The Bovaer® Rapid Response Team
Veterinary answers when questions arise in the herd
When Danish dairy farmers began reporting health concerns in herds fed Bovaer® in autumn 2025, the veterinary profession faced a familiar problem: plenty of discussion, and very little comparable data. Individual cases were investigated in different ways, at different times, with different samples taken — which made it almost impossible to say anything reliable about what had happened.
The Rapid Response Team was established by VetSalus together with dsm-firmenich to change that. It is a team of four practising Danish cattle veterinarians and an independent feeding adviser who investigate what is actually happening in the herds, using one common protocol.
The purpose is straightforward: to give herd veterinarians somewhere to turn, and to build a body of comparable evidence rather than a collection of anecdotes.
Our role, and how we work
The herd veterinarian is the farmer's veterinarian. We do not take over that relationship, and we do not visit farms on our own initiative. The Rapid Response Team is a resource the herd veterinarian can draw on — nothing more and nothing less.
We investigate; we do not promote. VetSalus does not recommend Bovaer® and does not advise against it. That decision belongs to the farmer, in consultation with the herd veterinarian and the feeding adviser. Our task is to examine, measure and explain.
Our findings are our own. The work is commissioned and funded by dsm-firmenich. It is agreed in writing between the parties that the team reports its findings as they are, whatever those findings turn out to be. Without that agreement the veterinarians would not have taken part, and the results would not be worth much to anyone.
We do not know the cause. The investigations that have been carried out in individual Danish herds so far — blood samples before and after introduction, samples from affected animals, feed samples analysed for toxins — have not produced values outside the normal range. That in itself is a finding: it suggests the profession is missing the right measurement methods, and identifying them is a central part of the team's work.
What the Rapid Response Team actually does
When a herd veterinarian contacts us, the process is the same every time:
A professional conversation first. The herd veterinarian discusses the case with the Bovaer specialist on the team. Many questions are resolved at this stage, without a farm visit.
A standardised investigation where it is warranted. If the two of them agree that more is needed, the team goes to the farm and works through a common protocol: clinical assessment, interviews with the farmer and the feeder, and feed, blood and milk samples.
Control animals every time. Samples are taken from unaffected cows in the same herd, selected on defined criteria. Comparing affected and unaffected animals in the same environment is what makes it possible to say anything about cause.
Comparable data across herds. The same parameters, the same scoring systems, the same laboratories. This is what allows the individual case to be seen in a wider context.
Findings back to the herd veterinarian. Results, interpretation and the reasoning behind them, so that the farmer's own veterinarian can act on them.
Analysis across all cases. The team meets to review findings jointly, publishes an interim status note in November 2026, and produces a final report with conclusions at the end of the period.
The team is made up of veterinarians who are in stables every week. When a case is escalated, they go out themselves.
Before you start: the baseline matters
The clearest lesson from autumn 2025 is that when questions arose, there were rarely any figures from before the problems began. Without a starting point, it is very difficult to establish what changed — and impossible to demonstrate it to anyone else.
Think of it as a before-and-after photograph. Without the "before", the picture is incomplete.
Recommended before introducing Bovaer®
✓ Record your baseline. Yield, somatic cell count, rumination and activity data from sensors, feed intake and refusals, faecal scores and treatments — for the weeks before you start.
âś“ Keep the feed plan on paper for the week before introduction and for the introduction period itself, including ration composition, protein source and rapeseed proportion.
âś“ Talk to your feeding adviser before you start, particularly if rapeseed is the main protein source. SEGES' preliminary data indicate that a high sulphur content in the ration may be relevant, and it is worth knowing your own starting point.
âś“ Check mixing quality. Do all cows receive the same ration, or is the mix uneven?
✓ Follow the first 14 days closely — refusals, alarm lists, faeces, yield and rumination, day by day.
âś“ Record deviations with dates, and contact your own veterinarian early rather than late. The sooner the team can get to the farm, the more can be said about the cause.
Remember the more ordinary explanations. Heat stress, feed changes and batch variation can produce a similar picture.
Good baseline data is what allows a veterinarian to distinguish between possible causes and reach a conclusion that holds.
Are you a herd veterinarian?
The scheme is open to every practising cattle veterinarian in Denmark, regardless of practice or group. If you have a herd where questions have arisen in connection with Bovaer®, you are welcome to contact us — also simply to talk through a case.
The team has capacity for approximately 30 herds during the autumn of 2026.
For more information, please visit Bovaer® | Samme mælk. Bedre for klimaet.
Or contact the dsm-firmenich Bovaer team at Contact us
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