Dairy farms participating in the MSD Animal Health Demonstration Farm Network are reporting measurable improvements in animal health, fertility and youngstock performance after implementing structured health reviews and herd-monitoring technologies.
Launched in 2025, the network brings together five dairy farms across England, Wales and Scotland to demonstrate how proactive herd health management and monitoring technology can improve animal welfare, productivity and business performance.
Participating farms have reported gains in fertility, disease detection, calf health and overall herd performance since joining the programme.
At Major Farms in Staffordshire, SenseHub Dairy herd monitoring system is supporting fertility and health management, helping identify cows requiring intervention and enabling targeted nutritional support.
The farm, which milks 650 spring-calving cows, has reported significant improvements in youngstock performance following diagnostic testing and targeted vaccination protocols introduced to address calf scour and respiratory disease, contributing to healthier, more resilient calves. Calves are now achieving weaning weights around 10kg higher than previous years while being weaned a week earlier.
At Greenrigg Farm in Cumbria, the MSD Calf Health Checklist helped identify several opportunities to improve calf comfort, health monitoring and disease prevention.
Changes included the introduction of calf jackets, improved record-keeping, enhanced ventilation and the adoption of vaccination protocols, alongside the use of SenseHub Dairy and SenseHub Dairy Youngstock monitoring technology.
According to herd manager Macie Graham, SenseHub Dairy has helped the team identify health and management challenges earlier.
“SenseHub has made heat detection more accurate and less time-consuming,” explained Macie. “It has also given us a clearer picture of when animals are starting to show signs of illness or stress.”
The system proved particularly valuable during last summer’s heatwaves. Alerts from the SenseHub app highlighted reduced feed intake in one group of year-round housed cows. Although milk yields remained relatively stable, further investigation showed the cows were bunching together during the hottest parts of the day, while SenseHub Dairy data indicated increased respiration rates.
“We also experienced a small cluster of abortions during the hottest period of the summer,” said Macie. “As a result, we’ve installed additional ventilation fans and will be using the SenseHub Dairy data to closely monitor cows during periods of heat stress so we can act quickly if issues arise.”
In Scotland, Kaemuir Farm has strengthened vaccination protocols and introduced SenseHub Dairy Youngstock technology, supporting improvements in calf health and youngstock management.
All farms in the network have improved their MSD Calf Health Checklist scores, highlighting the value of structured benchmarking and continuous review of calf-rearing protocols.
Duncan Sinclair, market access associate director at MSD Animal Health UK, said: “The results we are seeing across the Demonstration Farm Network show what can be achieved when good data, proactive health planning and strong management come together.
“Particularly pleasing is the continuous improvement we have seen in youngstock performance over the last 18 months. By identifying opportunities for improvement and acting on them, farms are delivering benefits for animal welfare, productivity and long-term herd performance.”
