What COVID outbreak taught our dairy farmers?   

Dr Rakesh Kumar Sharma¹ and Dr Harish Kumar Verma²

Regional Research and Training Centre, Talwara, District Hoshiarpur (Punjab)

¹ Senior Scientist; ² Director Extension Education, GADVASU, Ludhiana

Covid-19 is a human disease caused by a corona virus. The virus is believed to have originated from wild animals and later on jumping onto human hosts at a wet market in Wuhan city of China. This virus has now spread into almost all countries of the world, thereby, affecting millions of people. Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives. Till date, it has no cure. The experts advise all individuals to remain in doors and to follow all kinds of social distancing so as to break its chain of spread. This disease has made the management of dairy animals an uphill task. Another aspect of this disease is that it has made the livestock owners learn many things out of various difficulties. Some of these learning experiences have been shared in this write-up. These experiences are more relevant to commercial dairy farms.

1. The farm must have in place a well designed executable plan that can be implemented during event of any emergency. This plan must be tested once in two years for its practical utility.
2. A few workers at the farm must be permanently employed. They must have their residences at the farm itself.
3. If the owner’s residence is very far away from the farm, then, there must be a well furnished accommodation for at least two persons at the farm for their temporary stay.
4. Entry of relatives/friends of the workers and other persons should be strictly banned.
5. Bio-security at the farm should be undertaken with utmost care. The main gate of the farm should remain closed at all times. One of the workers at the farm may be entrusted with the job of a watchman at the entrance.
6. All the boundary walls/fences of the farm should be rechecked so as to avoid trespassing or entry of stray or wild animals.
7. Farm cleanliness and personnel hygiene should also get due attention.
8. In case of human outbreaks, strict quarantine, social/physical distancing should be followed. The clothing of all workers should be changed and washed daily. Sick workers should be attended at once. All the permanent farm labour should get medical insurance.
9. Farm must have an ‘Emergency Kit’. This kit usually includes very basic but important things like bandages, ointments for wounds, normal saline bottles, adhesive tapes, adsorbent cotton, a pair of scissors, hand gloves, trocar and canula, hypodermic needles and syringes, thermometer, medicines used during emergency, halter, ropes for restraining the animal, edible vegetable oils, activated charcoal, fire extinguisher, tarpaulin, pliers, battery etc.
10. The farm should have surplus bamboo sticks. During emergency, these can be effectively employed to construct close compartments. Animals can be confined into these compartments after making groups based on their age and production status. It will restrict the movement of individual animals leading to almost 30 percent reduction in energy requirements. This way the farmer can save lot of concentrate ration.
11. The commercial farms must have a stock of stored/preserved fodder (silage or hay) which could last for at least 2-3 months. The small homestead farms can have wheat/paddy straw or maize stover instead.
12. The farmer must learn the method of enriching wheat straw with urea. Feeding this enriched wheat straw to animals can provide higher amount of protein.
13. The sorghum should never be harvested at very young stage. It may cause acute toxicity with labored breathing, excessive drooling of saliva and red conjunctiva.
14. Farms that experience shortage of both green fodders and concentrate ration must possess Urea Molasses Multi-nutrient Blocks (UMMBs). These can provide all the nutrients needed for maintenance purpose.
15. Prepared or compounded (ready to use) feed cannot be stored for more than a fortnight; however its ingredients (cereals, cakes, by-products, mineral mixture and salt) should be stored as a backup plan.
16. Farmer must have obtained training from relevant university or professional organization for first aid management or AI (artificial insemination) of animal
17. Semen doses in good number with proper storage should be there at the farm.
18. Vaccination, deworming, sample testing etc. should be followed sacredly. Deworming of animals with appropriate drugs becomes mandatory during emergencies because internal worms become more active during stressful conditions.
19. The acaricides should be used very cautiously. A small mistake can become hazardous leading to acute toxicity. The farm must possess specific antidotes beforehand.
20. The animals that pass constipated faeces should be drenched edible vegetable oil at frequent intervals.
21. Timely insurance of animals helps to cope up such situations, but all animals including young and old should be insured.
22. All the livestock farms should have properly maintained relevant records. These records will help in the quick evaluation of profit or loss situation which will aid in making future decisions for running the farm.
23. Contacts and telephone numbers of personnel/organizations which could render any kind of help during emergency should also be displayed at a frequently visited spot in the farm. These usually include driver of the milk van, concerned person at milk factory, medical officer, veterinary officer, insurance company representative, feed factory or its dealer, ambulance, police, nearby fellow farmers, skinners etc.
24. Always wear a face mask and hand gloves while paying a visit to the milk collection centre. Very old or too young people should avoid visiting the centre. Minimum prescribed physical distance must be followed among fellow farmers at the centre. It is better to avoid unnecessary talking. After returning from the centre, all types of clothes should be changed immediately. Thenceforth, a bath will be a preferred activity. The milk container should also be cleaned thoroughly and should be placed in the sun for disinfection.
25. The commercial farm must have a well maintained vehicle for transporting milk to the factory in case milk van fails to turn up. Milk drums or bulk milk cooler (BMC) of sufficient capacity must also be available at the farm to store unsold or surplus milk.
26. Farm gate milk processing (like paneer or curd preparation) can be done for sale through old connections/linkages.
27. When selling or disposal of milk becomes a serious problem during emergency, it can be processed into ghee. If possible, it may also be got changed into milk powder. Both these products can be sold later on. Both have reasonably good shelf life.
28. The farmer must possess sufficient cash in hand to run farm activities. Banks and ATMs are usually closed during emergency.
29. Sufficient stock of sanitizers and disinfectants should be there at the farm.
30. The resting place of workers, milking parlour, implement shed, railings, fences, iron gates etc should be frequently disinfected with bleaching powder, carbolic acid, formalin, caustic soda etc.
31. There must be a backup source of electricity. A well maintained movable generator set must be available at the farm along with sufficient amount of fuel.
32. There must be a radio available at the farm and accessible to all the workers. This will enable them to know the current situation of the emergency in the local area or the state.
33. There must also be a multipurpose cart to transport carcasses of dead animals to hadda-rori or carcass rendering unit. The dead animals need to be disposed off as soon as possible. Skinners are usually not available during emergencies.
34. Cost of production can be reduced significantly by selling male animals of all ages, non productive, weak or infertile female animals.
35. Farmers who have developed strong linkages with Veterinary University or nearby professional institutes, various associations, fellow-farmers may drive many benefits during emergency situations from marketing to management of the herd.

Once the emergency is over, the farmer should evaluate the overall situation. The linkages should be further strengthened with those agencies that have provided valuable help during period of crisis. The mutual help rendered during emergency will also determine the future bonds among close friends.

Please follow and like us: