Dairy farmer Eamon Sheehan and Róisín Horan from Teagasc join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast with an insight into the staggering rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among animal and human populations and key practices to minimise the risk in your dairy herd.

Róisín explains that AMR is an ongoing concern, accounting for 700,000 deaths annually and has the potential to be more fatal than cancer by 2050 if growth in the level of resistance continues.

Eamon considers some of the key focus areas to promote a healthy herd and minimise the risk of AMR including: selective dry cow therapy, the dairy cow diet during the dry period, colostrum in the first hours of life and creating a vaccination protocol.

Róisín and Eamon recommend that farmers focus on getting the basics right such as good hygiene and biosecurity whilst also being proactive with monitoring animals to minimise disease and use the correct treatments where disease arises.

For more information see:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/amr/
https://www.bovilis.ie/vaccination-planner/
https://www.nuffieldscholar.org/sites/default/files/reports/2017_IE_Eamon-Sheehan_Microbial-Management-And-Its-Importance-In-The-Dairy-And-Beef-Industry.pdf

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com