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As well as recording growth rates and antibiotic use, the project includes lung ultrasound scanning during the rearing period to provide an objective measure of respiratory health.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Trial aims to provide evidence on optimal sodium salicylate use in calves.
A large-scale trial is set to generate evidence for vets and farmers on optimal sodium salicylate use in calves.
The two-year trial, which follows 725 dairy-beef calves from arrival at Long Lane Development Farm in Somerset through to finishing and processing, will investigate whether strategic use of sodium salicylate can improve calf health and lifetime performance in dairy-beef systems.
The project, funded through Defra’s ADOPT innovation programme, will test how the timing of sodium salicylate supplementation can impact pneumonia rates and lifetime growth performance.
It is led by beef supply chain group Buitelaar alongside the RVC, Synergy Farm Health and independent consultant Marc Jones.
The calves are allocated to one of four trial groups, receiving sodium salicylate either on arrival, from day 10, at both periods or not at all.
Researchers will monitor antibiotic treatments, daily liveweight gain and respiratory health.
Trial facilitator and Synergy Farm Health research lead Rachel Hayton said: “Arrival at a rearing unit is an important transition point for calves.
“They are adapting to a new environment, new routines and, in many cases, a new group.
“Understanding how we can best support calf health through that period is therefore really valuable.”
She added: “Sodium salicylate is an anti-inflammatory, so the question is whether using it strategically at particular points during the rearing period can improve health and performance.
“This study gives us the opportunity to answer that question using objective measures, including lung ultrasound scanning, alongside production data collected throughout the animals’ lives.”
Buitelaar group sustainability lead James Watson, who is leading the trial, said it will deliver “a really valuable body of evidence” that “the whole industry can have confidence in”.
He added: “People have been trying sodium salicylate in different ways for years. You speak to one person, and they’ll tell you to give it on arrival. Someone else says day 10, someone else does something completely different.
“There hasn’t been much evidence so far to say what’s right, and we want to find out what actually works under commercial conditions.”