Experts from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) have warned that cattle may be overfat as they approach calving. The danger, they warn, is a downside of last year's good summer weather.

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Good grass growth last year, which provided excellent silage and hay, may lead to cows putting on too much weight, unless farmers have adjusted their feeding regime to account for the extra nutrition in last year's forage. Excess weight gain, they warned, could mean some cows have difficulty calving.

Beef Specialist Dr Basil Lowman of SAC Consulting said he noticed the issue while visiting cows over the winter. On Wednesday, he said, "Some producers are concerned about the condition of their cows and the potential for a much higher risk of calving difficulties when calving starts in a month’s time."

Dr Lowman did acknowledge that difficulties at calving time are often linked to both the genetics of the cow and her calf and, often more importantly, the management of the cow and her condition at calving. However, he advised suckled calf producers with herds due to calf this spring to set aside an hour, preferably with a friend, neighbour or their vet, to walk amongst their cows and discuss how fit they really think they are, and to identify any animals that could do with slimming down urgently.

The SAC expert added, "If there are a proportion of obese cows, with rings of fat clearly visible around their tail-head then these should be drawn out into a separate group and put onto a well balanced, straw based ration to encourage them to lose as much fat as possible prior to calving. This may seem [like] extra costs and hassle but compared with severe calving difficulties, caesareans or even casualties it will be time and money extremely well invested."

An example of a suitable slimming ration could be –

• Straw - Ad-lib
• Rapeseed meal - 2 kg/cow/day
• Mineral and vitamin mix suitable for straw based rations - 120 g/cow/day

It is essential that the protein and mineral/vitamin intake of the cow is maintained, otherwise their rumen will become impacted and they will die, so feeding only straw is not possible.