Covid lockdowns and rising food prices have shifted consumer eating habits, but meat remains a staple, appearing in over half of all meals, with a growing preference for meat-based lunches and hot meals.

Monitoring the reproduction and health indexes of individual dairy cows and heifers can tell the herd manager a lot about how each animal is being managed, but monitoring animals on a group-by-group basis can unlock a wealth of additional information which can be used to improve the overall herd’s performance.

High quality silage is a high energy, palatable and digestible forage which can provide a significant proportion of the nutritional needs of a high yielding dairy cow

As April showers set in, and the backlog of crop spraying jobs continues to mount, everything is pointing to large and complex tank-mixing when sprayers finally get going. Best practice tank-filling and the incorporation of a compatibility adjuvant to aid the process, will be essential for operators to minimise the risk of a problem, warns Interagro.

Ensuring grass is cut at the right time to achieve the desired silage quality is paramount and leaving it late will result in a reduction in sugars, protein and digestibility

This spring repair, recharge and building resilience are the key objectives for growers seeking to recover plant health in winter crops to prevent a further slide in yield potential – and there’s one biostimulant that’s proven it could bridge the way to success.

Heat stress is not necessarily the first thing which springs to mind when considering how a typical British summer might impact milk production, but research shows that even the UK’s relatively ambient climate can stifle the performance of dairy cattle.

Accessing plant protection products and optimising establishment in peas and beans can be challenging, but this spring, pulse growers have access to a natural biostimulant seed treatment to prepare crops for a more resilient start to the growing season.

Monitoring behavioural patterns of adult cows, first time calvers and maiden heifers for the purposes of heat detection and health monitoring can help herd managers to maximise the dairy herd’s productivity

As the days lengthen and grass begins to grow, thoughts move to first cut silage. But after a difficult end to 2023, what should farmers be focusing on?