25 Mar 2025
Rob Drysdale
Job Title
The farming press presents our customers with so many ways to improve their production; their beef steers should be gaining 3kg per day or dairy cows selling 20,000L per year.
How many times have you been asked your opinion on this wonder feed additive or that treatment, where the return on investment (ROI) is far from proven? This was my reaction when asked to review the potential for a spot-on application using a cow pheromone.
Although pheromones are now commonplace in companion animal practice, it would take a leap of faith to think a similar approach in cattle could have any cost benefit. Challenged with this thinking, I travelled to College Station, Texas – home of the agricultural and vet schools at A&M – to meet the team behind Ferappease, a synthetic analogue matching maternal bovine appeasing substance (mBAS). After seeing the manufacturing process, we visited a vet clinic, sale barn and several ranches using it.
It seems that, after launch in 2022, farmers, vets and consultants not only believe the vast bank of US research but their own results as well. More than 16 million applications were sold in 2024, and the growth continues as more cow and calf units through to feedlots and dairy farms add the product for use. Ferappease is clearly not a snake oil and boasts users from Washington to Florida.
One farming business undertook its own negative control trials across 15,000 head, repeating the process to be doubly sure. Applied on arrival to the feedlot, it improved daily liveweight gain (DLWG) by 140g to second implant at 80 days. With store cattle worth US$5 per kilo at the sale barn, the ROI was greater than 12:1. The stress of mixing, diet change, handling and vaccination reduced intakes across the first 14 to 21 days on the farm by 1.5kg to 2kg of feed by fresh weight compared to the mBAS applied pens.
Before long, I was returning to the UK armed with some 300ml packs with the aim to show UK cattle are under considerably less stress. Would the mBAS have the same impact here, where our cattle systems would be considered by many to be better in terms of group size and animal welfare considerations? Trialling the pheromone in UK beef and dairy units to test the US research was important, but also including those additional management and treatments not seen in Texas feedlots or New York dairy farms, such as routine NSAIDs.
Starting with beef, two farms were enrolled to try the product. Both farmers were very sceptical; however, once the US data was discussed, along with the easy application plus the low cost per head, they acquiesced. Negative control trials with suckler calves at weaning and an application at castration on dairy beef stirks began in September.
It was immediately obvious it worked, at least on the behavioural aspect of its claims: within 30 minutes the stock were noticeably less stressed, appeared more settled and were less vocal compared to the negative controls. The weaning farm called after 24 hours demanding the trial was stopped as the difference between the two groups was so stark he wanted the control calves to have the same application.
Several US research papers have shown statistical benefit at weaning, with DLWG benefit ranges of 130g to 140g per head across 60 days. The UK suckler trial involved 120 head of mixed steers, bulls and heifers at an average of 257kg at 185 days old.
DLWG in the mBAS group was 340g more at 21 days, and 180g at 60 days. The results on current market pricing would be worth at least 10:1 as ROI according to the farmer, but the mental benefits to his stock and farm staff, let alone neighbours, was more.
Castration in the US would be considered by most UK farmers and vets as barbaric: no use of local or NSAID while banding (large elastrator rings) is commonplace, even at 300kg or more. Repeating the trials therefore was not possible, and the dairy beef operator enrolled 110 head of his six to seven-month-old stock with barely controlled amusement. At 28 days, the 240g difference in DLWG soon changed this opinion. This was still evident at 80 days with 180g more per day in the mBAS group.
The dairy beef group weighed 270kg average and included black and white bulls plus British Blue bulls and heifers. These animals had been reared on one unit and moved to form one pen on the main farm 12 weeks prior to the start of the trial. Splitting the group included heifers, and although the stock has been together for a prolonged period, even this stress was enough to see an extra 300g DLWG over 28 days, despite remaining in the same building on the same diet. This was unexpected, even if obvious, when looking back as the US trials centred around bulls/steers with implants.
Two dairy farms were enrolled to monitor stress at calving and entering the herd. US researchers have repeatedly shown benefits for first lactation, with quicker adaptation to milking giving more milk sold per day, and 500L or more sold over the lactation. Using a single application at calving, the trials have shown less ketosis risk and statistically less mastitis at the same time.
The widespread use of feed additives, hormones and diets in US dairy farming would suggest UK heifers may not see the same benefits.
Using robot herds allowed for more accurate and automated data gathering, milk production monitoring and farm staff feedback. The farms milk 250 and 700 cows on Lely VMS systems, and calved 90 and 120 heifers respectively over September, October and November.
Data collection is ongoing; however, the initial results have seen both farms continue to use the pheromone beyond the trial period, with 2.8L and 1.6L per day to 60 days replicating the US research. The heifers have reached higher peak yield on average 11 days sooner and showing this extra daily production beyond the 60-day period. A full, independent analysis of the data generated is planned to start this April once all the heifers are past 90 days in milk.
The anecdotal feedback, however, has been even more informative. The mixing of heifers into the transition group, and including cows, is commonplace on many UK farms, so an application of the mBAS at this mixing point (21 days) pre-calving was added to the US protocol. Staff have noticed less stress and better feed intakes in the transition group overall, especially on the days following heifers being introduced.
Another benefit reported from both farms has been more quality colostrum at first milking, and no requirement for oxytocin in mBAS-using heifers. Adaptation to the milking routine has also been 24 hours to 36 hours quicker from the staff viewpoint, with less trouble training the heifers to the robot. This matches US data, where parlour training and kick-offs have been reduced by 50% to 60%, depending on the trials.
Ongoing trials include use of mBAS with rearing dairy and beef calves, dry-off of beef and dairy cows, TB testing bulls and mixing of store cattle entering the finishing pens. One farmer in Northern Ireland ran his own trial at housing of store cattle to finishing that showed 280g per day across 60 days of additional gains compared to controls. This is being repeated across 2,000 head in the coming months, as the benefit to this farmer was calculated at £35 per head meat sold.
In conclusion the evidence to recommend UK cattle farmers use mBAS is mounting. At a low cost per application and considerable financial return, let alone cattle and staff welfare benefits, the future looks good for pheromones in livestock practice.
Full information is available online or by emailing [email protected]
