Thursday 07 December, 2023
Dairy Farmer keeps you updated with all the latest news, views, insight, and information from the Dairy sector - from animal husbandry to milk prices and diversification.
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Effective storage is critical when making best use of organic manures
Having enough storage is the all important starting point when it comes making best use of slurries and farmyard manures
07 December 2023
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2 min read
Latest moves in the block calving indexes
New at the top of the latest Spring Calving Index (£SCI) is the high health and fertility Jersey sire, VJ Groenbjerg Lobo Lobster which has 94 UK daughters contributing to excellent milk solids figures and earns an SCI of £583
06 December 2023
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1 min read
Friesian sire rankings led by Dutch-bred bull
Dutch-bred Bloemplaat Hoeve Ewoud continues to move up the Friesian rankings to take the lead in this breed's evaluations
06 December 2023
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1 min read
Genosource Captain leads daughter-proven £PLI rankings
Genosource Captain has been a long-term leader within the Holstein breed both as a young, genomic sire and now that he has daughters of his own
06 December 2023
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2 min read
New entrant in latest genomic bull proofs
A new entrant in the shape of Peak AltaOrvar has hit the number one position on the genomic Holstein sires list, published this week by AHDB
06 December 2023
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2 min read
Labour and health benefits of automated slurry robots
Installing an automated slurry robot has helped one Welsh dairy save labour and improve cow foot health
03 December 2023
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5 min read
Sole depth critical for lameness prevention
Research carried out at the University of Liverpool has highlighted the importance of sole thickness in the prevention of sole lesions, says Prof George Oikonomou
02 December 2023
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3 min read
Dairy farmers must engage as consumers want to know 'you care about your animals'
The growing gap between dairy farmers and society was one of the topics discussed at the recent LifeStart Calf Symposium organized by Trouw Nutrition and held at Nottingham University
01 December 2023
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3 min read
Improving farm slurry infrastructure
A look at the options to help farmers meet new obligations for slurry storage and management
30 November 2023
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4 min read
Reed beds help offer solution to reducing runoff pollution risk
Installing reed beds to capture farmyard run-off has steadily increased as farmers work to protect their waterways from pollution
29 November 2023
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5 min read
Adjusting to life with robots on fourth generation dairy farm
Moving from an eight-unit abreast parlour to milking robots has brought change, opportunity and growth, but also significant adjustment to Tim Jeynes and his family
29 November 2023
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7 min read
Roger Evans: "It's a merry-go-round where one sector supports the other"
Roger Evans discusses the price of ewes, reminisces about some of the mobile phone technology he used to have, and talks about the perils of coming into contact with a hornet
27 November 2023
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4 min read
Dairy Farmer: From the editor - Signs of milk price stability but there is still some way to go
27 November 2023
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1 min read
UK commodity prices trending up
UK butter prices have increased in line with EU prices to £4,450/t, with cream at around £2.00/kg now, having been in the doldrums over the summer at £1.60 to £1.70/kg
27 November 2023
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4 min read
Feed savings by starling-proofing sheds
Investing £30,000 in starling-proofing cattle housing is a major outlay for a Welsh dairy farming business, but it calculates a payback period of just two months in feed savings alone
25 November 2023
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3 min read
Dairy Matters: "Britain is ripe for the next agricultural revolution"
This month, Robert Kelly is senior vice president for the Europe region of MSD Animal Health, discusses why innovation will be vital if Britain is to produce more food to meet the needs of a growing population, at the same time as protecting the environment
21 November 2023
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4 min read
Claas bring hybrid engineering to a new combine concept
Occupying a section of Claas' new technology display, the manufacturer gave visitors an insight into a future drive option it is currently working on for its combine products.
20 November 2023
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1 min read
Working with vets to improve housing
Vet, Dr Tim Potter shares how vets can help farmers optimise welfare and productivity through the Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure grant to fund cattle housing
30 October 2023
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5 min read
Grazing Normande cows in a robotic milking system
A Cumbrian dairy farmer is defying the odds by milking his grazing herd of Normande cows through robots
29 October 2023
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6 min read
Nuffield scholar looks at robots on large scale dairy farms
The utilisation and impact of robotics on large scale dairy farming was the subject of Ali Cook's Nuffield scholarship
26 October 2023
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7 min read
Top tips for outwintering dairy cattle
Outwintering dairy youngstock can be beneficial, but planning is key to success says Germinal’s Harley Brown-Keech
26 October 2023
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4 min read
Steps to under-sowing maize successfully
Lessons from a thriving maize under-sowing trial were shared with farmers at Severn Trent's 2,000-hectare (4,942-acre) maize production and anaerobic digestion site, Stoke Bardolph, in Nottinghamshire
26 October 2023
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3 min read
Selecting the optimum maize variety for harvest 2024
With 2023 maize crops in the clamp, some growers will already be thinking about variety selection for next year
24 October 2023
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4 min read
Dairy Farmer - from the editor: "Everyone should feel represented"
As is the nature of farming, once one harvest is done thoughts soon turn to next year's crop
23 October 2023
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1 min read
Good Evans: "If the Sky man comes again I'll ask him to clear the gutters out"
Roger Evans discusses the wearing of shorts, health and safety on farms and profiteering by supermarkets
22 October 2023
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4 min read
Stop lameness crippling your herd
Digital dermatitis, white line disease, slurry heel and sole ulcers are the main risk factors for lameness in cows at housing
22 October 2023
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4 min read
Dairy Talk - Becky Fenton: "Good luck to them both commencing their farming journey"
This year is passing in the blink of an eye and there never seems to be enough hours in the day
20 October 2023
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3 min read
Raised awareness of bovine papular stomatitis
Bovine papular stomatitis is not commonly diagnosed on dairy farms but producers should be aware of the viral infection, as its symptoms can mimic much more serious diseases, including foot-and-mouth and bovine viral diarrhoea
18 October 2023
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5 min read
Farmers help to develop satellite grass measuring technology
UK livestock farmers have helped develop new satellite technology that maps out the quantity of grass available on their farms
16 October 2023
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2 min read
Meet The Editor - Katie Jones
Hailing from a family farm in Cheshire, my roots are firmly in farming and now living on a 300-cow dairy farm with my own family, I can appreciate the daily issues which affect everyone involved in the industry.
I believe the level of innovation and technology we are already seeing on dairy farms is something we should all be very positive about, as is the innovation we are likely to see in the future.
I also believe that, despite the challenges posed by the industry, there is a huge amount of passion, optimism and enthusiasm among the younger generations of dairy farmers.