In Practice: Agrimin on the Farm 
Improving Herd Health and Fertility the Organic Way  Beef farmer Nigel Elgar has been farming at Cannon Farm in Powys, Wales for 21 years. His 40-strong pedigree herd of Welsh Blacks and Highland organic beef cattle won him Producer of the Year at the Organic Food Awards in 2001 and he was the winner of the Farmers’ Weekly and National Sheep Association competition in 1997.
Nigel credits some of his success with the beef herd to healthy immune systems and good fertility of his herd, which seven years ago were both a major problem. Low levels of copper and selenium in the area were causing poor conception rates, and calves were often weakly at birth The herd was also experiencing unacceptably high levels of other health problems associated with low immunity, in particular Liver Fluke disease and low levels of pneumonia in housed cattle.  Blood tests confirmed the low mineral status and Nigel started to inject his herd several times a year with selenium and copper, but with limited improvement.
When he met Jamie Bennison (PhD) from Agrimin seven years ago at an agricultural event they talked about the positive results farmers were achieving from using slow release boluses. This technology was able to offer consistent trace element supplementation and Nigel decided to trial organic All-Trace. After administering the boluses, blood testing the cattle every two months showed a consistent and significant improvement in trace element levels and the fertility and health of Nigel’s herd dramatically improved.  Nigel explains:
“These boluses play a direct role in the profitability of our herd - they save us literally hundreds of pounds. The poor levels of production brought about by the deficiencies made it increasingly difficult to make the enterprise pay. The use of Agrmiin All-Trace boluses allows us to manage trace elements over the whole of the production cycle. We see improved immunity and general health of both cows and calves and consistently stable blood levels of trace elements. It’s satisfying to feel genuinely confident that we are doing the very best for our farming business and time-wise it really cuts down our list of things to think about!”  Cannon Farm has even received royal approval, following a visit by HRH the Prince of Wales who was making an agricultural tour of farms using successful organic systems.
Nigel Elgar graduated from the Welsh Agricultural College in 1983 and work as a Shepherd in Germany and then on the South Downs before returning to Wales 21 years ago, he has developed an award-winning organic farm and was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 1998 to research Organic Meat Marketing in Europe. For more information about organic All-Trace boluses please click here Email your questions on herd and flock health to Dr Jamie Bennison here. | 
