According to survey work carried out by AFBI, 79% of Northern Ireland’s dairy producers count digital dermatitis (DD) as a significant problem in their herd.
With trends going towards larger herds and the confinement of cows, a recent survey by Thompsons shows that the statistics are not improving. Alongside the detrimental effect on animal welfare, DD has a significant effect on animal performance, in particular milk yield and fertility with estimates putting the cost of DD at £76 per case (Willshire, 2009).
Unique opportunity
Dairy producers are now being given the chance to hear a world class speaker on digital dermatitis. For one day only Dr Arturo Gomez will be available at Greenmount College to present his findings from years of studying DD in the dairy herd. At an event co-hosted by CAFRE, Provita, Thompsons and Zinpro, ?producers will be taken on a tour of four workshops where industry experts will give up to date information and allow for questioning on everything ?to do with digital dermal issues.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity and register your place on a workshop tour by contacting Samantha at Thompsons on: 028 9035 1321. Groups will be started at 30 minute intervals between 11.00am and 1.00pm and each tour will last approximately 90 minutes.
Who is Dr Gomez?
Dr Arturo Gomez earned a veterinary medicine degree from the University of Santiago de Compostela and then began his professional career as a bovine practitioner in Spain and Portugal. He then went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he completed a residency programme in Food Animal Production Medicine and a master’s degree in clinical investigations.
In 2014 Gomez joined Zinpro as a dairy specialist providing nutritional services and overseeing research in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East.