Vet Times author celebrates accolade

Vet and livestock advisor Sara Pedersen has won a leading accolade for her efforts to reduce cow lameness.

Miss Pedersen – who set up Farm Dynamics in 2014 in Cowbridge, South Glamorgan – is a veterinary consultant specialising in cow mobility. She has helped one dairy farmer in south Wales save more than £60,000 across three years and gain a lucrative milk contract by drastically reducing herd lameness.

Miss Pedersen introduced mobility scoring every two weeks to cut lameness incidence among farmer Russell Morgan’s 230-strong milking herd of Holsteins from 45% to 8%.

Award

The farm has been using robots for five years and has joined 38 farms that supply milk to M&S. The efforts meant Miss Pedersen was nominated for – and won – the Farmers Weekly Livestock Advisor of the Year award.

About to complete her PhD at the University of Nottingham looking at the need for foot treatment for young heifers before entering the milking herd, she said: “It’s no good farmers getting their grazing right and their parlours right if the cows don’t want to walk.

“By improving lameness, we are improving productivity, and so producing more milk from the same number of cows.”

Judges said: “Sara is a dynamic vet who takes a holistic view, working closely with her clients to solve the root causes of lameness, as well as undertaking on-farm research to educate farmers, foot trimmers and other vets on best practice.”

Miss Pedersen was presented with the award at an event hosted by journalist Natasha Kaplinsky.