Articles
Business and Policy September 2025 – Policy Brief
Payment rates set for Basic Payment Scheme and Greening 2025 Following the annual budget review, the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening payment rates farmers and crofters are set to…
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Business and Policy September 2025 – Beef
Falling consumer demand and imported beef impacting on finished prices After a volatile spring, trade for prime cattle rose last month following a period of lower slaughterings, helping to rebalance…
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Business and Policy September 2025 – Sector Focus: The Cost of Infertile Gimmers
It is fairly common for gimmers (ewes lambing for the first time at two years old) to have a lower pregnancy rate than mature ewes in their first-year lambing. After…
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Business and Policy September 2025 – Sheep
August Trade Roundup Prime, cull and store trade is at a premium to last year. For the week ending 23rd August 2025, the SQQ stood at 734.9p/kg DW, some 0.69p/kg…
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The Benefits of Whole Milk for Calves
Feeding dairy replacement heifer calves on saleable whole milk is less common than using calf milk replacer (CMR) but seems to be growing in popularity. While there are a number…
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A Guide to Pre-Weaning Nutrition of Dairy Beef Calves
Dairy beef calves are typically purchased anywhere from 10 days to three weeks of age and so will need to be reared on calf milk replacer (CMR) until weaning at…
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Reducing Surface Runoff and Erosion with ‘Magic Margins’
Surface runoff and erosion are important considerations for all farmers in Scotland. Studies have shown than within Scotland 900,000 tonnes of soil is lost annually, equating to over £50 million.…
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Forage Budgeting Guide for the Dairy Herd
Introduction Forage budgeting is a useful management tool to plan feed stocks ahead for the coming year. It should be carried out six to eight weeks after all forages have…
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Journey to Net Zero Emissions on Mixed Farms
Benchmarking carbon emissions against kilograms of agricultural output sold provides a standardised and practical way to measure and compare environmental impact. This approach normalises emissions data, accounting for differences in…
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How To Select Plant Species For Diverse Forage
Sowing a range of plant species within one field is not a new practice within agriculture. But it can be highly successful when plant species are selected which complement each…
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