A comparison of the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts after calving in cows also given internal teat sealants

AIM: To compare, in cows treated with an internal teat sealant, the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts (SCC) after calving.

METHODS: Cows from a spring-calving, pasture-based dairy farm in the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand were randomly allocated to receive either a short-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=291) or a long-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=288) at the end of lactation. Cows were managed on-farm with routine husbandry procedures through the dry period and following calving. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to determine the association between length of action of dry-cow therapy and the proportion of cows with a SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test after calving.

RESULTS: Age of cow, mean SCC for the preceding season and interval from calving to the first post-calving herd test were all associated with the proportion of cows with an individual SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test (p<0.001) Treatment with the short-acting dry-cow therapy was not associated with decreased odds of cows having a SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test compared with treatment with long-acting dry-cow therapy (OR=0.724; 95% CI=0.40–1.30).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In this herd, which routinely used internal teat sealants, the use of short-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy did not result in an increased proportion of cows with elevated SSC post-calving. This was a single farm, single year study but indicates that in this herd, changing from a long-acting to a short-acting antimicrobial may have no impact on the prevalence of subclinical mastitis.     

Two-year development of southern pine seedlings and associated vegetation following spray-and-burn site preparation with imazapyr alone or in mixture with other herbicides

Eight herbicide combinations containing imazapyr alone or in mixture with glyphosate, triclopyr, or picloram+2,4-D were applied July–August 1991 at each of three upland sites in the southeastern U.S., with or without a subsequent broadcast burn in September. Seedlings of loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) or slash (P. elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) pine were planted that winter. Second-year (August 1993) vegetation responses indicate that broadcast burning, in combination with herbicides, was associated with increased abundances of grasses, forbs, and shrubs and decreased abundances of vines and hardwood trees. In the presence of burning, imazapyr-in-mixture treatments were associated with a high abundance of grass (53% cover) and a mean size of pines less than that of seedlings growing in imazapyr-alone treatments. In the absence of burning, imazapyr-alone treatments were associated with a high abundance of blackberry (21% cover), an average height of hardwoods (131 cm) exceeding that of pines (71 cm), and a mean size of pines less than that of trees growing in imazapyr-in-mixture treatments. Hardwood height in the absence of burning was less when imazapyr was combined with glyphosate (75 cm) than with triclopyr (102 cm). Regardless of the presence or absence of burning, size of pines and abundance of shrubs and hardwoods did not differ between imazapyr rates of 0.56 and 0.84 kg acid equivalent/ha or among herbicides applied in mixture with imazapyr.     

THE EFFECT OF CUTTING HEIGHT AND NITROGEN LEVEL ON THE YIELD, IN VITRO DIGESTIBILITY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ITALIAN RYEGRASS SWARDS

Three cutting heights, 2±5, 7±6 and 12±7 cm (1, 2±5 and 5 in.) and three levels of fertilizer N, 168, 280 and 392 kg N/ha (150, 250 and 350 Ib N/ac) were imposed on a sward of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) cv. Irish. Lowering the cutting height and increasing the level of applied N increased the yield of herhage DM. Increasing the level of applied N had a greater effect on the chemical composition of the herbage than altering the cutting height     

Temporal and spatial dynamics of insecticide resistance in Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Advances in understanding insecticide resistance in the peach-potato aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), at the genotypic, biochemical and molecular levels have led to rapid and precise methods for the detection of several resistance mechanisms (elevated carboxylesterase, modified acetylcholinesterase or MACE, and knockdown resistance or kdr) in individual insects, and for monitoring their frequencies over space and time. This paper summarises the results of two long-term surveys of resistance dynamics in M persicae in England, based on samples collected directly from field and glasshouse crops or from four 12.2-m suction traps. The study showed marked fluctuations in resistance frequencies that probably reflect the counteracting forces of selection imposed by insecticides for aphids possessing more copies of esterase resistance genes, and selection against these forms when insecticide use is relaxed. There is growing evidence that several different resistance mechanisms in M persicae have associated fitness costs. In the case of esterase and MACE, these costs are apparently strong enough to effect a decline in resistance frequency over winter, and a more prolonged decline over successive cropping seasons when aphid numbers are insufficient to trigger intensive chemical applications. Changes in the overall frequency of resistance genotypes may also be influenced by the predominance of year-round parthenogenesis in M persicae in the UK, leading to non-random associations between mechanisms and selection operating on clonal lineages rather than individual genotypes.