Livestock News

Bird keepers are being urged to maintain scrupulous biosecurity standards as housing measures for poultry and captive birds are set to lift on Tuesday 18th April 2023 in England and Wales, the UK’s chief veterinary officer has announced today (11th April) following the latest assessment of avian flu risk.

The National Pig Association has welcomed Defra’s commitment to reform contractual practices in the pork supply chain, but says wider issues further up the supply chain, including the actions of retailers, must also be addressed.

GEA, one of the world’s largest systems suppliers for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors, has acquired South West dealer Venture Dairy Services in a deal which will consolidate its presence in the region and improve its offering to dairy producers.

New analysis conducted by Volac has revealed that cutting grass in a multi-cut silage system has the potential to be over £700/ha more profitable than a traditional three-cut approach, even at a modest milk price of 40 pence/litre (p/l).

A seasonal study, carried out on Islay as part of the RHASS Presidential Initiative (PI), has demonstrated that treating livestock ‘as little as possible, but as much as necessary’ for liver fluke can deliver a multitude of benefits for both animal and environmental health.

Farmers are being reminded of the risk of botulism after the disease was found to be the culprit behind the sudden death of over 100 dairy cows at a Jersey farm in December 2022.

An unnamed processor currently under investigation by the FSA’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCA) has allegedly been passing up to tens of thousands of tonnes of imported pork per week as British in what is possibly the biggest food fraud and safety scandal since Horsegate in 2013.

Vets are urging farmers to vaccinate their flocks with Cevac Chlamydia early in the season to help protect their ewes from EAE (enzootic abortion of ewes) and avoid a lack of the Cevac Chlamydia vaccine anticipated later in the year.

Having grown up with a farming background, 17-year-old Libby Kate Lawrence is now working 12-hour lambing shifts on various farms in Suffolk and Essex. In an interview with Farmers Guide, she spoke about her farming experiences and plans to travel the world working with livestock.

Farmers are being encouraged to take a proactive approach when dealing with sudden reproductive loss in livestock and investigate cases to help identify any potential health risks to their herd or flock.

The South of England Agricultural Society‘s Education Committee is proud to announce that their Loan a Lamb scheme will reach nearly 4,000 school children across Sussex and Surrey this year, significantly impacting students’ understanding of agriculture and its contribution to our lives.

Farmers must be on their guard for roundworms in sheep this season by regularly conducting faecal egg counts, as data from last year revealed record peaks in worm egg counts despite a hotter than average summer.