Author Posts: Sarah Kidby

With annual inflation now in double figures, salaries are being driven by not only a shortage of good staff, but also the cost -of-living crisis, according to Knight Frank’s biennial Estate Staff Salaries Survey.

After a challenging summer, limited grass in some areas may have affected ewe condition, so forage analysis is critical for rationing heavily pregnant ewes.

At transition the dairy cow is perhaps at her highest metabolic vulnerability – she is subject to demands which physiologically she often struggles to sustain. Energy and calcium are two prime examples. Post-calving the cow’s demands for both can suddenly increase by upwards of two-fold compared to what they previously were before calving.

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee has raised questions about Weybridge’s ability to cope with a major disease outbreak, as well as government plans for redevelopment – and makes a series of seven recommendations for Defra.

A farmer in North Yorkshire who grazes his sheep on common land has spoken out about the benefits of testing for scab and the importance of breaking the stigma related to the condition.

BFREPA chief Robert Gooch said the development is a “wake up call” to all retailers that they can’t expect farmers to work for nothing.

With lower yield variability and decreased input costs, not to mention being an important weed control tool for farms with a significant black-grass burden, spring cropping options offer some impressive benefits – despite the reduction in overall yield versus their winter counterparts.

Consisting of arable and pastureland, woodland, extensive farm buildings and two cottages, Chrishall Grange Farm is one of the largest agricultural investments to have hit the market in East Anglia in the past year, says Cheffins.

The four councils, Beef & Lamb, Cereals & Oilseeds, Dairy and Pork, have published sector plans as part of a commitment to outline how the levy will be invested over the next five years.

NFU Mutual, the Department for Transport and vulnerable road user groups have renewed calls for motorists to respect rural roads, as vulnerable road users are disproportionately affected by fatalities and casualties.

Edward Earnshaw, who farms two units in Gloucestershire and Leicestershire, and advises other farms on RPA grants, says Land App is easy for any farmer to use and has brought a range of benefits, not only to his own farm, but also those of his clients.

The national risk of avian influenza in wild birds has been increased to ‘very high’.