Articles

Trusting in a kind autumn or early spring to shorten the housing period is an option but it needs to be done consciously to gauge exposure to more expensive feed prices, damaging grass-leys, affecting cow body condition or youngstock growth rates.

Calculating the daily requirement of the crop is a simple task, which is extremely beneficial to making the crop last longer, while balancing the nutritional requirements of the livestock.

There have been many people who have sown a catch crop to fill the forage gap this autumn and winter.  It is essential that these forage crops are utilised appropriately to ensure maximum animal performance and utilisation of the crop.

For those who have taken the opportunity to bale rushes as potential for bedding or just to tidy up fields, now is a great opportunity to reduce the dominance of rushes in the sward. 

You may not have as much silage as usual this year, but what you do have may be of higher quality.

With grass in short supply, some might consider weaning earlier than usual to remove the ewe competition and provide more to the lambs. Twelve weeks is the optimum age to wean lambs, however some might wean earlier – it depends on the condition of the ewes and the availability of good quality pasture.

Stress in animals will reduce performance and render them more susceptible to disease. Poppy Frater gives some tips to minimise this stressful time.

Based on conservative projections, we can calculate the target stocking rate for growing lambs over the next month to maximise performance off grass.