Yesterday evening I watched as clouds of midges danced in the golden rays of the setting sun outside the kitchen window. I tried to take a photo of them. This is the result. Fireflies? Perhaps. Fairies? Possibly. Dancing debris from a fire? Could be. But midges? No!
dancing cloud
Midges bring with them a sinister reputation. The more so since I’ve heard this disquieting news through the Farmers Weekly. Many farmers, with animals already stressed by the dire weather, believe rumours that if vaccinated against bluetongue disease they might fail to breed. FWi reports “The doubts over vaccinating were reflected at Penrith livestock market which reported that of 6000 mules through only two batches of ewes were vaccinated”.
The uptake of the vaccine has been so low in the North of England that only one in five livestock farms is protected.
A Cumbria suckled calf producer is quoted as saying “I’ve decided to leave my vaccine in the fridge until the spring. I want my cows safely in calf and a crop of calves on the ground before I start to jab.”
Chief veterinary officer Christianne Glossop reports that the uptake of vaccine in Wales has been disappointingly low. FWi quotes Alun Edwards, a Welsh farmer and Farmers Union of Wales office holder, as saying producers who resist vaccination to be “bloody idiots”.
I can only speak from my own experience.
I vaccinated in late May as soon as the vaccine was available in Devon. My bull had only been running with the cows for a couple of weeks before I vaccinated and as far as I know, to date, all cows and heifers I would expect to be are in calf. I had the most vulnerable animals PD (pregnancy diagnosed) when I was bTB testing the other week and they are 2½ -3 months in calf.
Despite the weather, and vaccination, my lambs have grown well and have killed out at a good average weight of 15-16kgs – Whiteface Dartmoor lambs give a small to medium size carcass. The tups go in with the ewes at the end of next week, so I will soon see how that goes.
I urge farmers to think really carefully about the consequences of not vaccinating. If your animals contract Bluetongue, even if they don’t die (with up to 70% mortality in sheep) they will suffer horrendous consequences. Abortion, stillbirth and neonatal mortality are increased with survivors suffering from infertility, depleted lactation and chronic weight loss. These things are a certainty. I know vaccination’s an added cost in a year that’s bleak, but the consequences, emotionally and financially, will be a hundred times worse with the disease.
For immediate up-to-date information on bluetongue and the various forms of available vaccination in the UK, and on the continent, follow this link to Warmwell.
Mr Edwards also questioned the sanity of importing livestock from infected areas following the first cases of bluetongue found in imported cattle on a Denbighshire farm.
So do I. So do I!
death dance?
4 comments
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September 24, 2008 at 3:28 am
heidi
That is a bizarre pic..Perhaps the light dancing off their teeny little wings…leaving tracers like a sparkler when you wave it in the darkness…
-On the lack of vaccination= It’s tricky.. It seems to me, as an outsider looking in, that many people are reacting out of fear( failure of their stock to breed) and their mistrust of the Establishment telling them what to do again….
I heard about that failure to breed rumour on Farming Today and could not believe it. I wondered what your take might be on it.
Farmers like yourself who can show good results will be what people need to see for things to change I suspect.
September 24, 2008 at 6:03 pm
m burns
Hi paula , i also vaccinated my small flock of pedigree shetlands as soon as i could , it was the end of may just down the road in black torrington , i may only have a few but the cost per sheep of vaccination set against the return i achive for my lamb sales and wool is just the same as a commercial farmer, i was a shepherd for ten years so i know both sides and think they are mad for not vaccinating.
martin
September 24, 2008 at 9:42 pm
paula
It’s exactly like that heidi – also similar to those photos taken of cities at night with the confusion of light streamers.
Yes, that’s what I was hoping – my cows were very pulled down by last summer’s wet, the indifferent silage over a long winter and demanding calves; they certainly weren’t at their best when vaccinated. Maybe some of those farmers that are anxious will read this.
September 24, 2008 at 9:49 pm
paula
hi martin – thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. And you’re quite right – costs are relevant. I hope that the doubters will soon see the light – the costs of the disease far outweigh vaccination. And I hope your flock continues to thrive.