Pembrokeshire Farmers Travel to Spain to Study Heat Stress
The exchange was arranged by Ruben Vines, a veterinary surgeon with Pembrokeshire Farm Vets who comes from Valencia. It followed a suggestion from one of his farming clients that he should take a group to Spain to see how farms there operate. Vines and fellow veterinary surgeon Alice Davies accompanied the 16 farmers during the visit.
The group visited More Holstein in Bétera and La Serretilla Ganadera S.A.T. in Chiva. It also went to Ganadería Pedro Peris in Bétera, a business that breeds cattle for traditional Valencian bous al carrer events. The dairy farms were making changes to their facilities aimed at limiting the effects of hot weather and said milk yields had risen after heat-control technologies were introduced.
Farmers examined a range of responses to high temperatures. These included specialised roofs, fans and sprinklers, as well as less capital-intensive adjustments to water and feed provision. The farms also altered feeding and handling schedules, shortened the distances cattle travelled in hot conditions and improved cooling in collecting yards and milking parlours. The participants considered which of these practices might be applicable on farms in Britain.
Vines said the visit was intended to learn from producers with more experience of managing livestock during extreme heat. He said that some useful measures did not require major spending, while the exchange also showed more advanced equipment. The group spent time with the Spanish veterinary teams to compare approaches to herd health, replacement-calf rearing, fertility and biosecurity. Vines said several participants were considering changes involving heat management, calf rearing, visitor controls and technology for animal health, welfare and performance.
Biosecurity was a separate focus of the programme. The Spanish farms used closed-herd systems and strict controls on visitors. The group also reviewed vaccination programmes and the use of thoracic ultrasound to identify pneumonia in calves. Monitoring systems, including MSD Animal Health’s SenseHub technology, were discussed as tools for decisions on health, fertility and wider herd management.
Discussions included HIPRA’s newer Divence products, specifically Divence penta and Divence tri, and biosecurity measures intended to help reduce antimicrobial use as part of work associated with Arwain DGC. HIPRA, MSD Animal Health and Arwain DGC supported the exchange through sponsorship. Pembrokeshire Farm Vets said it was planning another trip for the following year, with more emphasis on sheep and beef businesses and participation by additional farming clients.
