Dairy

Tackling Soil Compaction to Reduce Fertiliser Costs

Dairy farmers across Scotland often rely on fertiliser to ensure that they grow enough grass to meet the needs of their livestock. However, fertiliser prices have soared recently, which will…

New Entrants with Added Value – Morton’s Milk

Morton’s Milk is a family business based at Auchinbay Farm in Ayrshire. David and Gillian Morton farm 500 acres milking 320 Holstein cows and store 120 Belgian Blue cross-dairy cattle.…

Are You At Risk Of Long Bone Deformity?

Long bone deformity appears to have a higher occurrence amongst beef suckler herds. Calves are born with a dwarf like appearance as a result of the shortening of the long…

Checking Heifers Pre-Breeding

Difficult calvings are a major drain on resources at calving time, both in terms of labour and finances. While completely eliminating dystocia in cattle is impossible, investing in a Pre-breeding…

Reviewing your Concentrate use per Litre

Concentrate use per litre is a key measure of feeding efficiency in the dairy cow. The less concentrate required for a given level of milk production with the more milk…

Sheep and cattle sharing a field on a grassy hill

Joint Ventures – What Are The Opportunities For Livestock Enterprises?

Whether you are looking to set up a new venture as a new/young entrant or looking to expand an existing business or are looking to slow down/scale down, Joint Ventures (JV) could be the perfect business arrangement, but the question is – which type of joint venture suits your needs best and what do you need to be mindful of?

Forage Crops Mineral Fact Sheet

Nutritionally forage crops are an excellent source of energy and good source of protein (although root crops tend to be at the lower end). This fact sheet will focus on…

Managing The Transition Onto Forage Crops

It takes around three weeks for rumen bugs to adapt to a change in diet. If we change diet abruptly, the rumen struggles to cope and digestive upsets occur such as bloat, acidosis and/or loss of performance. If done badly, you can put the livestock off eating the crop altogether and, in severe cases, farmers have lost livestock due to poor transitioning.

Business Planning Fact Sheet

Whether you are starting up a new business, looking to invest in or expand your existing business, want to consider your options as you approach retirement or are simply looking to improve your businesses performance, preparing a business plan can help.

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