Shows clamp down on udder sealing practice

Blind eyes have been turned for some time to the practice of ‘teat sealing’ and an attempt to ban it at the Dairy Event at Birmingham in September led to a showdown with a number of exhibitors who had used it. The organisers backed down but will insist on the rule next year. And a row over their decision this year has strengthened opposition to teat sealing.

The Bath & West Show in early October introduced a firm rule against it and the Jersey Society has since disciplined an exhibitor who was found to have broken the rule at that show – banning him from showing again until 2013. The Jersey Society introduced its own rule against the practice last winter.

Now the organisers of the next show with a big dairy section, AgriScot, in Edinburgh on November 16, are writing to all their livestock exhibitors to make clear they are taking the same attitude.

The Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations has advised all members to do the same. And all the dairy breed associations are either already in line with the Jersey Society or are reviewing their rules.

Teat sealing, with a soft wax injected through a nozzle, started as a medicinal idea, to keep infection out of the udders of cows going through a dry period, between one calf and the next.

But the show circuit picked up on the idea as a means of keeping a cow’s udder big and tight, so it looks productive, without it leaking milk and giving away that it is stretched.

Critics have suggested the showmen use something akin to superglue but an expert told the Yorkshire Post: “It’s not that bad. You can squeeze it out quite easily after the show. These are valuable animals, after all. However, sealing up a cow which needs milking clearly might cause some discomfort for the animal.”

Ian Potter, a Derbyshire dealer in milk quotas, revealed the details of the Dairy Event showdown in one of his newsletters for the dairy business.

This week he said his report had “triggered by far the most responses I have received in 20 years” and not one of the 82 comments he received supported teat sealing. He compared it to the practices which got Crufts dropped by the BBC in 2009 and forced the Kennel Club to change its rules on acceptable looks for dogs.

A Great Yorkshire Show official said: “We have not seen it but we know about it and we had checks this year to make sure it was not happening. It would be grounds for disqualification.”

A show circuit insider said: “Everyone knew it went on but nobody wanted to snitch.”