Article by Eleanor Livingstone, Senior Veterinary Lead, BVSc MRCVS DBR
With the summer months in full swing, we are all appreciating the long days although perhaps not so much the extreme heat! For stock and their keepers alike, the recent heatwaves have proved a challenge and leave us wondering what the rest of the summer may have in store.
In the short-term strategies to maximise shade, considering housing during the heat of the day and where possible reducing stocking densities can all help. We would encourage that feeding stock should be done in cooler parts of the day where possible and reducing handling during the heat of the day is also advisable.
We have seen some brilliant ideas from farmers trying to aid their stock in keeping cool, especially homemade sprinkler type systems to increase evaporative cooling of the animals. Many farmers provided hose showers to cattle in the peak of the heat wave and I suspect enjoyed the water splashing themselves!
If you are having any routine healthcare procedures undertaken in any future periods of extreme heat please do contact us and we will work with you where possible to try and avoid the hottest parts of the day.
In the longer term it leaves us all wondering whether more extreme weather events may become more normal and how we will combat these. How can we harness the potential of the excess rainfall we have within certain winter months? Undoubtedly a nuisance at the time but a valuable resource as the seasons change.
We see more and more fans being installed, these are brilliant for aiding in air flow but very energy thirsty and thus solar panels are often installed alongside. How can we improve shade at grazing? Or water trough availability to maximise the use of shadier grazing areas. There are many questions that will be asked in the years to come about how to adapt our farming systems to future proof ourselves against climate change.
As the summer progresses, we look forward to the many social opportunities that the agricultural shows provide us. We will have our usual pitch at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury show on the 19th & 20th August, serving a BBQ lunch on both Wednesday and Thursday and tea and cake throughout the rest of the day.
We will also have hospitality at The Melplash Show in Bridport on the 27th August, providing an opportunity for our more westerly clients to spend time with the team and will see many more clients at the Dorset County show on the 5th & 6th September where we sponsor the sheep shearing.
As a team it is a real highlight of our year seeing so many clients and sharing some food and drink. We are so fortunate to be immersed in such a tight knit agricultural community, and the summer show season is an opportunity to appreciate the very best of this community. We wish all of our clients who will be showing animals the very best of luck and look forward to enjoying a catch up with the multiple generations of families that we are able to see all together on show days.
