Livestock News

Robin Hibberd, technical sales engineer at Hydor, explains why farmers should assess their ventilation equipment to avoid heat stress in dairy cows for improved welfare and yield.

With cull cow prices reaching a record high this year, there is an opportunity to replace unproductive cows with improved genetics and focus on tightening calving intervals, improving overall herd performance.

It’s not always easy to pick up heat stress in dairy cows, but there are some subtle hints that could give the game away.

Dairy farmers are being reminded that now is a crucial time to take precautions against herd health risks, to help protect cow health and productivity this summer.

Lambs can be prone to a great number of health and productivity problems while on pasture and many succumb to borderline trace element and vitamin deficiencies. Veterinary pharmacologist and advisor to Provita Ltd, Dr T.B Barragry, offers a guide to the most common deficiencies and the benefits of drenches.

With escalating cereal prices and volatile commodity markets, production margins are shrinking dramatically, and the poultry industry is being urged to examine strategies that focus on maximising feed utilisation.

While much time and expense goes into healthcare for livestock, it’s important not to forget the health of farm dogs and cats. Norbrook’s companion animal veterinary advisor Lars Mortensen outlines some health risks to be aware of.

High fertiliser and feed costs mean that making the best possible silage makes even more sense this season – especially with strong milk prices. So how could a silage additive give a return?

Anglia Quality Meat (AQM) is launching a timely new service for farmers in June, offering a simple way to capture and store all farm data on the cloud, with expert support from AQM to highlight inefficiencies and help livestock reach their potential. We caught up with two trial farms who say AQM+ brought a variety of benefits to their businesses.

NOAH has launched the Livestock Vaccination Guideline to help vets, SQPs and farmers improve the health and welfare of UK cattle and sheep – as well as farm resilience and sustainable improvements in productivity.

The government says the new licence will allow more badgers to be vaccinated by reducing the administrative burden.

Dumfries farm K & M Jamieson uses an adapted compact TMR ration for its Holstein herd and has seen benefits to mix consistency, time and fuel savings since upgrading to a 28m3 BvL V-Mix diet feeder last summer.