Farm Progress With a closed herd and all his heifers artificially inseminated — no outside bulls needed — Nathan Brearley was confident his 500-cow dairy farm in Portland, Mich., would be spared from the avian flu strain that’s affecting dairies.
He was wrong. Nearly six months later after an infection on his farm, milk production still hasn’t recovered.
“I was quite surprised. I never saw any other disease this widespread affect the cattle like it did,” Brearley said during a recent webinar on dairy avian flu, put on by the Pennsylvania Center for Dairy Excellence. With 29 confirmed cases — the latest being Sept. 9 — Michigan’s dairy industry has been one of the hardest hit by avian flu, H5N1, which was first confirmed in a Texas dairy in March.
Brearley said the first signs of problems were in April when the SmaxTec boluses in his cows, which keep track of temperature and other health parameters, started sending high-temperature alarms to his phone and computer. Half the herd looked like it was getting sick.