, loss of milk production and increased antibiotic usage," said Patrick.   

Located near Taghmon in Co. Wexford, Patrick runs a 140-cow spring calving herd alongside his wife Carmel and children, John, Brian and Orla. The family have been farming the land since 1919 and they now operate over 90ha, 50 ha of which are on the milking platform. 

Paying close attention to herd health and doing the basics well has been key to the Banville’s success.

In April 2021, they were nominated for the National Dairy Council and Kerrygold National Quality Milk Awards and took home first prize in the milk quality category. The Banvilles have also been recipients of the CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards on six occasions. 

A key part of Patrick’s drying-off procedure is the use of CepraLock, a teat sealant from MSD Animal Health which was launched in 2021.

Discussing his experience using CepraLock, Patrick said: “We have been using teat sealant for over 10 years, prior to that we were just using antibiotic tubes. 

"We would have had a few issues with mastitis but since we started using the teat sealers, we have had very few cases during the dry cow period and after calving.”

60% of all new infections in early lactation can be traced back to the dry-cow period. Adding a teat sealant to a dry-cow management programme has been proven to reduce mastitis incidences by up to 25% in the next lactation.

CepraLock is designed for use at drying-off, with or without a dry-cow intramammary antibiotic, and provides an important inert barrier in the teat canal to reduce the risk of a bacterial infection of the udder during the dry period.

The use of a teat sealant is critically important, particularly considering that SDCT is now mandatory on Irish dairy farms are now moving away from blanket antibiotic treatment where it is not justified anymore.

Patrick first introduced a SDCT programme 3 years ago to reduce his antibiotic usage on the farm. To accurately decide which cows are eligible for SDCT, he undertakes regular milk recording throughout the lactation across the herd.

"We did a handful of cows in year 1, 18% in year 2 and 46% in year 3.

“A total of 10 cows are dried off on a given day. They are clearly marked depending on whether they are receiving teat sealant only or both antibiotic and teat sealant,” said Patrick.

“We are very happy with the CepraLock teat sealant. It is not easy trying to teat seal on a cold winters day when you are drying off 10 cows and handling up to 40 tubes.

"You need to have something which is easy and efficient to use while maintaining a strong, tacky consistency," explained Patrick.

CepraLock has a minimal air bubble and a significantly shorter plunger. This leads to easier administration into the teat canal, but it is also easy on the person’s hand who is administering the tube.

Over time, administering many sealers in one setting can be tiring on the farmer’s hand. These issues were taken into consideration when this product was designed.

It’s designed with a dual-tip syringe, giving the flexibility to choose between either the preferred short tip or the long tip for administration. This will help avoid the risk of teat damage and incorrect administration beyond the teat canal. 

Patrick continued: “When the cow calves down, a lot of the sealer will come out which shows it stayed where it is supposed to stay – in the teat.

CepraLock can be purchased in single 6-cow boxes (24 tubes) and 36-cow buckets (144 tubes). Both include biodegradable disinfectant wipes for udder preparation.

For more information, contact your local vet or click here.