Ian Cairns from SAC explains what can be done to manage the increase in rush infestation witnessed on many upland pastures in recent years - both inside and outside of agri-environment scheme...
Download and Read Factsheet
Having previously looked at basic silage analysis as a group, independent specialist James Bretherton of Agscope helped farmers at a meeting earlier this year to gain a better understanding of how an imbalance in silage minerals can affect animal...
Download and Read Factsheet
A study trip to Ireland in 2011 brought home some fresh ideas on choosing grass varieties for the Cheshire Dairy Monitor Farm - by looking at what’s eaten rather than just what’s grown. Here grassland specialist Dr George Fisher explains why...
Download and Read Factsheet
How attention to detail in the dry cow shed and changes over time in terms of diet and mobility has led to positive on-farm changes on the Lancashire Dairy Monitor Farm. Ros Hughes, a dairy specialist with Kite Consulting, reviews the overall...
Download and Read Factsheet
Carl Padgett, past-president of the British Veterinary Association, explains why bTB is no longer just “somebody else’s problem” and what can be done collectively to stop the spread. He also explains the different TB...
Download and Read Factsheet
Karen Bond is a technical specialist in Animal Health and Welfare for DairyCo Here she explains why it’s important to know if Johne’s infection is the underlying cause of culling on your farm, and what to do to control it if it...
Download and Read Factsheet
Harvey Hughes consultant James Turner has worked with Reaseheath College and the Cheshire beef and sheep monitor farm group to compile results of last year’s cade lamb improvement trial. How monitoring the implementation of a new system...
Download and Read Factsheet
Based on the 2012 sliage results of the Stockport Farmers Group, Dan Gammon MRCVS of EBVC, an independent veterinary consultancy company, explains what to look for when analysing haylage / silage and the benefits of ration formulation to...
Download and Read Factsheet
SAC beef specialist Gavin Hill was asked to look at the performance of Cumbria monitor farmer Ken Pear’s suckler enterprise, the farm’s policy of calving some heifers at two years old and to provide pointers for other farmers in the business...
Download and Read Factsheet
Health plan highlights performance-related issues on extensive hill farm... Lancashire beef and sheep producer Robert Ayrton and sons Luke and Daniel have reaped major benefits from an RDPE NW Livestock Programme Animal Health...
Download and Read Factsheet
Paragon Vets’ Victor Oudhuis has worked closely with Cumbria Dairy Monitor Farmer Matt Bland to ensure his herd expansion ran smoothly. Here he explains why transition cow management is the key area to get...
Download and Read Factsheet
EBLEX livestock scientist Liz Genever explains how getting a better grasp of monthly grass supply will in time aid annual on-farm decisions made on the Lancashire beef and sheep monitor...
Download and Read Factsheet
You’ve been to meetings, discussed ideas and questioned specialists. Now read how nine North West farmers have used that...
Download and Read Factsheet
More lambs reared and sold sooner thanks to plan, abortion improved and lameness reduced. What started as a hobby for Tim and Sandra Fawcett has turned into a full-time job having now fine tuned the health of their commercial 400-ewe flock at Bustabeck...
Download and Read Factsheet
Farmers are used to monitoring the quality of their silage to optimise winter rations, so why do we not pay the same attention to grazed grass? Grassland specialist Dr George Fisher explains why Cheshire dairy monitor farmer Phil Asbury is taking...
Download and Read Factsheet
Health plan focuses family farm for the future and makes job in hand easier today... The Fishwicks took advantage of having an animal health plan drawn up under the RDPE North West Livestock Programme to determine the health status of the herd. As a...
Download and Read Factsheet
Matt Colston, MRCVS of Penrith vets Frame, Swift and Partners and vice president of the Sheep Veterinary Society, explains the best practice principles behind the anthelminthic resistance results he's seen in a worming trial with a farmer sheep group in...
Download and Read FactsheetOverseeding pasture advice from Oliver Seeds - looking at seed choice, preparation and post sowing / raking. Information discussed at a Cheshire beef and sheep monitor farm meeting in May...
Download and Read FactsheetGrassland renovation advice from Oliver Seeds who spoke at a Cheshire beef and sheep monitor farm meeting on grassland rejuvenation in May...
Download and Read Factsheet
Ros Hughes, a dairy specialist with Kite Consulting, has helped John and Ben Hartley to increase herd yield by over 1,000 litres/head in the last year and in to a position to install a third robotic milker. Here she explains how they went about...
Download and Read Factsheet
Outdated cattle handling facilities were adding extra time and risk to the daily routine of Andy Gibbon, a beef and sheep farmer from Northwich, Cheshire. Now he's able to monitor the health of his cattle, implement quarantine procedures and record...
Download and Read Factsheet
Rhidian Jones is a beef specialist with SAC Consulting. Here he explains the decision process that has gone into changing Cumbria beef and sheep monitor farmer Ken Pears heifer replacement...
Download and Read Factsheet
This presentation was given by Dr Andy Johnson during his flying visit to Lancashire in November 2011. Dr Andy, or ‘The Udder Doctor’ as he is also known, is a vet from Wisconsin. (Meeting organised by DairyCo and Myerscough...
Download and Read Factsheet
Splash plate, dribble bar, injector or trailing shoe - which method is most financially viable to the typical beef and sheep farmer? That was the question posed by Cheshire’s beef and sheep monitor farmer and this was the result seen on his...
Download and Read Factsheet
Karen Lancaster is a technical specialist in Animal Health and Welfare for DairyCo. She has over 10 years experience in the field as a farm animal vet and Cow Signals Trainer. In this article she describes the benefits to dairy farmers of understanding...
Download and Read Factsheet
