Scott McDougall is a well-known and highly respected member of the NZ dairy science community. He has been involved in the dairy industry for over 25 years. Throughout Scott’s career, he has been actively involved in improving animal health and productivity, through research, involvement in strategic industry-wide initiatives, teaching and training and presenting at local and international farmer and veterinary conferences.

Scott recently joined Matt Wells on The Vet Chat podcast, (a veterinary podcast for vets) to discuss dry cow therapy – the present and the future. We’ve made significant progress at reducing antibiotic DCT in New Zealand dairy herds, albeit slower than was initially hoped. Scott McDougall and Matt discuss the current situation in 2023 and the likely future of antimicrobial use. They cover adverse events and how we’ve learned to minimise these, how much AMR we already have, how well-managed selective DCT compares with blanket DCT, and the updated best practice recommendations for cow selection and teat sealant administration in NZ conditions.

Listen to the podcast here: Vet Chat: Dry cow therapy – the present and the future