Dairy

Green Bedding for the Dairy Herd

With the rising costs of sawdust and straw, it is worth considering alternative sources of bedding, one of which is recycled manure solids (RMS), also known as green bedding. Green…

MMN November 2024 – Waterbeds – the Ultimate in Cow Comfort?

Ensuring good cow comfort is critical to welfare and productivity and a new type of lying surface is gaining momentum – waterbeds! First developed in Europe over 15 years ago,…

MMN November 2024 – The Benefits of Good Ventilation

Many businesses have housed dairy cattle earlier this winter due to extended periods of wet weather, poached fields, limited grazing and variable (but often mild) temperatures. Protecting the herd…

MMN November 2024 – Winter Slurry Storage Contingency Planning

With the cows housed and the night’s drawing in, we can be sure that the weather will also turn sooner rather than later. This winter will mark the last before…

MMN November 2024 – A Recap on Winter Lameness Management: Prevention is Better than Cure

The estimated average cost of a case of lameness in dairy cows is £180. Whilst we are all aware of the risks and costs of cattle lameness, it can sometimes…

MMN November 2024 – Should You Feed Silage to Weaned Calves?

There is a lot of debate around whether weaned dairy calves can be fed on a grass silage-based ration. Standard industry guidance for years has been to feed weaned calves…

Maximising Milk from Forage

Ensuring that your dairy rations maximise the feed value available in your silage and other conserved forages can make significant savings in purchased feed costs. On grazing farms, the quality…

Farm Management Handbook 2024/25

The 45th edition of the Farm Management Handbook is an essential tool for any progressive farm business, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date source of information for farmers, crofters, rural professionals,…

Vitamin E for Dry Cows – Are You Feeding Enough?

Vitamin E supplementation is absolutely critical for dry dairy cows for immunological function. It also greatly impacts on calf health as well. As vitamin E does not cross the placenta…

Dairy Benchmarking Workshop Part 2 – Stranraer

The second workshop in the series will look at some of the information that attendees have gathered as part of their benchmarking work. Those who didn’t attend the first part…

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