Livestock

While many farmers perceive lungworm in cattle to be an autumn disease – simply because the tell-tale cough from husk tends to peak late in the grazing season – the reality is early spring is the time to be thinking about better disease control, says vet Emily Linton.

Although digital dermatitis remains up there as the number one lameness challenge for many dairy producers in the UK, controlling the bacteria can be straightforward says veterinary surgeon Nick Bell. Farmers Guardian reports.

A programme of investment including a new energy-efficient parlour and cow housing is set to slash milking times and reduce running costs for one 300-cow Guernsey herd in Somerset. Wendy Short finds out more.

Fodder beet could be an attractive alternative to costly bought-in feeds, says Mark Snell who grows the crop to use for his own livestock business and also to sell to other farmers.

According to the Control of Worms Sustainably (COWS) group, vaccinating calves before turnout can protect them against lungworm and reduce economic losses from ill-health.

In what is thought to be the largest recorded data-set for sheep colostrum collected under commercial farming conditions, a new study has emphasised the importance of a good diet in late pregnancy and its link with colostrum quality.

Plans to ban meat at a Lancashire primary school and at Oxfordshire Council events have prompted scorn from across the farming spectrum this week.

Defra’s plan to help ease the pig backlog must be turned into reality without delay to provide ‘desperate farmers with some hope of a viable future’.

Despite there being speculation that Northern Ireland would lose its non-accredited status for Maedi Visna (MV) officials have reassured breeders that Northern Ireland’s sheep flock will remain MV accredited.

With the price of ammonium nitrate almost three times what it was this time last year, it is not surprising that many farmers are thinking hard about what they can do to mitigate this escalating input cost. And it is not just fertiliser prices which are rising.