Stephen Dodsworth on worries ahead

From cardiac arrest, to defibrillators and health checks, here are some of the need-to-knows when it comes to heart health on-farm

North of England Mules have long been the breed of choice for the James family who farm at Roadhead in Cumbria, but it is the next generation whose passion and dedication to the breed is driving the flock forwards

The Simmental breed achieved a record average for a February Stirling bull sale with 95 bulls sold to an average of £7,498, up £238 on the year

With 16 bulls forward the Salers averaged £5,178, up £943 on the year, and sold to a high of 7,500gns

This February saw the first Luing Cattle Society sale take place at the Stirling bull sales event, with five Luing bulls selling to an average of £10,458

A bid of 22,000gns topped the Charolais trade with 107 bulls sold to an average of £8,470, up £436 on the year, with a clearance rate of 80 per cent.

Attention should be given to ewe nutrition in late pregnancy to maximise outputs and promote lamb survivability and performance

From dirty needles to insufficient navel dipping, some of the most common causes of death identified in sheep and calves can often be easily avoided at little extra cost

With udder cleft dermatitis affecting most of the UK dairy herd, Katie Fallon speaks to the team at LLM Farm Vets on cause, prevention and treatment of the skin condition