Practical Guides Publications
Developing Safe Farming Practices – How to Complete a Risk Assessment
Managing health and safety on farms is essential to ensure that you, your workers, family members and others are safe at work. Completing a risk assessment is an important part…
Read More >Developing Safe Farming Practices – Lone Working Guide
Lone working is common in many agricultural businesses from small family farms that do not employ staff to large scale enterprises with farm workers who are regularly required to carry…
Read More >Pesticide Information Note: Buffer Zones
When applying pesticides, Buffer Zones have been used for a number of years to help protect water environments. Their use also helps producers avoid penalties from breaching cross compliance rules…
Read More >A Guide to Feed Budgeting
Forward planning forage supplies helps understand whether you will have enough conserved forage to meet the livestock demand – this is becoming more critical as weather is fluctuating more from…
Read More >Information Note: Successful Management of Triplet Rearing Ewes and Breeding Hoggs
Breeding ewe hoggs and managing ewes for more triplets/better triplet performance can lead to increased flock output and profitability. However, if poorly managed, triplet bearing ewes and the breeding of…
Read More >Grant Support For Croft Woodland Creation: A Comparison
Download a PDF version of this information sheet. Tree planting and hedgerows can offer a multitude of benefits for farms and the rural environment including additional income, shelter for crops,…
Read More >Best Practice Procedures For Making Baled Silage
There are a number of important steps during the silage making process which can influence nutritional of the end product, impacting on livestock performance and cost of production. This factsheet gives advice on when to cut grass for silage, how long to wilt for, use of additives and handling and storage of bales. Environmental considerations of baled silage are also discussed including forage budgeting and type and amount of plastic used.
Read More >Feeding For Fertility In The Suckler Herd
This Scottish Government funded project report details work involving 12 suckler herds where cow nutritional status was investigated by metabolic profiling over the 2020 calving period. Cows were blood sampled one month pre- and post-calving to identify whether energy, protein and mineral intakes were adequate. Information was also gathered on body condition score change and rations to help assess nutritional status and whether this could be linked to subsequent reproductive performance.
Read More >Maximising Forage Quality While Minimising Environmental Impact at Glensaugh
Farm Manager Donald Barrie from Glensaugh Farm (James Hutton Institute) shares his management practices and top tips for making quality forage, while minimising the impact on the environment.
Read More >Pesticide Information Note: Pesticide containers – cleaning and disposal
The application of pesticides inevitably results in the production of waste, principally in the form of pesticide containers and packaging. IMPORTANT: You have a duty of care and a legal responsibility for all wastes produced or handled on your farm. You are responsible for the storage, transport and ultimate disposal of these wastes.
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