Dairy

Silage Quality and Winter Feed Planning

While milk prices are beginning to show gradual signs of improvement, careful feed management remains essential to protect margins and support cash flow recovery. As we move towards autumn, silage…

Boosting Resilience and Efficiency On a Tenant Farm

Graham and Kirsty Kerr farm the tenanted unit of Kirklands, a 400-acre dairy farm close to the village of Dunsyre, South Lanarkshire. The herd comprises 250 Holstein Friesian cows, housed…

EnviroCow Index Yielding Results

This article provides an overview of a recent study commissioned by AHDB and undertaken by Promar International, which found that herds using targeted breeding could reduce the carbon footprint associated…

Understanding Hay Quality

This summer has provided favourable conditions for producing hay. Many of you have taken advantage these conditions and made a lot of lovely, well-preserved hay. However, just like silage, hay…

Prevalence of Heat Stress in Dairy Cows – A Summary of the A-SHED Project

The global climate is changing, with the UK experiencing warmer average summer temperatures and an increasing frequency of heatwaves. While Scotland and northern England are not traditionally regions associated with…

Post-calving: Are we getting it right?

Calving is a major event for a cow, ensuring the post-calving period is correctly managed provides the cow with the best opportunity to recover and have good future health. Cows…

Using Slurry to Save on Fertiliser and Improve Silage Quality

For several months now, energy prices have been trending upwards after the start of the conflict in the Middle East. This has seen oil reach a peak of $100 US/barrel forcing a significant increase…

Business and Policy July 2026 – Milk

Milk production data Milk production is declining and the spring flush has well and truly passed. The latest data from AHDB estimates the GB milk volume for May at 1,167m litres, 19m litres less than…

Photo of a cupped handful of soil. Growing out of the soil is a young tree sapling that has rolls of paper money notes attached to the main stem. The photo is titled 'Money Tree' and the photo makes it look like the hand is holding a tree that is growing paper money!

Tax Update – Spring Statement 2026

In Brief The 2026 Spring Statement was not a farming Budget. It contained few direct announcements for Scottish agriculture and no major new tax measures aimed specifically at the sector. …

Ensuring A Resilient Water Supply For Your Farm

With Scotland traditionally being thought of as a ‘wet’ country, we often take water for granted. However, as our climate is changing, water is no longer a ‘free’ and plentiful resource, and many…

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