Blog
Potato blight – Early June 2020
There have been no confirmed outbreaks of blight in Scotland so far this season. The shift to the wetter weather may well increase the risk. Check with AHDB Potatoes Fight…
Read More >Winter Barley Growth Stage Update – Early June 2020
The monitored commercial crop data from SRUC’s crops this week is shown in the table below. This data is generated in commercial crops in your area so is indicative of…
Read More >Pests & Weed Update for All Cereals – early June 2020
Pests The recent hot spell of weather has led to a jump in cereal aphids flying into crops. The cooler wet weather will slow them down, but aphids will be…
Read More >Identifying And Treating Lameness In Cattle
There are two vital points to remember when tackling lameness in a group of cattle:
Identify what the cause of lameness is
Don’t assume all cases have the same cause
Practical Steps To Reducing Lameness In Finishing Cattle
As with most things in life, when it comes to lameness, prevention is always better than cure. Lameness is recognised as a major issue in the dairy industry, with dairy producers spending a lot of time and money on treating and preventing lameness in their herds. Although not such an acute issue in most beef herds, there is still potential to make changes to reduce lameness, particularly in finishing systems.
Read More >Handling And Stacking Silage Bales
When making silage bales it worth taking extra care around handling, wrapping and stacking of bales to avoid costly nutrient losses and some harmful moulds that can cause issues with livestock.
Read More >Problems With Newborn Lambs and Calves Suckling
We have had more reports this year of newborn lambs and calves having problems suckling. In some cases it appears that the young themselves will not suckle and when checked and encouraged appear not to even have a suckling reflex.
Read More >Nutritional Safety For Feeding Urea
The shortage of protein feeds such as distiller’s grains and high cost of supplementing protein may make urea seem an attractive alternative for supplementing rations. Urea has been successfully used in rations for over 70 years, however when using urea some caution is required.
Read More >Ragwort – May 2020
Ragwort is a biennial and a fresh batch of rosettes germinate each spring, particularly if there are gaps in the sward, and plants have been allowed to seed in previous…
Read More >Potatoes: Potato Blight Update late May 2020
Potato blight (P. infestans) Population update The trend for new, highly aggressive genotypes to quickly spread across Europe, displacing less aggressive strains, has continued. The P. infestans genotypes 13_A2 and…
Read More >Sign up to the FAS newsletter
Receive updates on news, events and publications from Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service